Do Not Siege Walled Cities - 280
LeBron Capullo
APPLE CIDER REALITY
I’m in Philadelphia today. City of brotherly love. But they always seem to be punching each other.
Yesterday was a day off in Albany and I got to visit my parents. I tell my wife all the time “these are the good years” because everyone around us is still in decent health. In time that won’t be the case so I celebrate it as much as I can in the present.
Now, let’s talk comic books!
WHAT A JOY TO WORK WITH BRILLIANT PEOPLE
LEBRON JAMES WANTS TO READ COMIC BOOKS
So he said on social media. And that’s cool. Wish everyone had the same realization at 40. Recommendations came at him fast, and I hope he finds something he likes. But it is a reminder of the wild reality that most Americans may not know how to actually get comic books.
At least he knows how to read them. I’ve met a number of adults who are confused by them. Which is insane to think about, both because everything in the english language reads left-to-right so you could just assume, and because comic books were once part of every young American’s media consumption. Things dun changed. And not for the better. So let’s get King James some titles that hook him. We need every reader we can get.
GREG CAPULLO LIKES TO WORK
And for that, he must suffer.
Alright, let’s be fair. It started with Capullo doing something irresponsible. He shit on his colorist.
This isn’t as rare as people are making it out to be, but it is not the most professional thing in the world. And I certainly don’t like it. Despite how this newsletter reads at times, I am a vault when it comes to shit like this. So I didn’t love reading this, but they can hash it out amongst themselves. What happened next, however, I think I should comment on.
Capullo deleted his tweet but as way of explanation followed up with:
And marginally-employed people lost their goddamn minds.
“What a loser, giving his life to corporate properties.”
“Capitalism has men like this thinking grind is a good thing.”
“lol this is the Batman Who Laughs guy? Imagine killing yourself to make trash like that.”
And so on. Then you also had a few employed people who wanted to lecture about work/life balance.
“I used to work hard in comics and then I had a stroke and realized it was bad.”
And so on.
Other creators who said they work long hours took collateral damage and had to walk back their statements. Essentially apologizing for their work ethic.
Before I say what I say, I should be clear nobody would accuse me of being a workaholic. I’m not Mr Grind. And I don’t judge someone who only cares to work as much as they need to to survive. In fact, that’s the point. I don’t care about other people’s habits and lifestyle. You can grind yourself into pencil shavings or you can produce two panels a year. It’s all your business and not mine. Pick your joys and miseries. We are not married.
That said, I need to point out there is no system but capitalism and you cannot opt-out unless you really, truly, opt-out. If you’re not on Walden Pond right now, you’re part of this thing. And acting like Capullo is a victim or, worse, suffering Stockholm Syndrome, is just cope on your part. He has not given his life to Batman. He’s made real money at a thing that is nearly impossible to make real money in. He’s pimped Batman and become well-off.
Now, it should go without saying that I am no type of corporate apologist. I think some of these fools truly do give their best years to properties they can never own. Workers who refuse to be their own bosses. I am critical of this phenomenon. But Capullo is not that. He’s a mercenary commercial artist who makes a lotta money. Is BATMAN a waste of his talents? In my view, certainly. BATMAN should be a fun stopover on his way to something he can call his own. But in terms of raw family-feeding ability? HE’S DOING FINE AND PEOPLE WHO ARE DOING LESS FINE SHOULD CONSIDER GETTING OFF HIS DICK.
SPX risograph print-run-of-30 types are not welcome in this conversation. What you do is valid and if Capullo ever comments on your shit, feel free to jump in. But he’s talking about a monthly periodical comic book grind that is not for everyone. Some people love work. You need to get that into your heads. It’s not a virtue, so stop feeling judged. It’s a preference. And you can really just ignore other people’s preferences.
DISNEY GOING ALL-IN ON AI
As I understand it, we’ll see this manifest first in the post-production and VFX space. Which are corners of the creative field that people don’t think of as ‘art’ so this will go unchallenged. Which will then allow it to creep further into aspects of filmmaking (and everything else) that people traditionally do view as art.
Who didn’t see this coming? All the parties who dragged their feet on a VFX union, apparently. But everyone else knew. And we just need to be honest. The whole “AI will never make anything with soul” argument is self-defeating and opens you up to a type of critique I don’t think you can withstand.
