Do Not Siege Walled Cities - 235
Your Leaders Were Lying... NOBODY'S DRIVING!
I’VE GOT BUDDHIST TEMPLE PROBLEMS
My desk is against a wall with a decent-sized window. Beneath that window is a garden. And now I’ve got fruit flies in my life.
The window screen is not keeping these little turds out of my office. And I hate killing things. So I’m slowly losing my mind. If this edition of the newsletter veers into a type of high-agitation lunacy, please bear with me.
I enjoy the funny workarounds people try with their gods. A friend worked in a Brooklyn deli where orthodox jews would order “the pink turkey.” Which was ham. The idea being that G-d, omnipresent and omnipotent, would not register the transgression against the torah because the word ‘ham’ didn’t escape the lips.
The workaround relevant to my life is buddhist monks who ascribe to the nonviolence principle of ahimsa, but still have to find a way to get wasps from their temples. This usually amounts to “it would be great if we had fewer wasps…” said in the company of laypeople. Very mobster of them.
I’ll resist the urge to order a casual hit against these fruit flies for as long as I can.
ANTIOCH HAS BEEN PROOFED AND SENT TO THE PRINTER
The book is now truly done. Marco and I hope to Monday morning quarterback ourselves on a podcast or other interview format soon. Talk about some of the hurdles to get the book out and what we coulda done to prevent the level of headache we landed in.
But having now read the book several times during the proofing, I can say with a full throat that this book is worthy. The characters are big. The setting is classic action adventure. And the story is bananas. Anime was our inspiration and we definitely achieved the frenetic final act of those classic OVAs.
Very happy to have conquered this book and immensely pleased to bring it to you now. Make sure your store knows you want a copy. It’s a blast.
HOW MUCH CREDIT DO YOU GIVE YOUR AUDIENCE?
Scared artists worry their work will get them in trouble. More confident artists worry their work will miss the mark.
Normal. However, it’s important, in my mind, to not treat the audience as if it is profoundly stupid. See the tweet below.
I understand the white savior narrative is not just a concern of native people, but a constant frustration. I get it. And if you wanted to extend the rationale, you could say it’s contributed to public sentiment and even policy. But Gladstone low-rates her audience here. If the film had depicted the FBI as saviors of native women it would not map onto reality, that’s true. But the point of art isn’t a 1:1 overlay with facts. Real art can’t consider itself responsible. Or at least not responsible for the misunderstanding of the dumbest contingent in its audience.
It’s fortunate Killers of the Flower Moon didn’t focus on the investigation, because the movie turned out great. And that’s it.
When we insist art hold itself accountable, we don’t just undermine its potential for beauty (which comes from personal flourishes that can’t mirror reality accurately) but also set it up to fail. Apologies for the Intro to Documentary Filmmaking lecture here, but reality can’t be captured. Anecdotes can. Individual stories, to a degree, can. But there is no accounting for the actual exchange between 7B people and the larger world (or inner life). It’s a fool’s errand.
How does this pertain to comics? Well, comics are art. And for a minute there, my contemporaries were inclined (or compelled) to reflect ‘lived experiences’ accurately in their work. But they always failed. Always. And the greater the effort to capture that one character that could speak for thousands, millions, or billions of individual human experience, the more spectacular the failure.
That day, it seems, has quietly and fortunately passed. But I really hope we don’t backslide into that type of thing again. The Sensitivity Reader Era is dead. Let’s try something truly artistic.
CONTRACTION
There’s a survey going around asking what’s wrong with comics. Readers, retailers, and pros are all invited to fill it out.
Before I share my answer, can I just say there’s nothing more disgusting than feigned positivity. When some people responded with “this feels negative” it immediately flags that individual as untrustworthy. Is it negative to identify and address a problem? How do these people maintain romantic relationships?
Comic pros: “Something is off. I’m concerned we don’t have that spark anymore. You’re the love of my life and I want us to not just be partners but to be real lovers for the rest of our lives. Let’s work on appreciating each other and showing that gratitude and excitement whenever we can.”
Weirdos online: “Lol. I dunno, sounds negative.”
Goddamn. Some things are bad and nothing can be done. But many things only get bad when you ignore them and allow them to get bad. Tackle the fucking problem.
I’m not sure how the results of the survey will be rolled out, but I’m fine to share my response now.
What, in as little or as many words as you'd like, do you perceive as the MAIN problem in the comics industry today? (edited)
The Big Two are directionless and complacent. This depresses every aspect of the ecosystem. They're hiring creators whose work does not connect with fans, which leads to a lack of new stars, which has the downstream effect of fewer recognizable names in the creator-owned sphere, which amounts to a low-enthusiasm market. The leadership at Marvel and DC have abdicated their position as the market drivers but remain the market leaders, making the rest of us passengers on a ghost ship.
And that’s it. There’s many problems with comics. But the chief trouble in my view is NOBODY’S DRIVING.
And, yes, to the concern trolls, nobody is sitting on their hands here. I’m in circles where creators who are truly loved, with massive hits, are planning their exit from comic stores. People are looking for any means to continue doing the thing they love with or without a healthy comics market.
But it is a tragedy in so many ways. Periodical comics are an American art form. We should not watch that art be erased from the cultural conversation because we built our foundation on a corporate sinkhole.
Faux-positivity won’t get us outta this.
Cue Mark Rylance saying “there’s no hiding from this, son.”
A QUICK EXAMPLE, IF I MAY
In my video below, I speak extemporaniously and without much success. No script means I never truly arrived at my point, which was “there is no worthwhile counteroffer to edgy.” You either have grit or you have pablum, full stop. While I may not fully get to where I wanted, watch it anyway. There might be something of value.
Since I recorded that video, I tripped over an example of what I meant. And it illustrates the point better than my fumbling effort at speaking like an adult.
Here’s a The Onion video from 15 years ago.
It works on two levels. Its target is the media and its need to sell the most scandalous or disturbing version of events. That’s called satire. And, to that end, it uses the most absurd and offensive extremes it can land. That’s call farce.
Now here’s a The Onion video from this week.
This is satire. And it has an approximation of bite (gummy though it may be). But it doesn’t thrill in its naughtiness. It merely aims to amuse.
If you read the comments on that last video, you’ll spot a few people celebrating The Onion’s return to form with this video. And, tragically, it IS the closest they’ve managed to a work with teeth in a very long time. This is more representative of their typical fare in recent times:
That’s not worthwhile comedy. Truthfully, that’s not even amusing. Generated by hacks, AI, or talented people being held back.
Edginess is the only thing that separates you from AI. Continue the fight against Skynet by saying something you shouldn’t.
THAT’S A WRAP
Another week done. I’m working on a top-secret thing (that’s what creators say to protect themselves from the embarrassment of projects that don’t make it to market). I’m excited. More on it soon.
I’m always saying “be productive” and I mean it. But maybe you have those days where you think your work is bad and you wonder why you should make anything at all. Here’s a reminder: if you do it long enough you’ll arrive at SOMETHING worthwhile, and even if that’s the only thing of that nature in your resume, it’s more than most people accomplish.
Stay productive. Do for self.