Maybe I'm Overreacting?

But I really don't think so.

I just finished reading Joe Casey & Matt Fraction's latest Basement Tapes, and in it they criticize the comics bloggers. Yes, yes, they do make some very valid points, but I think they miss the big picture entirely. Two people who (at times) seem to be doing nothing but stroking their own ego's (or eachothers) have a great deal of nerve calling the blogo-whatever a "circle-jerk." In fact, I shouldn't even be linking to the piece, because there are dozens of blogs that have already done so, so, I'm just copying them. Right?

Other people have responded, and now I am. God, I'm such a copycat. I'm just so desperate to run with the big dogs! Us lowly folks out here on the internet looking for Green Arrow porn sites could honestly never be as cool as them there paid writers! We should just hang it up folks!

According to Casey and Fraction, there's no way we can continue this amount of output, eventually the passion dies. Hey guys, go tell that to Mike Sterling who has posted new material every day for over a year on his site. Is it changing the face of comics? Maybe, maybe not. Who cares? It's fucking entertaining.

Does it somehow hurt your feelings that bloggers (as a whole, not just comic bloggers, and hell, probably JUST comic bloggers as well) get a higher readership than both of you guys combined? Looks like I'll have to go back and remove what I said about The Intimates being "the greatest thing to come along in the teen-superhero genre since Lee & Kirby created it" because I wouldn't want that to get out. For that matter, piss off Casey, you write in a medium (superhero comics) that has done nothing but copy itself since inception. A bunch of writers constantly trying to one-up eachother and play with characters someone else created. And when the can't do that? They find another company and just create copycats.

Like I said, they make some valid points, we do have a clubhouse mentality. But, who the hell doesn't? I bet whenever Casey and Fraction go out with their friends they just stop at the local corner and pick up random people and say "hey, come party with us, we're cool."

No...no they don't. They hang out with their friends, and there's nothing wrong with that. Their fucking column is a clubhouse. It's two guys who get together and talk about things that they think are important, and then post it on the internet for everyone to read, just to feel important. My, aren't they spectacular!

Am I taking this too personal? Yeah, I am. I know that. Is it because I do those things? Yes, yes it is. But, it's also because that little blogroll on my sidebar is full of people who dedicate a tremendous amount of time to MY entertainment, and I don't pay them for it. So, you know what, if I want to have a blog where I do nothing but refer people to their blogs, fuck 'em, I will. See that link that says "NeilAlien" yeah, that's what he does. For free. He sends me to all kinds of places I might not have discovered without his daily links. His service is almost invaluable, he's a dedicated fan, and a lover of comics, and he pretty much just links to other sites. It's fucking brilliant. I bet he gets 100 times the hits I do, if not more. Hell, for all I know, his site hits pass Casey and Fractions. And the fact that they take pot-shots at that really pisses me off.

If it weren't for this blog, I'd still be trolling message boards and reading Rob Liefeld comics (wait...I still do that, dammit.) Writing here has pushed me into so much more than anything else I've ever been a part of. Because of this I now write reviews (on occasion) at The Comic Book Galaxy. Maybe that doesn't mean much to a lot of people, but it's a hell of a long way from where I started. It's a well respected site, despite my presence, and one I'm damn glad to be a part of. All because of this. This little soapbox inside my own little clubhouse.

Like I said, valid points, but I cannot help but feel slighted by the tone, and laugh at the irony of the two men in glass houses throwing stones at us.

-L