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Sunday, September 24, 2017 

An organized attempt to harass a video commentator at Baltimore's Comicon was discovered

A writer for PJ Media found some disturbing news about several comics writers/editors, including Mark Waid, who implied they'd want to harass, or worse, assault Richard C. Meyer of Diversity & Comics, at the comics conventions. Here's a screencap by Jon Del Arroz of a Facebook page that until now was shrouded in secrecy:

Good grief. This is absolutely stunning. B. Clay Moore, who has his own share of SJW-advocacy, is part of this revolting little clique too? As noted about the other names on the page:
Taylor Esposito is a letterer for DC Comics and is clearly seen on the not-so-secret Facebook page insinuating that critics of their comics are likely to be violent, calling them "nutjobs." Kelly Thompson of Marvel's Star Wars Phasma and IDW's infamous lady Ghostbusters joined in, claiming fear of the awful critics as the major reason she's never been to a con as a professional. B. Clay Moore, who seems to have written something a long time ago, actually suggests harassing Meyer to the point of violence.
From what I know, Meyer is an armed forces veteran. I don't know if he's still employed by the US army, but if he is, they should bear in mind that, just like there's serious penalties for assaulting police officials, there can also be the same for assaulting army officials too, and if anybody does that to a military employee, no matter the rank, they could find themselves on the receiving end of a federal prosecution. And that's why they're making comicdom look worse by running the gauntlet of inciting against critics and detractors. Del Arroz noted:
The Industry is in trouble. Unlike others they have a distribution network only meant to further Marvel/DC properties. For real change to happen, fans have to support indies.
With the possible exception of Moore's creations like Hawaiian Dick. A writer/artist who wants their own work to sell well would do well to recognize that incitement to violence can cost readership.
Meyer believes that the shift from the classic comics to the ultra-political began around 2015 β€” and fans have had enough.
Certainly some notorious examples turned up 2 years ago. But it's strongly advised to recall that the precursors to the current situation began as far back as 2 decades ago, with the Marvel Knights take on Captain America, the Truth: Red, White and Black miniseries and Identity Crisis making prime examples of either political or stealth politics foisted on famous creations.

Waid later apologized (half-heartedly) for his own attitude, but still got some pretty angry replies on his Facebook message (via The Outhousers). Though he seems to have largely abandoned Twitter, he still hasn't learned enough about why his approach is but one of the problems destroying comicdom today, and why his past work from the 90s has to be taken with a grain of salt.

And the "creators" who partook in that secret Facebook page have some explaining of their own to do, for the poor example they set. If they don't like what a critic is saying, just act oblivious to his/her commentaries, and don't go about making degrading comments that only make the industry's reputation worse. Why is it so hard for them to understand that?

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Fun fact: Meyer's YouTube channel has more subscribers than The Avengers had buyers in August.

The "shift from the classic comics to the ultra political" probably began no later than 1970. The medium has leaned at least slightly left since the early Bronze Age.

But it's in relatively recent years that it's become overtly and radically leftist.

Indeed. Look at Secret Empire I in the 70's, which I need to read for the "Number One is Nixon" reveal. Makes Marvel's recent Trump/MODOK gags seem so pedestrian. Until they bring back the Hate-Monger.

I occasionally listen to Meyer's videos, so it sucks that this is happening to him. I suppose the "silver lining" to all this is that the masks are finally off. Then again, given the potshots directed at President Trump at this year's SDCC, this was a long time coming, unfortunately.

And now, it will get more moronic:

http://dailycaller.com/2017/09/19/rose-city-comic-con-bans-marvels-hydra-and-other-nazi-characters/

Better ban the Red Skull/Hydra merch, too, as last I checked, Hot Wheels still sells a Red Skull/Hydra-themed car. I should buy that, before someone decides to recall it. Heh.

The shift leftward began in the 1940s, maybe a bit earlier. You had Joe Simon and Jack Kirby showing how juvenile delinquent street gang members could be reformed by caring about them and giving them a chance, in the Newsboy Legion, which also highlighted the harm done by slum conditions and the people who exploited the slum-dwellers. You had Dick Briefer writing and drawing: The Pirate Prince, about a heroic pirate who sailed the seas freeing slaves from slave ships; First American, about a native Indian sjuperhero who got told 'why don't you go back where you came from'; and in Rex Dexter of Mars, he showed an utopian martian paradise with no money, where people contributed according to their ability and were rewarded according to their needs. Walt Kelly tried for diversity in Our Gang and Pogo with sympathetic, non-stereotyped black characters. Stan Lee tried for diversity with a host of female heroines in the 40s and 50s - Blonde Phantom, Venus, Sun Girl, Golden Girl, Namora, Miss America - an oriental hero in Jimmy Woo in the Yellow Claw strip, and a black African jungle hero in one of the jungle anthologies. EC Comics preached against racism in their stories. Stan Lee in the 60s did several stories about analogues to the KKK and John Birch Society, in which he showed that the bigots were really agents of enemy nations trying to divide the country. Dell and Marvel introduced black heroes in the 60s. Also in the 60s, Bob Haney preached about prison reform in the Teen Titans, about how trust and generosity could reform criminals. Every publisher in the 60s did motherhood stories about bigotry.

You had some right wingers - Ultra Man in All-Star Comics tried to follow the Republican Party line and preached about keeping out of foreign wars in the lead-up to World War II, arguing that ethnics should be Americans first and leave the concerns of their European brethren behind - but that was a lot rarer. In the fifties, during McCarthyism, some of the publishers were scared into following the McCarthy line for a while.

If you hire poor kids who are the children of immigrants working in sweatshops to draw your comic books at low page rates, you are not going to get people who advocate for capitalism against immigrants.

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