The Four Color Media Monitor

A few weeks ago, the LA Times ran an article about the Sad Puppies campaign, launched as an effort to balance out the Hugo awards because of leftist biases flooding over. The article is predictably negative, but it still tells something interesting about the campaign's connections with comics, which the awards ceremony does have a spot for, even if text books are still the first and foremost focus of the awards:

The one finalist the Puppies slated that actually finished above “no award” and even won its category? “Guardians of the Galaxy,” the smash-hit Marvel film that grossed more than $770 million worldwide and was so popular, and so obviously disconnected from the Puppy slates, that few of the Hugo voters held its presence on the slates against it.

[...] Works the Puppy slates included that made the Hugo finalist list include the novel “Seveneves,” written by Neal Stephenson, a past Hugo best novel winner and multiple nominee; the graphic novel “The Sandman: Overture,” by Neil Gaiman, also a multiple Hugo winner; the novella “Penric’s Demon,” by Lois McMaster Bujold, who has won four best novel Hugos; and the film “The Martian,” a best picture Oscar nominee (and controversial best comedy Golden Globe winner).

The Puppies will no doubt be happy to take credit for the appearance of these works and others on the finalist list. But, as with “Guardians of the Galaxy” last year, their endorsement probably doesn’t count for much in the grand scheme of things. “Seveneves,” one of the most talked-about science fiction books of 2015, was already a heavy favorite for an appearance on the finalist list for best novel. Likewise, Gaiman’s long-awaited return to the beloved Sandman universe means his finalist listing in best graphic novel was the closest thing to a shoo-in that the Hugos have. If “The Martian” hadn’t been a finalist in its category (best dramatic presentation, long form), people would have been stunned.

As stupid as the writer of this piece is being in all his efforts to make excuses, I think he's still told something that's bound to surprise left-wing comic creators, and even the moviemakers adapting some of this stuff. I don't know how many leftist creators are openly against the Sad Puppies campaign, but if Gaiman were, even he'd surely be surprised to know they've got nothing against his works. (Personal note: I honestly never saw the appeal of his take on the Sandman, and don't think it served Fury/Lyta Hall well if she led an army to slay Morpheus towards the end despite his innocence in the abduction of her child. No, I'm not kidding.)

The reporter sure is making an effort to claim GotG has a disconnect from the Puppy slate, but that's laughable. It just shows that the campaigners are more open to specific products than he wants everyone to think. If George R.R Martin's against the Sad Puppies, one can only wonder what he thinks of their choice based on his onetime readership of Marvel.

Labels: dc comics, marvel comics, msm propaganda, politics