JUDGE NOT
Do Not Siege Walled Cities - 321
STRONG WEEK OF VACATION!
Let’s go!
Just spent a week with my wife and stepson in Melbourne. Ate a lot and saw some things. A really nice time. Hire a buncha cover artists. But now it’s nothing but writing until I leave for tour at the end of the month. Deadlines are knocking. Let’s get it.
BEING RIGHTEOUS IS ANNOYING AND SEEMS TIRING
Morality is a sad stand-in for accomplishment.
This has been on my mind for a few years, but I could never quite find the words. Maybe still can’t. I just recognize that incentives have been inverted. And maybe it’s not wholly positive.
In our social media age, we’re compelled to compare ourselves to peers. All day, every day. I think this is more acute a problem for millennials. And most people aren’t self-aware enough to remember we’re graded on a curve.
If you’re the same age as Ariana Grande, maybe you feel like a failure when held against her accomplishments. And if that strikes you as an extreme example, just map it to whatever scale you think applies. You and the guy from your class who owns his own deck building business. Whatever. The outcome is always the same: most people feel less-than, because, technically, they are. You have not accomplished as much as the .001%. That’s how distributions work. And people used to be at peace with this. But having the .001% staring back at you in your phone all day has deranged things.
So in the face of this comparison you can’t hope to win, what’s the desperate move? Find the worst thing a celebrity has ever done and compare it to the conduct of the fictional self you’ve presented online.
Ariana Grande broke up a marriage. You’ve never done that, so far as anyone knows. So you’re better than she is. Sleep comes easier.
You saw this ALL THE TIME during the “it’s called being a decent person!” era of social media. But it persists still. People who have done nothing of note need to comfort themselves. And there will always be a celebrity or public figure available for target practice.
Self-reflection is rare. Recrimination is common. “I’m not a loser! Well, I might be! But at least I don’t [INSERT FOIBLE]!”
This is easier for me, I think, because I do a lotta things I know I’m not good at. I host two long-running podcasts. They are successful insofar as their subject matter/genre, but I don’t hinge my sense of self to their success or failure. In part, because I am really bad at speaking and I know it. This is a thing you may not realize about yourself until you do it for thousands of hours. And compare yourself to real talents.
Let’s run the experiment. Pick a broadcaster/podcaster/public speaker you don’t like. Because you can’t answer, I’ll elect Ben Shapiro.
Ben Shapiro is better at his job than I am at mine. Anyone can see that. We both talk into a microphone, but his focus, annunciation, and ability to monologue extemporaneously all put mine to shame.
Now if I really hate Ben Shapiro, maybe his superiority in any avenue of life isn’t something I care to admit. And maybe I’d itemize all the reasons he sucks as a person.
But I can’t live like that.
Moralizing is ugly by nature. It’s holding a parade for yourself and blocking traffic. It’s most often an effort to deflect. In this case, it tries to dodge the reality that talent isn’t distributed equally, even when you work hard for a handful of it.
Comic book social media (Bluesky in particular, but it’s everywhere) hinges on this. If there’s someone you feel insecure about, you’re incentivized to harm their reputation. And since you can’t convince adults with eyeballs that good work is bad work, you have to make it about something else.
It’s just so feeble. So unrealized. A self-actualized person can just confront reality. The guy draws better than you do. Writes better than you do. Whatever. There will always be a guy. But if you don’t stop this tactic that undercuts your potential while tearing down a stranger, you’re gonna die a nothing.
COMIC BOOK NEWS OR SOMETHING LIKE IT
NYCC was this weekend and I’m just picking up the scraps of news like a Chicago waiter chasing napkins around an outdoor dining area.
A couple days ahead of the convention we got the new Oni Press logo. It’s better.
Jim Lee says no AI at DC. To which I say, “great. But what about artists currently using it in their workflow?” The reality is AI is gonna gain inches in every creative field for the next decade (or less) and slowly many companies will have to walk back these proclamations. I would like to be wrong.
