LogFAQs > #956997801

Grischnak posted...

"comics have always commented on social issues" or imply that people are saying the problem with Tim being bi is because we think there's something wrong with being bi. There isn't

Even beyond that, there's the issue that there's a huge difference between "subtext" and "TEXT". Using a group of characters as a metaphor for multiple minority groups (or the original intention, which was simply as a metphor for the alienation teenagers tend to feel because they feel out of place in the world) is a lot different from going "Okay, everybody's gay now".

If anything, the latter is far worse because it just comes across as lazy, preachy, and purely agenda-driven. Whereas the stories where the writer actually used subtext and metaphor was much more likely to be well-received, accepted, and potentially even accomplish the goal of influencing people to see the world from a different perspective.

Basically, it's the difference between telling a good story and laying your message into it, as opposed to bludgeoning people with your message and then forgetting to tell a worthwhile story to justify it.



IronBornCorps posted...

I bet you are lot of fun at parties.

Every single time I see someone use this as an insult online, it always seems to strike me as coming from the sort of people who almost certainly never get invited to parties in the first place.

It's playground-level rhetoric, and is usually indicative of the person having no valid or worthwhile arguments to defend their position, so they have to resort to shit-flinging just to make themselves feel better.

It's about a half-step up from just yelling "NO YOU!" and acting like you're a Master of Quips.



Gaawa_chan posted...

Do you throw a tantrum every time something changes with a character, then? Hair color, height, costume design, etc?

When it's arbitrary? Yes. When it feels pointless? Yes. When it feels like you're making a change solely to pander who don't give a fuck about you and are never going to pay to read your comics anyway? Yes. Comic fans do indeed complain about those sorts of things.

But the funny thing is, most comic fans love change. So long as it's earned. People point to the "Demon in a Bottle" storyline from Iron Man as one of the best storylines in comics, and it basically tells the story of a man who slowly falls into alcoholism, hits rock bottom, struggles to clean himself up, and then in the end makes himself a better person than before - and now having that specter of potentially losing control and falling back into that hole again as a character trait that is ever-present in future stories. That story was told over years (and arguably, has been retold at least once), and fans loved it. The character changed, the fans responded positively.

Conversely, shortly thereafter, Marvel told a Spider-Man story where they were like, "Hah, remember that Spider-Man story from the 70s where there was a clone Spider-Man? Yeah, that was actually the real Spider-Man, and he's back now, and he's replacing the guy you've been reading about for the last 15 years. All those stories you think you enjoyed? Yeah, hah hah, none of that shit matters now. So, yeah, fuck you." Fans... did not respond positively.

(Nor, for that matter, did fans respond positively when Marvel undid years worth of change by having the Devil magically erase Spider-Man's marriage to MJ for incredibly stupid reasons because the editor-in-chief decided he should be single again.)

Write a story well and slowly evolve your character over time in interesting ways and the fans will love you for it. Half-ass ridiculous ass-pull retcons with almost no justification simply because you don't give a shit about continuity, and you kind of earn all of the disdain and negativity you provoke.

And make no mistake, they're fully aware of the negative reaction that's coming. They're praying for that reaction. Most of the time, it's the sole reason they're doing the thing in the first place. Because pissing off the few fans you've got left to spark outrage on Twitter is about the only way they can get the average person to even pay attention to or give a shit about comic books anymore.



Gaawa_chan posted...

Better still? Grow the fuck up.

Perhaps he should strive to show the level of maturity and respect you clearly evince? You are truly a role-model for our times.
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"Wall of Text'D!" --- oldskoolplayr76
"POwned again." --- blight family