Do Not Siege Walled Cities - 292

How Does He Keep Getting Away With It?

Jan 19, 2025

MY TRIP TO BANDUNG

I hit what I understand to be the oldest comic book store in Indonesia. A couple ran it for decades, then the old man died, and now his wife continues to run it. She has to offer other services like photocopy to keep the lights on, and the operating hours are 8am-11am. So I took the 8:45am super train from Jakarta to Bandung and made it in time to do some shopping.

These are interesting books. The licensed(?) titles are really something. Some are clearly interpreted by local talent while others are translated originals. And some appear to be abridged and remixed originals, where pages are reduced to two panels of the clearest action.

In that section of Bandung, there’s no doors on businesses. Rolling gates may protect the merchandise from theft overnight, but dust and smog are nonstop. And some of these books had been on shelves since the late 1970s. My hands were a mess, but I had a cool time and picked up some books I may not get a second chance at.

NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS COMMENTING ON

I’m watching the reaction to the Neil Gaiman allegations. So far I’ve seen:

“Everybody knew.” [Not true]
“I never liked his work anyway." [Lie, but irrelevant regardless]
“Something always seemed off about him.” [Oh yeah? Shoulda said something]
“He’s been rightwing for years.” [Person who said this is 22]
“All my literary heroes are dead.” [They’re accomplished people with sad human failings; many such cases]

I’ve also seen people assert with absolute confidence that “he raped multiple women” when he’s denied it without qualification, which makes it a matter for investigators. Whenever the topic of sexual assault, misconduct, or abuse comes up, camps form. Some take “believe all women” as more than a moral guidepost meant to act as a check on ingrain suppositions and biases. Others take MeToo as an assault on all men, assuming an endless siege mentality that precludes them from acknowledging someone might’ve done bad.

It’s all very unhelpful.

And I know I’m repeating myself here, but all the noise in the conversation makes me wonder if people actually care about the signal at all. Victims of sexual assault often don’t see justice in the legal system. People lie, for reasons both understood and unknowable. Powerful men can abuse their positions for years without threat of accountability. ‘Power’ is loosely defined and personal-professional dynamics are more fluid and complex than can be easily relayed to those outside it. Narcissists believe they’re too smart to ever get caught. Narcissists make easy targets because they’re polarizing personalities who make enemies.

Do you see how all the above statements are true, despite the fact they fortify opposing positions? They don’t contradict each other, but every drop of clarification just makes the scene messier. Being an adult means acknowledging that messiness and not retreating to slogans or hand-waving.

I recuse myself from the role of social media juror. I have a bias. I think men like Gaiman are annoying and I don’t trust them. That’s not some post hoc superiority trip either. Some people don’t like men of the Chet Hanks variety. Some don’t like the Woody Allen’s of the world. My mother is put off by men who say “whatnot.” And I can’t stand the Gaimans. It’s not a moral judgement, it’s a matter of taste.

The wet-lipped, wet-eyed, platitude salesman is just a non-starter for me. Gaiman is a good writer, but how much need does an adult have for someone with broad, highly-quotable solutions to everything? More on that in a moment, perhaps. And how am I supposed to take a dude who sold the persona of ‘kindly and modest genius’ seriously?

This is all to say, my prejudice is too naked. Best to let people without that baggage do the digging.

Insofar as what it means for comics: what are you asking? Gaiman hadn’t been a comic man in a long time. Does he do conventions? I guess there’s something to dig into around the fact that comics press is covering this so poorly. Is Gaiman really the one they won’t give up? The sites that revel in destroying lives see this slow-talking long-blinking jerkoff as a hands-off topic? Maybe. But burning fellow travelers is their stock-in-trade, so I don’t quite know what the objection would be. Maybe that this guy can actually afford lawyers?

Serenity to whoever needs it here. Rape is a matter for the courts, and I say that as someone who is acutely aware of that institution’s failings. When we reduce the cruelest crime (with a high recidivism rate) to a civil matter we’re leaving something unaddressed. Further, jerkoffs online are not equipped to arbitrate matters this important. When we frame ‘cancellation’ as justice, we turn a serious thing into an episode of The Running Man. If something needs to be tackled, tackle it earnestly or step aside and make room for someone who is willing.

MAYBE COMICS ISN’T FOR ME

This page has been doing the rounds on social media. I gotta give it to Tom King. He knows how to meme himself into the conversation.

Artists were angry at how much of the page is copied panel-to-panel by Jeff Spokes. Writers were dumbfounded that King can just keep doing… this.

Read the issue if you need context, but it’s essentially as this page captures it. Superman then hands her the discarded mask. Does anyone wanna think about masks in 2025? Does that make it challenging or tiring?

King is an important writer in the respect that he represents 2018-2024 perfectly. His work will be studied in the future. Sure, he had antecedents. Guys who didn’t go as big, but pioneered the same movement. And he’s got guys tryna ride his coattails. But he’s outpaced them all. He IS comics 2020, for all that means. Notice I didn’t say “he WAS comics 2020.”

It’s fitting he should flashback to 2020 in this JENNY SPARKS title.

The only problem is, outside of a few people I worry about, I think we’re done with 2020. The leading indicators, and now lagging indicators, are so clear on this responsible friends wouldn’t let you bet against it. People don’t like the idea of a ‘vibe shift’ following the election, because to them it means that Trump is setting that vibe. But it’s important we don’t CNN ourselves here. Trump is not responsible for a vibe. He’s just another indicator, or perhaps symptom. And if that still makes the idea unappealing to you, I’m sorry, but I think it’s time to acknowledge fatigue as a phenomenon.

