Nothing is so important that we must sacrifice decency or respect for others.
Last Time on ‘Why, Will’
Imagine this conversation 50 years from now:
“Pep Pep, was there *really* a coronavirus pandemic? And more than 150,000 people died? And the United States kinda did nothing?”
“That’s all true, kiddo. It was a nightmare. Daily!”
“That’s crazy! And terrible! Whatever happened to the person who was president then?”
“They had to hide his grave because people wouldn’t stop pissing on it.”
History is like a book, constantly subject to revision, coauthored by thousands and always on the table for the next person to pick up. And last week, when I took up a question in re: Dave Sim’s “Cerebus,” I was new to the series — new to the *concept*, even, of the lone Canadian cartoonist who set about to tell the story of an aardvark over the course of some 30 years and got lost damn deep in the weeds.
But what skimpy Wikipedia articles and some cursory poking around on Google won’t tell you is exactly how vile Sims is regarding his views on women. This is all old history — as I’ve since learned Sims declared his views point blank in 2001, years after the comic had already taken a misogynistic turn — but it’s new to me. “Tangent,” the first in a series of essays that was originally published in “Cerebus” #265, is shocking in how nakedly bad it is: Sim, explaining how he learned little from research, says his conclusions about women are that they “want to be raped by rich, muscular, handsome doctors b) women are completely self-absorbed and, thus, see themselves in everything around them and c) feminism is no different from communism in that all of its literature is founded upon convoluted syntax, bafflegab and academic jargon[.]”
I have read exactly one issue of “Cerebus,” but in looking at that essay, I know now that it is impossible to discuss even one of Sim’s 6,000 pages without considering his misogyny — it may be possible to have brain worms and not have them seep into a thing (“Dilbert,” outside of the whole idea of life as a white middle manager being some sort of purgatory,” may be an example) but it’s not the case with “Cerebus” given its turns and topics.
I’ll illustrate the problem here with an example from my alma mater: Madison Roberts was a freshman majoring in journalism at the University of Alabama in the 2012-13 school year. She wrote for the student newspaper, The Crimson White, and published many stories, including “When it doesn’t get better,” the sad profile of Brandon Carvord, a gay student who was bullied and tormented on campus after expecting a new life.
“I am an adult. I have been dealing with this since I was in fifth grade, and I’ve already
seen plenty of counselors and therapists,” Carvord said. “I appreciate that the University
has services like this, and I’m sure it helps a lot of students. I’ve already been through my
depressed stage and now, I am who I am and nothing anyone else says or does will change
that. I am proud to be gay, and I feel sorry for those who feel so insecure about themselves
they have to make fun of me for it. I pray for them.”
Carvord, though, doesn’t exist. Roberts was a serial fabricator, only discovered after months of fake stories and sources. She left Alabama in shame.
But because the internet was largely scrubbed of her misdeeds, she resurfaced at New York University and earned a master’s degree.
In journalism.
Because history doesn’t record boldly enough or in enough places “Madison Roberts is a serial fabricator,” she got away with it. Because the book of history wasn’t as available as it should have been, she continues as a journalist now.
History should record that Dave Sim is an irredeemable misogynist who happened to write a comic book. And the first half of that sentence makes the second irrelevant. His work, as writer Eliot Rahal said to me while speaking generally of the abusers in comics, is not so good as to render it indispensable. We don’t need to reach the conclusion of “Sim might suck, but ‘Cerebus’ is worth remembering” as this Comics Alliance piece did because “nuance” and “context” are — in this space — different ways of spelling “escape.”
So let’s say it the way it should be said for history’s sake:
Dave Sim is a piece of shit.
And Now, Your Questions
Tweet me (@willnevin) or just scream at me with some stupid thing you want answered. If you don’t ask me questions, I’ll find you and beg you for them. Don’t make me beg.
@93418: I think reading all of Cerebus is now considered a form of torture in violation of the Geneva Convention. We didn’t know what we were getting into originally when it was coming out, but now we know better. Also, Jeff the Land Shark, breakout movie star?
Even if Sim *wasn’t* a piece of shit, this seems like a good call. Six thousand meandering pages that devolve into one man’s idiosyncratic dookiestew take on religion? Hard pass.
If “Deadpool 3” becomes a thing, I could see it. Lots of “baby shark” and “left shark” potential there.
@mturetsky: You should read all of Groo instead.
I’m game — “sidesplitting tales of the world’s stupidest barbarian” is already a more comprehensible and compelling logline than anything “Cerebus” could muster.
@LanTweets: In the event that DC pulls out of the direct market, what do you predict will happen next?
First, lemme say that DC — even given the layoffs and the cancellations — will be fine…unless of course they turn out not to be. No institution is safe in the 2020 coronavirus hellscape, but it still must be exhausting to ask Jim Lee whether DC will continue putting out comics. (The answer, by the way, is yes, dummies.) Anyway, to your question, what will happen if DC pulls out of the direct market? (Which is not so absurd as to what was asked of Lee — if the digital first model begins to take off — which history says it won’t, but we’re at the end of history anyway — the direct market may no longer make sense in their vision of the contemporary marketplace.) I think Marvel — unlike my fun John Titor fic — doubles down. Hell, just look at those goofy “Wednesday release” alternate covers to get a sense of how loath they are to follow DC in anything.
So if DC no longer participates in the direct market — or if their effective participation dwindles to next to nothing — I’d expect counter messaging from Marvel, something like “We’ll always be there for your local shop,” without Marvel — and by extension, Disney — actually doing anything to stimulate growth.
