Mike Diana: A Different On the Boards



How I missed this, I have no idea. The Mike Diana case was one of the two or three most dramatic in the history of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

What I found fascinating back then was how tenuous the support was in terms of the comics industry really being able to get behind Mike Diana. Some people just didn't get that you fight bad laws when the cases present themselves; you aren't allowed to screen the cases until you find someone perfectly amenable to everyone's aesthetc priorities. For some reason even people fully in support of Mike's case would make sure people knew they didn't like the art, bringing up their displeasure even when it wasn't at issue.

The other odd thing I remember about the Diana case was that I like some of his art, and I thought it was really clear his work in general had obvious artistic value. I found a great deal of it funny, a lot of it effectively horrifying and bleak and thus communicative of a fatalistic worldview common to artists, and the work on the title Superfly visually appealing.

It's hard to believe that this all went down ten-eleven years ago. The Gordon Lee case and the reaction in comics to it today reminds us that some of these biases remain, so perhaps this play and any success it has can serve as a reminder of the potential for harm inherent in not separating our own opinions about art and morality from what I hope is a united front for free expression and the right of adults to enjoy same.

Another thing: if this Mike Diana play makes it to movie form, it should at least be easier to watch than the last time most of us saw Diana on videotape.
 
posted 7:47 am PST | Permalink
 

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