Internet Trolls Vs Comics

April 2, 2018 7:51 AM

#Comicsgate: How an Anti-Diversity Harassment Campaign in Comics Got Ugly—and Profitable
posted by Artw (19 comments total)

I feel like the lead for any of these stories should always be “YouTube and crowd funding platforms continue to pay abusers to harass people.”

They are nothing without the platforms. YouTube and the rest bear full responsibility for turning this into a repeating social phenomena.
posted by schadenfrau at 8:41 AM on April 2, 2018 [60 favorites]

(Meyer himself has a record in Travis County, Texas, of harassment, stalking, and assault, though he pled down to disorderly conduct. He told The Daily Beast that the charges were over a fight he had with another man over a girl.)

Quelle surprise. Seems like DV is a reoccurring red flag.
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:49 AM on April 2, 2018 [26 favorites]

They are nothing without the platforms. YouTube and the rest bear full responsibility for turning this into a repeating social phenomena.

Unfortunately, we've decided to say that these platforms aren't responsible from a societal perspective. As long as they are allowed to wash their hands, nothing will change.
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:51 AM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

Meyer himself has a record in Travis County, Texas, of harassment, stalking, and assault, though he pled down to disorderly conduct. He told The Daily Beast that the charges were over a fight he had with another man over a girl.

His description of events is telling. He was likely stalking and harassing the woman, but he phrases the problem as a fight he had with another man. Over a girl. The object of his attention. The object.

For those interested, a comics anthology called Mine! A Celebration of Liberty and Freedom for All is donating its proceeds to Planned Parenthood. It's got lots of great stories about women pioneers and public health (and other stores that are just cool!). I have a copy and love it.
posted by Avarith at 9:34 AM on April 2, 2018 [18 favorites]

So a group of young men who hate women are worried that women who make comics (presumably for an audience of people who don't hate women) are somehow going to displace all of the comics made for the target audience of men who do hate women (presuming that there are such things)?

I'm new to the world of comics (and am quite enjoying many of the recent comics made by women), so by all means correct me if I'm reading all of this naively.
posted by pipeski at 9:58 AM on April 2, 2018 [9 favorites]

pipeski: you are depressingly right.

This is yet another example of WMPAs (White Men's Power Advocates) being pissy that they're not being genuflected to and consulted for all things ever.
posted by mephron at 10:04 AM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]

Well, as with all these things it’s also questionable how much they actually give a shit about the ostensible subject of their concern (comics, games, science fiction) versus just hating women.
posted by Artw at 10:20 AM on April 2, 2018 [13 favorites]

I acquired "Mine!" as my last Kickstarter while I could still afford them, and am glad I did. It's still being sold as a "pre-order", even though we kickers have gotten our copies. I recommend it highly, but then, I'm a proud SJW and traitor to all White Males. Mine! was put together by ComicMix, an excellent website that is the opposite of everything the 'Gators are doing.

I've followed webcomics since the 'turn of the century' and not-cis-white-males are a solid majority of the creators of the good stuff in that category. I'm also a big Squirrel Girl fan, and somewhat embarrassed that her author and the first webcomicker to break through into the Big 2 Comics is a dude (a very creative and talented dude, but still...)
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:30 AM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

After Nazi Cap and the Eddie Berganza crap I basically bailed on corporate superhero comics altogether. Although, I did just order the entire run of Copra recently. (Please no one tell me Fiffe is a milkshake duck. My poor heart couldn't take it.)
posted by runcibleshaw at 10:45 AM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

If I had the cash I'd fund a comic about a new hero, WhiteMan. His superpowers include whining about how bad he has it relative to everyone else, being a huge asshole to anyone who isn't also a white man, and smugly declaring innocence whenever he's called on his shit.

Weaknesses include inability to leap tall buildings (natch).

I'd only hire female writers and artists, and I'd make him wear a uniform with tit windows. I bet it would make a mint.
posted by caution live frogs at 10:48 AM on April 2, 2018 [10 favorites]

Seems like DV is a reoccurring red flag.

