The NYCC Counter-Story: Accusations And Public Charges

We've reached a really strange time in the history of comics where the apparatus for disseminating and information from a comics show may be slightly better with charges levied against creators for what they at the show or as a contrasting story to an announcement made at the show than we are the bulk of publishing news.

Despite its shudder and fail with building a significant and traditional art-comics audience, NYCC packs in a ton of people and everyone from the core providers of Hollywood properties all the way out to the traditional book publishers sets up in some fashion in order to benefit. A lot of creators come in, too.

This year my e-mail inbox reverberates with two people accused saying unfortunate to racist things on the floor, and one just generally accused of impropriety in their professional conduct.

* you can go here to see a line pulled by some from a panel Q&A by Axel Alonso from a question-asker who seemed to be aggressively making the case for creators of color writing characters of color. It's further contextualized in subsequent reply-tweets, if you want to read down the page a bit. I think what's being argued there -- and there's no guarantee that I have it right -- is that Alonso disparaged diversity-led, anti-abusive campaigns in general by distancing himself from "social justice warriors," which tends to be a critical term when used. Also, it seems as if his claim to be Korean by marriage might raise an eyebrow or two as claims of being one thing or another are frequently used to duck criticism of industry practice or what gets put on the page.

* Elana Levin at The Beat digs into statements made by writer Peter David against Romanis, the mostly European ethnic group known in my youth by what I imagine has to be seen as a pejorative term these days: gypsies. If that report is accurate, David seems to be saying that his personal experiences grant him license to make the characterizations under fire. David is a generally voluble creator, so I'm sure we'll see a more complete take on that specific charge over the next several days.

* the third one is a hot on-line pass-around featuring what I'm told was a Paul Pope fan tumblr -- I'm not up on my fan tumblrs -- run by David Zissou accusing the former subject of its artistic ardor of various shitty acts, many but not all involving aggressive, lascivious behavior. The artist Brandon Graham claims to be the source of some of the information in the post, and has expressed unhappiness with how what he said was used.

We live in an era where forceful accusations have their own path to news significance distinct from the real-world impact of the behavior in question. I consider it a part of my mission to acknowledge such things here as they pass my personal threshold test, and consider it another part of my mission to remain just as aggressively open-minded in all directions as to their final adjudication. I hope you'll consider a thoughtful standard of your own.

More as it develops in all three cases.

Once again we head into a weekend of a major show -- and there are shows remaining, including one with which I'm involved -- with some concern about the general atmosphere involved in industry activities with a such a strong social element. I again call on all of us to consider the most furious push in the other direction as is possible rather in contrast to simply finding an acceptable point of forgiveness, and that this process start with self-examination. There is a huge opportunity to transform the artistic culture surrounding comics, but it won't come easy. It won't come at all unless we try.
 
posted 11:55 pm PST | Permalink
 

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