People grow tired of the same thing. When a vibe becomes oppressive and sets a strong pick against any new ideas… people get antsy. They get bored. New generations pop up to find your sensibility dated and stiff. For everything, turn turn turn. Wheel in the sky. Etc. Sure,, it’s possible to be the hair metal act that outlasts the others, and outlives the churn of sensibilities… but is it good to be that?

There is a man for every era. King was his, and I think we gotta give him those flowers. I just think it’s time to change it up and reflect a new era.

With Slott announced for a Superman title this week, many readers are tryna make sense of what matters to editors. And on one hand I think it’s good when comics aren’t tossing guys to the side. King and Slott have sold a lotta books. Even if we might be tired of them, pretending they don’t come with a built-in readership is wrong. But, and I don’t think I’m alone here, I could do for some new tricks. I won’t even say new blood, because maybe these guys can change their stripes, and give us those new tricks. But I believe readers are desperate to see something other. Even if you love tuna salad, eating it every day is for prisoners.

[Note: What’s going on with Superman’s posture and body language?"]

WHAT YOU DON’T NEED TO SAY

While in Jakarta, I spent a lotta time checking out the Indonesian comic book scene. What I could get on the ground was limited, but what I did find sent me down a number of online rabbit holes. There’s a good amount of talent on these islands.

So I thought to myself, “maybe I’ll hire one of these fellas to do a backup. Their page rates are low and if it’s in an Image book, maybe it puts some shine on some yet-undiscovered artists.” But then I thought, “the best way to highlight them is to set a story in Indonesia. It won’t be a ton of readers that get interested in things the way I do, but someone will find it compelling that these guys are capturing the vibe of a place they know well.” BUT then I thought, “oh fuck, do I have to worry about accurately representing a culture? Despite the fact that culture differs region-to-region, block-to-block, and home-to-home and not even those of a culture could ever be expected to capture it accurately? Is it still 2016 when phrases like ‘cultural appropriation’ haunted the minds of creative people like some hobgoblin jerking off in the corner of their attics? Do I need to ‘educate myself?’”

And then I remembered, I never engaged in that arms race, so I don’t have to make a public declaration about the disarmament process.

The Raid: Redemption is a top 3 action movie of all time. It’s set in Jakarta. A city with 10M people and 60 murders per year. A profoundly non-violent society. The story of The Raid takes place over the course of a few hours, during which 80 people die. So if the film endeavored to accurately convey Jakarta and its culture, it fails miserably. Guns are very difficult to come by in Jakarta. The Raid has quite a few. Another fail.

But nobody seems to care about those things when they watch that movie.

Maybe that’s because the film’s intent was to tell a simple story well, and its setting being exotic and largely unknown to western audiences is a bonus.

If, in my Indonesia story, I center a protagonist who carries a gun, nobody would question it. If I made Jakarta a dangerous place run by shadowy underworld types, readers would engage warmly with that trope.

But if I had my lead’s sister ask her “why don’t you wear your hijab? You make mother so sad” I would be a hack and should have my writer’s card revoked. Not because I don’t know the culture, but because I tried to act like I did and passed aluminum shavings off as brass tacks. Better to be wrong than superficial.

And this was my thought all day: Failing to capture a culture comes down to the boring moments. The moments where you put your rubber to the road and the tire pops. You expose yourself when you try to ‘say something’ about other people’s cultures. Meanwhile, if a culture is the canvas rather than the painting- you free yourself of the obligations. You’re telling a STORY, not a history lesson or sociological snapshot. You’re writing CHARACTERS, not cultural touchstones or pillars on which millions of real life people stand. You are free to create.

Anyway, this is all to say, if these guys will take my money I may hire a couple to tell fun stories set in a cool place.

MEDIA CONSUMPTION

Godfrey Ho I owe you an apology. I was not familiar with your game.

I caught Angel Enforcers this week and I was smitten. Which caused me to fall down a Ho hole and learn more about this talented hack and thief.

Ho was a true wild west (wild east, really) director. Need an iconic soundtrack? Steal it. Need an explosion? Steal it.

I’m used to inserts in films like the Black Emanuelle series. Laura Gemser won’t do hardcore? Someone will. Cut that in. Keep it in close-up. Who could tell the difference? (Most of us.) But I was not familiar with Ho’s style of “fuck’m, what are they gonna do about it” filmmaking.

Angel Enforcers uses the Halloween theme for suspenseful (and not-so-suspenseful) moments. That’s an iconic song. Very recognizable. Ho doesn’t care. He was on an island, operating below all radars. Pirate mode.

This is schlock, certainly. But the action is smooth and I enjoyed every minute.

Unlike Total Exposure, which is truly ass and has no reason to exist.

HARSH REALM may likewise have no reason to exist. I can’t decide. It’s not exactly great work, but I’m not certain it aspires to be. Maybe it’s ok to just be a goofy sci-fi detective story of the most obvious sort.

The series inspired a television show during Chris Carter’s flop era. Hudnall and Paquette weren’t properly credited, but I think the show was cancelled by the time the lawsuit was addressed. An interesting artifact of a very specific time. “Virtual reality anxieties.”

Ever wish you could castrate sex offenders in your own living room? Then I’ve got the New Line Cinema hit of 1986 for you.

It’s dumb but fun. Feels like a TV movie from some other planet where surgically removing testicles makes for good television. Ok. I’m in.

THAT IS ALL

Hope you find yourself some calm this week. “War is over” and so forth. I am home for the first time in a year. I had a visa beef with the immigration office of Australia and it kept me away from my stepson for a year. That’s frustrating, but I prefer to reflect on how blessed I am to have a family that was patient and supportive. I hope you have the same. Stay focused and do for self.

Do Not Siege Walled Cities