I’ve seen the worst comic creators of my generation decry AI as heartless, when all their work is heartless. The reality is if you’re working in a large team, you’ve already diffused the ‘heart.’ And if you are taking corporate money to do it, you are lucky if you have any heart in your work at all. The “where is the humanity” line is not for you to utter, my guys.
*Beat drum now* AI is evil in my view. Dramatic thing to say, but I have no other read. I would rather the US fall behind global markets than automate and AI-engineer a touchless future. There’s been a million tools that have distanced us from the act of creation, but this will make creation abstract. A thought. And I don’t want to live in a craftless landscape. Not everything is supposed to be a click away.
But your worthless unions and the newer-is-cheaper-is-better idiots in C-suites have committed us to ‘progress.’ So it is now John Henry vs the steam drill. And denying the capability of the machine just makes you look delusional. AI will arrive at art and writing as good as the human average. Soon. My only hope is inspired creators will be able to stay above that flood.
ALAN MOORE SAYS TOXIC FANDOM IS TOXIC
News flash, I suppose.
I love Alan Moore’s work. Believe him a genius. And I defend him like he’s my feudal lord when idiots attempt to erase his importance. But I can’t read any more of his bullshit on these matters.
Everyone knows a 40-year-old man threatening to blow up Disney because they’ve made She-Hulk gay is unhealthy. Leave this topic to the people in the trenches of it, Alan. You write novels now.
YOUR POLITICS ARE MENTAL DISORDERS
The Washington Post refused to endorse a presidential candidate. I have no faith in the WP so I don’t care either way. Wealthy men own newspapers and lean on editorial when they feel it necessary. This is a reason to remain skeptical of the media, and is not in itself breaking news of any type. “Abuse of power comes as no surprise.”
With all that said, I wanted to examine the following:
“My mom,” says the WP reporter. This struck me as bizarre. Because my mom would read my work if I wrote for a Turkish nationalist newsletter. In Turkish. Because she loves me, and the politics of my employer are of no consequence. For that matter, I’m not confident my politics would matter. My mom is my mom.
I’ve been asked a number of times by music press about the politics of my songs. And I don’t equivocate: most things created with politics in mind are piles of shit. If you read politics (typically class politics, in my case) in my lyrics, you’re welcome to it. But know I only care about expressing my individual thoughts and feelings. Same with my comic books. Politics have made so many of you unwell. It’s turned you into senile McCarthyists, seeing your fellow countrymen as opposition. Shove it up your asses.
MEDIA CONSUMPTION
Wanted to bring my new copy of Miller/Janson DAREDEVIL, but that thing is so thick it’ll get destroyed in the van. Will have to be movies for a bit longer.
Is it possible to become a fan of an actor by virtue of the roles she chooses? I’m not sure if I think she’s a talented person or just one with interesting tastes.
As there is less than five minutes of dialogue in this movie, Samara Weaving is all eye acting. Which is a good fit because she was blessed with a large and expressive pair in her head.
When the Last Voyage of the Demeter came out, I was its loudest supporter. Not because I thought it was brilliant, but because it was effective and fun genre work. Which is no small thing. Azrael is no different. A mostly dialogue-free, spare (85 min!) and violent, supernatural revenge story. A woman running through a forest, with moody evocative lighting behind her. What’s not to love?
Have I already written about my time with Savage Streets? I don’t remember. Watched it a couple weeks ago. This is stupid in the extreme and fun. A rape-revenge story, but in this case it’s not the lead that goes through the trauma. Her deaf sister is the victim, and the event sets Linda Blair into motion. And she’s got a crossbow.
Looks like shit. Dialogue is shit. Enjoyed myself.
Hannie Caulder is another rape-revenge film, and as far as the tropes of the genre go a rather early one. I was weirdly comforted by the faces here. Everyone felt like someone I know from my childhood, just because guys like Jack Elam made such an impression on me.
You know I don’t like to moralize and I try never to pearl clutch, but this poster is absolutely insane given the plot of the film. Unless the concept is deeper than I give it credit and this represents the purgatory revenge puts all parties in. If not, this is just sorta in bad taste.
Speaking of bad taste. Here’s a movie that if you take it literally is quite upsetting and if you accept that it’s a stupid late-night thing you can enjoy the nonsense.
Teens are hunted by rednecks on behalf of aliens. Hard not to love.
APPLE CIDER FANTASIES
Hope you have a nice week. Don’t submit to hysteria. Avoid panic. It’s not me humoring you when I say you’re gonna be alright. Do for self.