Busiek can't keep himself from insulting the Comicsgate movement
Busiek's filled with distortions again, as he whines and resents the movement trying to get comicdom to cut out the pandering to advocates of censorship and leftist politics stuffed into superhero books, including those he used to script:
Nobody's saying you shouldn't have any, but when you go out of your way to declare your positions superior in every way to theirs, that's when it all becomes awful. Especially when you start taking positions that are divisive, and it wouldn't surprise me if Busiek's support for bathroom bills designed to appease transgender men alienated a lot of women both in and out of the medium, and effectively discouraged them from buying his past work.
Well gee, if you didn't keep standing by in silence while your conservative peers were targeted for their politics, including Chuck Dixon, Mike Baron, Ethan Van Sciver and Jon Malin, things wouldn't be as bad as they are now. But Busiek, obviously bitter about being washed up and not getting serious work at the Big Two anymore, won't consider any of that.
Oddly enough, that's what the SJWs whose side he's actually taking are being: "inoffensive" in terms of sexuality, but not necessarily in terms of violent content. His past work on Avengers in 1998-2002 would be considered abominable by today's standards, as would George Perez's art, all the more reason it's a terrible shame he's taking out his frustrations against Trump voters.
And yet that's not what they do today. Rather, they try to appeal to "niche" crowds, even though it's long painfully obvious these specific groups aren't buying into their visions.
Oh, who cares about Stephen King? He was once considered a big deal when he began his career in the late 60s-early 70s (one of the earliest books adapted to film was Carrie), but since then, the blush is off the rose, and he's become something of a political ranter at times; like Busiek, he leans left.
Today's editors "like" your stuff based on your politics. There's come a situation where, if you cross a certain line, they'll lead to a situation where they'll blacklist you if your standings don't coincide with theirs. The Harvey Weinstein case is vaguely similar, where, if an actress didn't submit to his demands she have sex with him, he sought to devastate their careers. The Australian director Peter Jackson had to apologize to Mira Sorvino and Ashley Judd for being an unwitting accomplice to the undermining of theirs, because Weinstein used cunning defamatory lies to discourage executives from considering them for prominent roles.
They may like his past stuff, but who knows if they'll like his future stuff so much, after that embarrassingly bad moment where he defended the bathroom balderdash? Political standings, if they're really bad, can be influential for the wrong reasons.
Artist Jon Malin stepped in and made an interesting point about what the higher echelons think of the talent they're hiring now:
One of those higher ups at Marvel could easily be Isaac Perlmutter, if only because he never sought to improve their status any more than Ronald Perlman, his predecessor. And if he couldn't show muscle, he's a disgrace. Seriously. Of course, if the staff at Marvel proper matters, Axel Alonso and Joe Quesada undoubtably had plenty of influence over the years. And don't be surprised if Dan DiDio has considerable influence on hiring practices at DC, because he does the majority of speaking, not Bob Harras.
Later, Busiek turned to more distortions not all that different from what you could see in the Gamergate campaign:
I didn't see any insults, if at all, and if he did get some, why won't he post some screencaps for heaven's sake? He just doesn't want to accept that leftism has gotten to the point where female sexuality is considered an abomination in almost every way, while violence, again, may get a pass, and a torrent of leftist politics certainly does. Actually, I think the problem with Busiek's comment is that he considers any disagreement, no matter the tone or content, a "spewing insult". Translation: he just doesn't like dissent.
Well if I didn't want to read Transmetropolitan, it'd be because Warren Ellis' leftism, which surely plays a role in quite a bit of his writing, could be discouraging. Sometimes the politics in various publications are kept restrained enough, but I have no doubt even long before the early 2000s, there were ultra-leftist politics turning up in comicdom that could be quite alienating. In any case, his distortions and dismissals are dreadful, and don't exactly encourage to check out his present work so easily. Certainly not if it's his own creator-owned properties.
Anyway, reading these latest statements of Busiek's, I can only conclude that, even if C.B. Cebulski's a better editor, Busiek still isn't a good fit for writing Marvel books any longer, nor DC books. He doesn't have what it takes to recognize what's gone wrong with the medium today, including his own politics, he succumbed to social justice mentality, and ironically, those same SJWs he supports now reject him because his writing, at least at onetime, represented all they despise. You could call it the "Ghost of Wertham" effect, since the whole problem obviously continued long after the instigator of censorship was gone.
The thing about the Comicsgators is that they seem to think comics pros should operate entirely out of fear. Do not have political opinions for fear of alienating customers!— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) February 3, 2018
Nobody's saying you shouldn't have any, but when you go out of your way to declare your positions superior in every way to theirs, that's when it all becomes awful. Especially when you start taking positions that are divisive, and it wouldn't surprise me if Busiek's support for bathroom bills designed to appease transgender men alienated a lot of women both in and out of the medium, and effectively discouraged them from buying his past work.
Do not respond in any way to harassment or insults for fear of alienating customers!— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) February 3, 2018
Do not put any “political” content in stories for fear of alienating customers!
Naturally, though, the exception is openly-conservative pros, because no one should be penalized for their politics.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) February 3, 2018
Except for everyone, who should live in fear of alienating customers!
Well gee, if you didn't keep standing by in silence while your conservative peers were targeted for their politics, including Chuck Dixon, Mike Baron, Ethan Van Sciver and Jon Malin, things wouldn't be as bad as they are now. But Busiek, obviously bitter about being washed up and not getting serious work at the Big Two anymore, won't consider any of that.
