The DC Comics Thread Vol. 3

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker Moisture Farmer Find all posts View Profile Close Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

Cant disagree more. Tess Fowler is a prime example of what's wrong with comics. A low level creator who's never really done anything of note and wants to climb higher, thinks she is the person who should guard the gate for who does and doesn't work in the industry. The things she says about EVS and CG are FAR worse than anything they have said about her in return. It's always this way with these cretins. Fowler and her cronies are the terrible people.

Good on EVS and his friends for finding a way to support their families working on comics despite these monsters best efforts. It's obvious that it eats them alive every day as the mainstream comic industry dies around them while independent guys like EVS not only prosper but thrive. That's really the best revenge for how poorly they have been treated and lied about.

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

Re Johns and Bendis, I bet Johns has done a hundred things like that in his career, and this was just the first time that someone has caught him or recognized what he was up to.

[Big Blue Lantern Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close Big Blue Lantern]

Tess Fowler is on Twitter showing that EVS and his Comicsgate cronies (including Art Thibert) have mocked her for having cancer as an "act of God she deserves."

Good guys who just want to make good comics? Or absolute pieces of shit that too many people make excuses for?

Obviously the latter.

I've heard plenty of positive feedback about EVS's fan interactions over the years, and I still like his work. However, I just saw some of his recent Tweets, and I'm afraid that he's gone down the rabbit hole. The thinly-veiled toxicity of Comicsgate is something that should repulse one's conscience, and I'm disappointed that EVS doesn't see that. There is a *respectful* conversation to be had about the role of classic characters in the ever-evolving world of comics, but it obviously can't come from a stronghold of prejudice like that of Comicsgate.

And on an anecdotal note, one of the shops that I frequent actually gave me two EVS auto'ed books and an original sketch for free about a year ago. When I asked the owner why (although I was grateful), he said that customers had been reacting negatively to seeing EVS's work displayed due to his association with Comicsgate. Needless to say, I experienced many warring emotions at that moment.

[Star-Lantern Weaponer of Qward Find all posts View Profile Close Star-Lantern]

From my "personal" interactions with him, Ethan Van Sciver didn't strike me as the best guy around. He--for many years, well before anything recent--has seemed to have a need to surround himself with sycophants to boost his ego and sic on people who who he doesn't like. From memory, before he associated himself with that comicsgate group, he used to have a group of Facebook friends that some called "the crew" that served that role. He may not sic his fans on people directly, but he would go to his group to vent about whatever person (usually just a no name fan), and next thing you know, the dogpiling starts. Regardless of whatever he may say, I believe he knows what he's doing when he does this and it's intentional. He probably feels powerful and validated when he has others fight for him and with him.

Van Sciver can be petty, spiteful, childish, mean, and unprofessional for a person who was in his position, but I don't believe he is a Nazi, racist, white supremacist, or anything of the sort. Granted, he's probably not going to be doing a ton of favors for people looking for diversity fiction, but the left leaning people kind of don't, either, from my point of view. They just think they do, or do things to get brownie points. From them you wind up with racebent characters, stupid characters, bad stories, ethnics who wear the clothes of white characters and eventually wind up as subordinates to the white characters, and other such nonsense. These creators don't often (or perhaps even ever) actually take the time to take a diverse character and do something truly substantial with them, like fashion independent worlds around them that are worth escaping into. That's too much effort, they mostly aren't capable, and they likely don't care enough about diversity like they say they do to invest enough in doing something like that.

I don't keep up with whatever drama is going on between these people, because it's so redundant and there's a ton of dishonesty involved because it's been so monetized. I'm sure these guys want the fight to go on and on because without it, most of them lose their relevancy, and thus whatever money they're collecting from it. That's ultimately more important to them than whether or not Marvel Comics makes stuff they like. Honestly, from what I saw, Diversity and Comics comes across as a pretty genuine guy who really did want things to improve (from his point of view) with Marvel. Van Sciver strikes me as an opportunist.

[Big Blue Lantern Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close Big Blue Lantern]

From my "personal" interactions with him, Ethan Van Sciver didn't strike me as the best guy around. He--for many years, well before anything recent--has seemed to have a need to surround himself with sycophants to boost his ego and sic on people who who he doesn't like. .

The last time that I read anything about him, he issued an apology for telling that particular fan to kill himself. Ethan admitted to having a "mean streak" and said that he was going to work on being more compassionate. I assumed that was the case until this recent controversy with Dynamite & Comicsgate. I didn't know until a couple of weeks ago that Ethan had gone all-in with Comicsgate, and now I'm disheartened.

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker Moisture Farmer Find all posts View Profile Close Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

I'm much more disheartened by the infestation of sjw pariahs eating at the remnants of the comic industry like termites. Everybody is competing to be a victim and score points for taking someone else down. Maybe it's just the transparency of the internet, but its exhausting hearing from these scumbags constantly. It's like their politics, that I am not into at all, take priority over things like genuine talent and the ability to tell good stories. Mainstream comics have been terrible for almost a decade. After these idiots get done killing the industry, they can all wonder why they are still living on their friends couches. Such a shame.

[Big Blue Lantern Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close Big Blue Lantern]

I'm much more disheartened by the infestation of sjw pariahs eating at the remnants of the comic industry like termites. Everybody is competing to be a victim and score points for taking someone else down. Maybe it's just the transparency of the internet, but its exhausting hearing from these scumbags constantly. It's like their politics, that I am not into at all, take priority over things like genuine talent and the ability to tell good stories. Mainstream comics have been terrible for almost a decade. After these idiots get done killing the industry, they can all wonder why they are still living on their friends couches. Such a shame.