Marvel retiring the ULTIMATE line. I guess. Man, I’m not even reading past the headline. Will Marvel attempt some version of DC’s ABSOLUTE line where characters have some umph? Maybe? I don’t know. Marvel feels culturally moribund at the moment. Maybe I’m the one who is outta touch? Anyone excited for anything Marvel? At all?
I guess I am outta touch, because DC’s new slate of books is apparently inspired by the ULTIMATE line. What.
Vertigo news. A number of new series have been announced. Some were predicted:
And others were much more of a surprise. I don’t think anyone, ever, read a Tom Taylor book and thought, “this guy has the Vertigo spirit.” So maybe this Vertigo is very different from previous iterations. Time will tell. *the “Slam poet with no comic book experience” was debated online. They’re giving it to Gretchen Felker-Martin. I’m just the reporter.
Related: they are finally publishing those Veitch/Zulli SWAMP-THING issues that were shelved in 1989. See? If you’re patient, corporations will follow social trends 36 years later.
This isn’t exactly news, but I’m seeing it quite a bit. My Twitter timeline is ‘conservatives’ and ‘progressives’ battling over the following Daniel Warren Johnson drawing.
Can I just say, “who cares?” I mean, really. Who cares. It’s entirely possible that the image above reflects DWJ’s politics. But it’s also entirely possible it does not. I’m a big Johnny Ryan fan. He draws Spider-Man robbing liquor stores and inciting race riots or whatever. And nobody, except the dumbest living humans, believe those drawings reflect anything about Ryan’s personal beliefs.
Of course, DWJ is entitled to his view, whatever it may be. But a single image doesn’t confirm anything to me. Let’s get outta each other’s asses. Frank Miller would draw this and then also complain there’s not enough cops on the subway. Not everything needs to be a 1:1 mirror of the creator’s worldview, or even remotely coherent.
PAGES IN MY INBOX
A two-for-one special! Two action-heavy pages from Al. Two guys with helmets on fighting? Not easy to make that look great. Al managed with aplomb.
The art of seduction! Courtesy of Pramono. Think we’ll prolly swap the dancefloor colors in that second panel, but otherwise I think this one is about finished.
PEOPLE I SPOKE TO
Wandered into Captain Cook’s parents’ house, which has been rebuilt (brick-by-brick) in a Melbourne park. Weird thing to do with a historical figure’s parents’ home if the man never lived there himself.
A volunteer answered my stepson’s questions about where and how Captain Cook died. Hawaii and a spear, respectively.
The volunteer was clearly in love with history, and you could see the struggle on his face as he was compelled by his position to account for other perspectives. This was a just-the-facts sorta guy who doubtlessly reads a lot, so while he was respectful you could tell there were certain shibboleths he wished he didn’t have to say.
I maintain that in Australia the corporate/state position vs the average citizen’s views is about as wide a gap as I’ve ever seen. It’s like there are two realities running parallel, and maybe only interacting via static discharge.
MEDIA CONSUMPTION
How did I fall down a R.A. Jones hole? I dunno, but I’m stuck there.
THE FIST OF GOD is some really stupid action-adventure globetrotting pulp bullshit with big punches and poorly-drawn guns. I enjoyed it. Recommended.
Patrick, are you having a senior moment? You told us about this game a couple newsletters ago…
No. That was The First Encounter. This is The Second Encounter. What’s the difference? I dunno, my whole life is a waste. Nothing makes you realize how badly you abuse your time quite like a stupid video game. Imagine the dead are watching me blow through my days on Earth doing dumb bullshit. Painful. Pitiful. Soft recommend.
FROM THE DESIGN FOLDER
Story about a young man who masturbates into a river and later finds he has a half-fish son. SALMAN, is the title if I remember correctly. Fun use of a photo background.
GRATEFUL AGAIN
Thanks to everyone last week who thought the newsletter was worth a few bucks. I’ll keep dropping this in. No pressure.
Hope you have a productive week. I need to. Do for self.