The trouble is, of course, that if all you do is try to be inoffensive, no one’s going to want your stuff anyway. You’d be trying to sell Cream of Wheat.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) February 3, 2018
[Side note: The actual manufacturers of Cream of Wheat make a good living. But not in the entertainment business.]
Oddly enough, that's what the SJWs whose side he's actually taking are being: "inoffensive" in terms of sexuality, but not necessarily in terms of violent content. His past work on Avengers in 1998-2002 would be considered abominable by today's standards, as would George Perez's art, all the more reason it's a terrible shame he's taking out his frustrations against Trump voters.
The trick (to the extent there’s a trick) has never been to appeal to absolutely everyone. It’s to reach and hold an audience big enough to support what you do. The people who aren’t interested won’t become interested if you make it blander.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) February 3, 2018
And yet that's not what they do today. Rather, they try to appeal to "niche" crowds, even though it's long painfully obvious these specific groups aren't buying into their visions.
I mean, think about it. If Stephen King lived in fear of the people who consider his work Satanic, where would he be now? Or even if he lived in fear of the people who think he uses too many brand names.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) February 3, 2018
Oh, who cares about Stephen King? He was once considered a big deal when he began his career in the late 60s-early 70s (one of the earliest books adapted to film was Carrie), but since then, the blush is off the rose, and he's become something of a political ranter at times; like Busiek, he leans left.
Pick a creator. There’ll be people who like their stuff, and people who don’t. This is something every creator learns early on. So “Be scared that people won’t like you unless you’re obedient” doesn’t really work.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) February 3, 2018
If we were obedient, we’d have gone into a different field.
Today's editors "like" your stuff based on your politics. There's come a situation where, if you cross a certain line, they'll lead to a situation where they'll blacklist you if your standings don't coincide with theirs. The Harvey Weinstein case is vaguely similar, where, if an actress didn't submit to his demands she have sex with him, he sought to devastate their careers. The Australian director Peter Jackson had to apologize to Mira Sorvino and Ashley Judd for being an unwitting accomplice to the undermining of theirs, because Weinstein used cunning defamatory lies to discourage executives from considering them for prominent roles.
Anyway, I’m glad there are a lot of people out there who like my stuff. I can’t say I’m all that worried about the people who want to yell at me.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) February 3, 2018
They’re welcome to read stuff they like better. Could be I like that, too. It’s all good.
They may like his past stuff, but who knows if they'll like his future stuff so much, after that embarrassingly bad moment where he defended the bathroom balderdash? Political standings, if they're really bad, can be influential for the wrong reasons.
Artist Jon Malin stepped in and made an interesting point about what the higher echelons think of the talent they're hiring now:
Editorial has used direct political intimidation against it's talent. Higher ups have supported it by doing nothing. They openly show racial and sexual bias in their hiring practices. They clearly believe getting talent to "operate out of fear" is the gold standard, not the fans.— ＭＡＬＩＮ (@JonMalin) February 3, 2018
One of those higher ups at Marvel could easily be Isaac Perlmutter, if only because he never sought to improve their status any more than Ronald Perlman, his predecessor. And if he couldn't show muscle, he's a disgrace. Seriously. Of course, if the staff at Marvel proper matters, Axel Alonso and Joe Quesada undoubtably had plenty of influence over the years. And don't be surprised if Dan DiDio has considerable influence on hiring practices at DC, because he does the majority of speaking, not Bob Harras.
Later, Busiek turned to more distortions not all that different from what you could see in the Gamergate campaign:
So, yesterday I got the spewing insults by explicit Comicsgators who openly said that being political was anti-customer and not folding to insults was anti-customer.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) February 3, 2018
Today, I have the wave of people saying “No, that’s not what Comicsgate is about!"
I didn't see any insults, if at all, and if he did get some, why won't he post some screencaps for heaven's sake? He just doesn't want to accept that leftism has gotten to the point where female sexuality is considered an abomination in almost every way, while violence, again, may get a pass, and a torrent of leftist politics certainly does. Actually, I think the problem with Busiek's comment is that he considers any disagreement, no matter the tone or content, a "spewing insult". Translation: he just doesn't like dissent.
Strangely, too many of their messages go on to argue that bad comics are political and therefore anti-customer, and that pros who didn’t just obey when barraged with insults are appalling people for not just taking it — sometimes for years — with a smile.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) February 3, 2018
One of them insisted that nobody read PERSEPOLIS, MAUS, TRANSMETROPOLITAN or X-MEN: GOD LOVES, MAN KILLS.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) February 3, 2018
So no offense meant, folks, but when you insist that what the Comicsgators are about is something other than what they’re saying or doing, I’m unconvinced.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) February 3, 2018
Well if I didn't want to read Transmetropolitan, it'd be because Warren Ellis' leftism, which surely plays a role in quite a bit of his writing, could be discouraging. Sometimes the politics in various publications are kept restrained enough, but I have no doubt even long before the early 2000s, there were ultra-leftist politics turning up in comicdom that could be quite alienating. In any case, his distortions and dismissals are dreadful, and don't exactly encourage to check out his present work so easily. Certainly not if it's his own creator-owned properties.
Anyway, reading these latest statements of Busiek's, I can only conclude that, even if C.B. Cebulski's a better editor, Busiek still isn't a good fit for writing Marvel books any longer, nor DC books. He doesn't have what it takes to recognize what's gone wrong with the medium today, including his own politics, he succumbed to social justice mentality, and ironically, those same SJWs he supports now reject him because his writing, at least at onetime, represented all they despise. You could call it the "Ghost of Wertham" effect, since the whole problem obviously continued long after the instigator of censorship was gone.
Labels: dc comics, good artists, indie publishers, marvel comics, moonbat writers, politics
