Bookslut talks to former TCJ editor and Journalista! blogger Dirk Deppy on why he’s such a cranky-pants:
One thing a few of us at Bookslut hate the most are the periodic waves of graphic-novels-are-literature-too! articles (see the NYTBR every few weeks…). What do you catch in the news every now and then that makes you want to die?
[snip]
What really makes me want to die? The way industry true-believers assume that comics not featuring capes and tights are seen as diversions that “hurt comics,” and that different and conflicting senses of aesthetics are some sort of personal attack. I realize that this contradicts the nonchalance that I affected in the last answer, but dammit, comics are more than a single genre and a single mentality, and in a better world, comics shops would reflect that. Kids buy manga hand over fist, but wouldn’t set foot in a comic-book shop on a dare, since such places are by and large stuffed with comics for 25/35-year-old men who’ve read Marvel and DC funnybooks for ten years or more and read like weird mixtures of The Super-Friends and The Sopranos. What galls me is the way the funnybook trade press treats all of this as the best of all possible worlds.
I can live with the New York Times’ occasional vacuousness, but if the American funnybook industry’s boosters all had one face, I’d keep punching it until someone called the cops and had me hauled away.
September 12th, 2007 at 10:20 am
I’m getting more than a little bit tired of this straw man argument.
How many people really say this: “comics not featuring capes and tights are seen as diversions that “hurt comics,” and that different and conflicting senses of aesthetics are some sort of personal attack.”
Is he referring to creators? To critics? To “journalists”? To fans?
The only time I’ve ever read anyone write anything close to that is when a fan of superhero comics is talking about his/her preferences. They are discussing what they like in environments (and on message boards) that are designed exclusively for them. It’s important that retailers carry more diverse material, but that won’t be accomplished by insulting the preferences of a portion of the fanbase. They happen to like superheroes. So what?
The “funnybook boosters”, whether on this site, CBR, The Comics Reporter, or the Beat, all advocate for more diversity in comics. I don’t think that too many people believe that diversity is a bad thing in comic books any more.
September 12th, 2007 at 11:03 am
That quote explained so very, very much that I’ve been wondering for a while.
September 12th, 2007 at 11:08 am
dude needs some help…and he ain’t the only one…
September 12th, 2007 at 11:09 am
*Are* there people who really think non-superhero comics hurt comics? I’ve honestly never heard that, and I’ve seen some weird stuff on forums.
September 12th, 2007 at 11:17 am
This: What really makes me want to die? The way industry true-believers assume that comics not featuring capes and tights are seen as diversions that “hurt comics,” and that different and conflicting senses of aesthetics are some sort of personal attack.
and that: if the American funnybook industry’s boosters all had one face, I’d keep punching it until someone called the cops and had me hauled away.
Er, the irony is intentional, right?
September 12th, 2007 at 11:24 am
In addition to the obvious stock on hand, I think one of the main reasons that kids buy at Borders as opposed to Comic Book Shops has to do something with the fact that Borders is a huge corporate store that everyone knows. Kind of like why a lot of people forego really great hole in the wall mexican restaurants in favor of Taco Bell.
Either way, I would be interested in seeing some of these links that Dirk’s talking about.
September 12th, 2007 at 11:49 am
Regardless of whether Mr. Deppey is making a straw man argument, I can’t argue against his inclination to fustigate the visage of the superhero-centric industry.
September 12th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
I don’t recall making any direct diversity arguments, and if I did, I don’t think I’d phrase them in the way ascribed to me. I did talk recently about how you justify such an argument.
I think if I were to make a diversity arguments I’d concentrate less on the rhetoric involved (with the added advantage of not having to go to places where people talk about superhero comics), and more on the ordering habits of Diamond accounts, the small number of accounts that order such material
September 12th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
When I read guys like Deppey rant like this, I truly wonder: what’s the point of reading comics at all if we’re just cursed to be annoyed with people who are fans fo stuff weren’t just not into? What’s the point if it affects our emotions, our daily lives, our self-confidence, our well being?
Why is it like fucking high school for these people? And if it’s so bad, why don’t they do something else that doesn’t make them so miserable?
September 12th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
Niels and Skipper Pickle pretty much sum up my thoughts.
Funny how the people I most see dividing comics fans into “good guys” and “bad guys” are those who poo-poo comics about good guys and bad guys.
September 12th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Mr. Spurgeon,
I didn’t mean to incorrectly characterize your comments. Perhaps “advocate” was too strong. All I mean is that all of the sites that I’ve named cover and discuss comic books that are in a variety of genres. I just don’t think very may people think that non superhero comic books are insignificant, harm the comics industry, or should be viewed as “lesser” than superhero books.
September 13th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
>>Why is it like fucking high school for these people? And if it’s so bad, why don’t they do something else that doesn’t make them so miserable?
September 13th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Dan, if you found that answer, reality would cease to be. Yet, when anyone suggests out loud that anyone in comics has any degree of self-loathing (except, you know, the people doing the autobio comics) the screams against them are loud, and echo for months and months.
Why just at Baltimore, I saw…never mind. I don’t feel like being screamed at, but I saw multiple examples of what a prominent person in this industry was lambasted for daring to suggest a while back, and others shouted that it didn’t, never, and won’t ever exist. I’m going to disappear into a cloud of vagueness here, but kudos Dan - your point stands.
For many people in this industry, the enjoyment has been gone for years and years and years, yet they remain in some masochistic display, pointing fingers, yelling, and talking about how they’d like to punch faces in.
September 13th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
It’s kind of a sad display.
and it’s sad that this comment spans three responses.
September 13th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
I don’t really care about the ratio of superhero to genre to autobio comics…
I just want them to be good and the creators to give a damn.