tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166204050275914735.post5678895387611084486..comments2023-06-22T16:19:58.951+01:00Comments on No Longer the Borderline Press Blog: My Monthly Curse (Part Forty-eight)Phil Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12680058800847509275noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166204050275914735.post-73184134912737226862012-01-02T13:14:02.435+00:002012-01-02T13:14:02.435+00:00That review is like a bad smell, it just lingers f...That review is like a bad smell, it just lingers far longer than it's welcome... The thing is, donning the Devil's Advocate hate for a second, that 'comics fandom' still believes it is this 'family' of like-minded individuals thrown together by their love of something that is sneered at by 'normal' people. It is also, to a certain extent, still very colloquial - there has always been a small-minded mentality to it, even when it's a multi-million dollar business.<br />It's not like I haven't seen reactions to things that don't sit right with fans or professionals; it's common place, because they - comics people - circle the wagons whenever some form of adversity arrives and usually it's just the footsoldiers - the fans - who do the necessary defensive work. You could almost argue that comics and their people are a little like a dominatrix and her slaves. In fact, I'd argue that that is a very pertinent analogy. <br />Ironically, reaction is like the news: in a slow news week something that would struggle to even be included in a broadcast can become a major news story, while a major news story can also be lost in the miasmas of other stories. <br />The interesting thing for me from an anthropological perspective is how blind loyalty works and why people allow themselves to take personally something that has no link to them. I suppose with comics fans it's the personal investment, of time and money, and therefore the people responsible for that time and money are revered and put on similar pedestals to those inhabited by film and music icons. The advent of social networking, Twitter and other 'cult of me' applications has allowed some creators to become even more celebrity-minded. Yes it was started in the late 90s by the likes of Warren Ellis, but he actually had to work at being a net-celeb, today you can achieve it by just opening a Facebook fan page and posting something there once in a blue moon. Arguably, these same applications have reinvented fandom to a certain degree, but creators are now allowed to instantaneously preach to their converted and their sycophants perpetuate the belief they are stars.Phil Hallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12680058800847509275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166204050275914735.post-79271604578037561522012-01-02T12:31:29.037+00:002012-01-02T12:31:29.037+00:00I'm still intrigued by this review that got bo...I'm still intrigued by this review that got borderline in hot water. Having read it again and again I agree that it is harsh to Devon Grayson, but is it any harsher than Mark Lamar or Simon Amstell picking on Steps or any xfactor winner? British satire has always used uncomplimentary metaphors to convey a point and often with no other reason than for spite and to make people look funny. At least this borderline review kept the joke inside the industry, ie: it gave a legitimate point of reference, even if it used the reference to have a dig at graysons lack of ability rather than the positive sides of the review. This seems to be an age old problem, the americans failing to understand british satire and sarcasm and that applies to the predominently white bread comics creators.<br />It shows one thing quite clearly - idiots will make mountains out of mole hills while allowing Frank Miller to spout fascist retoric with less reaction from comics fans than it warranted. Seems to me that comic fans and creators are more concerned about pathetic throwaway lines they can bandwagon jump on rather than dealing with proper issues like the amount of arseholes who talk a load of shit. I've always avoided fan-dom because it normally attracts the worse kind of people equally I avoid meeting creators because they're normally as dull and opinionated as the drunk at the bar. Being intelligent and having a sense of humour in comics is like being gay in the 1950s.Paul Bridgernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166204050275914735.post-41220058367755320642011-12-31T21:47:51.541+00:002011-12-31T21:47:51.541+00:00I never read it myself and I don't know what t...I never read it myself and I don't know what the numbers were -- although I'd imagine they were far less than <i>Sandman</i> in its heydey -- but <i>Lucifer</i> was well-regarded and ran for a good long while, so not all the spin-offs were rubbish.thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.com