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Whether we like it or not, comic books are central to much of what we cover here at Last Movie Outpost. They are the prevailing genre at the box office right now, with more to come. Earlier comic book movies started some of our love of cinema, whether it was a wide-eyed child staring in wonder at Donner’s Superman in 1978, or a young whippersnapper thinking Batman Begins was the best movie they had ever seen.
Even some of our first, tentative steps into geekdom were probably taken through the pages of a comic book.
So they do matter, and recently it has been heartbreaking to see them withering and dying as an art form as lines are canceled and retailers are shuttered. One man who works in the industry thought he had a reason why. The Comic Palace store owner Glenn O’Leary stated:
“Writers nowadays, they don’t care about who or what the character is anymore. Most of these new writers don’t have a love of comics like these older writers had. All they care about is ‘How do I put myself in the book?’”
Given what we observe in comics right now, that is a pretty solid theory. So, of course, the pile-ons started. The pack hunters of social media descended. This came to the attention of long-time comic writer Mark Millar.
A veteran in the industry, Millar is the man behind everything from Superman: Red Son to Captain America: Civil War and Kick-Ass. He officially invited O’Leary on his MillarTime podcast to talk about this. Another comics writer, Ethan Van Sciver is also something of a bete-noir of a certain type of comics commentator. He interacted with Millar about this on Twitter, or X, or whatever it is called, about these types of pile ons, simply stating:
“Terrific job, Mark. Thank you. I feel like you might be the only one who can destroy this…evil?” he added. “That’s what it is. It’s killing comics. I’ll get more eyes on this interview right now.”
Then, of course, all hell broke loose. The first sign of mental illness online is usually flags in bios, and here came the flags!
QueerComix’s The Pride writer Joe Glass also chimed in with:
“Getting friendly with [ComicsGate], the latest is a fairly friendly response to EVS it seems. Also highlighted and defended that comics retailer who basically said comics are dying because people are adding diverse elements to existing characters etc”.
And, of course, other greatest hits, such as the culture war being one-sided and anyone they don’t agree with being “far-right” also made an appearance. Here, from Daniel Kalban, the writer of Band of Bards’ American Dreams.
Then they turned on Millar personally by using examples of some of the nefarious schemes of his villains to try and prove he was a wrong ‘un. Yes, you heard that right. Because he writes about evil people doing evil things they tried to make out that this makes him, by association, evil. Guilt by association was a favored tactic of other, famous, evil people in history, wasn’t it?
Millar, of course, was having none of it. He was always going to bite back, and in the process has caused these pile-on instigators Cancel Pigs, which is now trending high on X / Twitter and Instagram.
Over a series of tweets, he went fully offensive:
“We know, of course, what’s really going on here. Cancel Pigs hunt creators under the guise of virtue a) because many of them are sociopaths who take pleasure in hurting others and b) they really want their jobs. See the current situation at the Big 2 for how THAT worked out! 🙂
The most shameful episode in their little reign of terror was their hunting and marginalisation of Howard Chaykin, one of the nicest and most talented creators in the biz. They tried to destroy a man in his 70s for internet likes & pros must never be silent if this happens again.
So many big name creator pals are buzzing about our big ENOUGH last week, but it’s honestly so easy. Just block them and laugh at them. It’s meaningless. These people don’t even READ comics. Never, ever appease or encourage their cruelties.
Some genuine career advice for any wannabe Cancel Pigs – A huge part of freelance life is your peers/ editors wanting to work with you. Everyone just wants to enjoy their job and have fun. If you’re toxic nobody wants to TOUCH you and many of you are in this place now.
You are absolutely not going to get Writer X’s job on Batman if you spend 6 months harassing him into suicide. You will only be remembered by his editor and peers as someone who tried to bankrupt their pal & they will never be there for you. Here endeth the lesson!”
When challenged as to how these Cancel Pigs can hold no power over the industry, but at the same time their ilk can be blamed for the decline of comic books, Millar stated emphatically:
“They. Have. No. Power. I spoke to one of DC’s biggest writers at the weekend and he told me he’s lived in fear of them for years, but I couldn’t emphasise this hard enough, Cancel Pigs hurt people for sport because they’re damaged personalities. You must never take em seriously.
They have zero power over creators, but writers and editors have made the mistake of trying to appease them for the past seven years and its been fiscal suicide.”
Having tried guilt by association, they also then tried the other trusted tactic of Cultural Marxism, to play the man and not the ball. This time they tried to accuse Millar of complicity with Comicsgate. Once again, he batted them away:
“Nice try to the Cancel Pigs trying to frame me as a Comicsgate guy so they can use their typical line of attack. I don’t believe in ANY factions. I’m my own man and I believe in GOOD COMICS.”
Cancel Pigs remains trending across social media.
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