This is where I just don't understand the fear of Comicsgate. The industry isn't dying, so I don't see any basis for the "Get woke, go broke" concern.

2012-2016 showed steady growth in sales. While '17 and '18 marked a slight decline compared to '16, they were still solid years. 2019 was record-setting, so I feel that it's safe to say that the industry is finding a way to cater to the wants of an ever-increasing, ever-diversifying fanbase:

"Comics and graphic novel sales topped $1.2 billion in 2019, according to a new joint estimate by Comichron’s John Jackson Miller and ICv2’s Milton Griepp. Total comics and graphic novel sales to consumers in the U.S. and Canada were approximately $1.21 billion in 2019, an 11% increase over sales in 2018. The increase was due to continued rapid gains in graphic novel sales in the book channel and single digit growth in sales of periodical comics in comic stores.

“Print comics sales had never before topped $1 billion in current dollars, and one has to go back to the boom of the early 1990s to find sales at or above that level when adjusted for inflation,” Miller said of the new estimate."

https://www.comichron.com/yearlycomi...ustrywide.html

So, as I previously stated, I can see the point of view that classic characters aren't getting the attention that they deserve in some instances, but the gloom-and-doom isn't something that needs to be entertained since the hard data contradicts it.

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

Asher Elbein on Twitter is saying DC is suffering huge losses. Bob Harras, Mark Doyle, Brian Cunningham, Andy Khouri allegedly gone; Jim Lee no longer publisher; DC Collectibles allegedly gone completely.

So far it's just rumors but shit, this is nothing small. WB is looking to save as much money as possible by excising as many people and projects as possible.

edit -- apparently multiple outlets are reporting huge layoffs at WB/DC.

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

Asher Elbein on Twitter is saying DC is suffering huge losses. Bob Harras, Mark Doyle, Brian Cunningham, Andy Khouri allegedly gone; Jim Lee no longer publisher; DC Collectibles allegedly gone completely.

So far it's just rumors but shit, this is nothing small. WB is looking to save as much money as possible by excising as many people and projects as possible.

edit -- apparently multiple outlets are reporting huge layoffs at WB/DC.

Damn, how long was Harras there?

They had big overhead, and they weren't moving their products. I don't see how Marvel can escape this either.

DC and Marvel might have to merge. I've said for years that it would make good business sense. Now though it seems necessary.

[Big Blue Lantern Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close Big Blue Lantern]

Asher Elbein on Twitter is saying DC is suffering huge losses. Bob Harras, Mark Doyle, Brian Cunningham, Andy Khouri allegedly gone; Jim Lee no longer publisher; DC Collectibles allegedly gone completely.

So far it's just rumors but shit, this is nothing small. WB is looking to save as much money as possible by excising as many people and projects as possible.

edit -- apparently multiple outlets are reporting huge layoffs at WB/DC.

It's nevitable that the comic industry is going to be impacted long-term by the COVID situation. I expect all of those gaudy sales numbers to dip a bit with the economy in the tank.

That being said, when the world starts to course-correct in the next year or two, I expect comic sales to rebound. The interest is still there and all of this stay-at-home time might just result in some new fans being made.

[Big Blue Lantern Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close Big Blue Lantern]

A lot of the people in the biz whom I follow on Twitter seem to think this is legitimate. Ugh, I realize that there are far worse things happening due to the virus, but it still.sucks to hear that some legendary talents might be out of work.

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

Many things won't come back. One reason is that consumers' habits are getting broken. People aren't going to the gym now or hanging out at Starbucks, and they won't magically start doing that again in a year. They're finding other things to do.

Also, people who work in industries that hard hit by this are going to work elsewhere. They won't magically drop their new jobs and go back to what they were doing before.

[Big Blue Lantern Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close Big Blue Lantern]

Many things won't come back. One reason is that consumers' habits are getting broken. People aren't going to the gym now or hanging out at Starbucks, and they won't magically start doing that again in a year. They're finding other things to do.
Also, people who work in industries that hard hit by this are going to work elsewhere. They won't magically drop their new jobs and go back to what they were doing before.

Some of us can't wait to get back to the gym. Even though I have weights, a yoga mat/DVDs, a heavy bag, and resistance bands at home and I'm using them every day, it's still not the same. I can live without the beach, the movie theater, even football games, but it's painful to drive by my gym every day and know that it's not safe to go in.

[Star-Lantern Weaponer of Qward Find all posts View Profile Close Star-Lantern]

I don't believe the comics industry will rebound...or, it might, but it won't look like what people are used to seeing. So much it depended on people just doing things out of habit, and as has been mentioned, those habits are being broken.

The companies like DC and Marvel will probably start focusing more on bookstores and graphic novels than periodicals and comics shops. You're probably going to see more digital comics, less periodicals, and probably less comics shops. That's not going to jive with a lot of fans, so they'll probably just be out, but many of them were on the brink of leaving anyway, and only hung on out of habit and collecting, not necessarily out of greatly enjoying the stories.

You'll probably see more truly independent comic--like webcomics and crowdfunded comics--get bigger audiences, but I don't believe much of the DC and Marvel crowd will pay those the time of day, because of conditioning and being stuck in their ways. That said, you'll likely see more known names in the industry explore these avenues, and they may bring some of that traditional publishing audience with them.

[Big Blue Lantern Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close Big Blue Lantern]

https://twitter.com/TomTaylorMade/st...037941761?s=19

I certainly feel compassion for those laid off in such perilous times, but I don't think this means DC is folding. Tom Taylor confirmed this as well.