I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this not because it's not important or because I don't have strong feelings about it but because it's been talked about at great length already by people far smarter and more eloquent and more connected to it than I am. From Jordie Bellaire's promise of a world of hurt to Andy Diggle's call for publishers to step into this unfortunately ongoing problem to Comics Alliance's Andy Khouri's letter to fake geek guys to Marvel editor Tom Brennan's recent blog post about the recent threats to Janelle Asselin, whose smart and poignant article about a terrible comic cover kicked off this newest sexual harassment debate, there are plenty of places for you to read all sorts of things to cover this. Still, not saying anything feels tantamount to supporting the flaws in the industry. I wish that this wasn't something I had to talk about because I wish it wasn't something that was so pervasive in an industry I adore.
I love comics because comic books are an incredible medium for storytelling, one unique in its layout and its ability to express certain ideas. While superhero comics are the biggest chunk of the market and are the focus of this blog, I love so many other books and I respect that so many other sorts of genres can exist outside of superheroes. However, it tends to be one of those industries that's often hard to love because of its history. There are countless examples of misogyny, sexism, and racism throughout the long and storied history of comics. Still, I like to think we live in a better world now. Of course, I say this as a white American man. I know how easy it is for me to say those things because I'll never have to worry about rape threats or racial intolerance. Like Brennan said in his post, I'll only ever have to worry about how it effects my loved ones, never me. It's unbelievable and it's something we never should have had to be concerned about but it absolutely shouldn't be an issue in the 21st century.
People can use the internet to hide behind anonymous names and to say unconscionable, indefensible, horrible things seemingly without repercussion. Every time people who disagree with them refuse to speak out, it gives them the power to keep saying it. If you live in America (or so many other countries in this day and age), you do have freedom of speech. You can say things. Good work. But that doesn't mean your words don't have consequences. It doesn't mean that you can make threats and attack people with impunity. And it doesn't give any of us the right to sit back and let people get away with it. Speak out. If you see commenters or people on Twitter or on Tumblr or anywhere else making threats or saying terrible things, don't sit idly by. Like I said, there are far smarter and far more interesting people saying things like this all over the internet but I'm addressing it here to make you aware of it, in case you aren't. Sorry if you only come here for the reviews or news or whatever. They'll come back as soon as I write tonight's last post (Actually, the next one will post at 6 PM EST so even sooner than when I write the next one). Thanks for sitting through this one. Sorry if it didn't say anything. Just click on those links at the top and imagine I said them?
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