@LanTweets: Oh, and which heroes are most likely to listen to Korn?
@raspberrysurprs: will do you think rick listens to korn
The answer here is to figure out which heroes are perpetually stuck in 1999, the year in which Korn reached its apex of pop culture relevance with South Park’s season three episode “Korn’s Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery.” It’s not the Punisher who seems stuck in a time at least 15 years earlier — he’d be too into dad rock like Metallica and AC/DC. Iron Man probably has similar tastes, but I could also see him ironically being into Rage Against the Machine a la Paul Ryan. Batman and every sportswriter on the planet grooves to Bruce Springsteen. But the Batfam points toward the most likely option: Damian Wayne.
For him, Korn is a found property: mysterious, different, exotic and not at all totally lame in 2020. His “Wesley Crusher with a bad attitude” vibe lines up perfectly with them.
And, no, Rick (the eternal dark lord featured in “Ice Cream Man”) does not listen to Korn. Rick listens to perfectly arranged symphonies of screams, sobs and tearing flesh.
@kylepinion: Five Years Later is always a great topic!
@willnevin: [gif asking for more specificity]
@kylepinion: Will, there’s only one Five Years Later….
[Legion pic]
@willnevin: This? https://www.comixology.com/Legion-of-Super-Heroes-1989-2000/comics-series/7045?ref=Y29taWMvdmlldy9kZXNrdG9wL2Fsc29fYm91Z2h0L3BkX3NpbXNfczJz
@kylepinion: Yep. First 38 issues is the Giffen stuff. Honestly, I’d love to get the perspective of somebody who is coming in cold and reads that initial issue.
I read it. I really did. And I’ll confess to understanding approximately .0001% of what was going on. What I liked was the structural formalism (that good ol’ nine-panel grid was familiar even if nothing else was) and notes of “Kingdom Come”/whatever other stories in which people think they’ve outgrown the need for superheroes. I also liked the prose…even if the design for the letters was a bit odd.
@BlackFish775: You ever read a comic book called Codename: Knockout?
I did and goshamighty was it tedious. Going into it, I wanted something like “Get Smart,” a goofy sendup of spy tropes with some inherent cleverness. What I got was a braindead “satire” of “bad girl” pinup books. I’ll give writer Rob Rodi credit as a gay man — he didn’t set out to make a thing that embraced the male heterosexual gaze, but that doesn’t make it any less gross or maybe even misogynistic. “Tiresome” is probably the best compliment I can give to issues #0 and #1. I won’t be reading #2.
@BlackFish775: Knowing full well your hatred for the comiXology app, how do you feel about the news that you can now read your comiXology stuff on your Kindle and Kindle app?
Really, if this hastens the demise of the comiXology app and the end of the whole thing as a standalone enterprise, I’m for it. As it stands right now, I have three different types of comics: ones I can read only in the comiXology app, ones I couldn’t buy on comiXology but I can read because I got them through Amazon and ones I got on Amazon but I can’t read in comiXology for…reasons, I guess. Couple that with the refusal to update the app with any meaningful new features or even a good spit-and-polish, and I’m ready for it to die. Give me all of my comics on the Kindle app. At least I know they’ll put some R&D work into it.
@RobertSecundus: listen i know it’s bad to pirate comics but is it bad to pirate geoff johns comics
I was originally going to respond to this tweet, but then I figured I can do that here and produce #content with the added benefit of not having a character limit. The thing about pirating comics (and I know Robert knows this — this was only a goof on Johns) is that you can’t do it, as Joe Friday once said about buying marijuana, without getting your hands dirty. Even when you pirate something like Johns’ upcoming super cereal, super important and super profitable “Three Jokers,” the gross comic pirating websites are getting your clicks, which enable the pirating of books we do love and want to protect. (Basically anything other than “White Knight” and “Three Jokers.”)
So, alas, pirating is bad always and forever.
Your ‘Why, Will’ Weekly Planner
Today, Monday, Aug. 17: The Democratic National Convention begins. Be ready to ignore any and everyone who watches live convention coverage.
Tuesday: “Batman” #97 (remember, it’s a bit now), “Dark Knights: Death Metal: Guidebook” (because the last one was so bad, this has to be better), “Injustice: Year Zero” #4 (or “Why Doesn’t Tom Taylor Have a Real DC Book?”), “Wonder Woman: Dead Earth” #4, “Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia Deluxe Edition” (the one with the badass cover)
Wednesday: “Dead Day” #2, “Rick and Morty Go to Hell” #3…*crickets*
Thursday: Joe Biden will accept the Democratic nomination for the office of president of the United States. For the love of god, don’t fuck this up.
Friday: “Unhinged,” a thriller starring Russell Crowe as a guy who can’t control his temper (real stretch there, fella), is determined to be the first post-pandemic (LOLOLOLOLOLOL) wide release in the United States. Really, if we’re asked to possibly get sick and/or die to see a movie, shouldn’t it have more than a 55 on Rotten Tomatoes?
Saturday: It’s #SaveThePostOfficeSaturday. Please, please, please don’t fuck this up, Joe.
Sunday: On this day in 1775, King George III declared the colonies to be in a state of “open and avowed rebellion.” I would say we apologize, but as much as I’m tired of President Donald J. Trump, that doesn’t make me hungry for Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Stay safe. Stay sane.
Have a good week, y’all.
Will Nevin loves bourbon and AP style and gets paid to teach one of those things. He is on Twitter far too often.