For like so many terrible to society things. Sometimes I like to fantasize we had a society that arrested and charged people for DV with the frequency and fervor they currently charge people for personal use of illegal drugs, and what that society would look like with these actual menaces removed.
posted by corb at 10:57 AM on April 2, 2018 [29 favorites]

An article ran about this last month, which prompted about an hour of digging on my end. I strongly suspect that the instigators describes are bailing on the #comicsgate hashtag because it didn't have the viral success of gamergate or the puppies (in spite of the some of the same people trying unsuccessfully to promote it.)

Assholes are assholes regardless, but these guys don't appear to have that much traction after about two years of trying to become the next viral anti-feminist sensation.
posted by GenderNullPointerException at 11:08 AM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

For like so many terrible to society things. Sometimes I like to fantasize we had a society that arrested and charged people for DV with the frequency and fervor they currently charge people for personal use of illegal drugs, and what that society would look like with these actual menaces removed

Nah, just like with drugs they'd just be arresting a shit-ton of people of color for one-time incidents and putting them in jail for decades and then the NYT would run a think piece about how insane it is that *young white men* are *suddenly* succumbing to the lure of domestic violence. And blame it on the rap music.
posted by teleri025 at 12:45 PM on April 2, 2018 [8 favorites]

An article ran about this last month

I considered linking that one too, if it’s this one, but it’s intolerably both-sidesy and for some reason leaves out the glaring transphobia that has been a major DInC signature.
posted by Artw at 12:50 PM on April 2, 2018

After Nazi Cap and the Eddie Berganza crap I basically bailed on corporate superhero comics altogether.

It's tough, because the same people who approved Nazi Cap also let Sana Amanat run Ms Marvel - one of Marvel's break-out characters of the past few years.

And the small press/indie publishers are much MORE likely to bend to the will of comicgaters - like when Aubrey Sitterson was (maybe) dropped from a GI Joe book by IDW due to online pressure.

And if you go full-indie, there's still no guarantee, when superstars like Paul Pope are accused of being sexual predators.
posted by thecjm at 3:05 PM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

we've decided to say that these platforms aren't responsible from a societal perspective.

I don't recall ever being consulted.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 5:43 PM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

Also in depressing/awful comics news: longtime comics writer Gerard Jones pled guilty to possession of child pornography. A bunch of fellow writers wrote letters of support for Jones when he originally pled not guilty and told at least one of them that the charges stemmed from possession of legally-published (in Japan) manga.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:22 PM on April 2, 2018

Assholes are assholes regardless, but these guys don't appear to have that much traction after about two years of trying to become the next viral anti-feminist sensation.

Honestly, I think a lot of the wind was taken out of their sails when Marvel went and blamed their decline in sales on diversity, and not their incredibly screwed up distribution methods. And then went and canceled pretty much all the comics the comicgaters were complaining about. They geeks weren't prepared for an easy win, so a lot of them went off to campaign against The Last Jedi and Black Panther.

But, I'm noticing a disturbing trend of guys dominating the comments sections of webcomics created by women artists, that feature female lead characters. Their common refrain seems to be "This woman you write is evil, and you're writing the comic wrong." Strong Female Protagonist has had hundreds of comments in the discussion page second guessing and criticizing the main character's actions; How to be a Werewolf had commentators so angry about a werewolf not slaughtering a pregnant, helpless woman, that they were writing complete scripts for what the artist should have done. Over on Mare Internum, the main female character is despised by a number of vocal fans...and so on. I'm seeing it happen on other webcomics as well.

I'm not about to go on Reddit or 4Chan to see if they're organizing, but I'm really wondering if the movement has diffused and become a general attack on women-run webcomics.
posted by happyroach at 11:23 PM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

Oh god, if these chucklefucks go after webcomics I don't know what I'd do. And it's an entirely online medium, so really vulnerable to their brand of shit.
posted by Berreggnog at 2:05 AM on April 3, 2018 [1 favorite]