Mike Choi had the following to say on his Blogger account recently:
Why I don't allow comments on this blog
"I sure hope this isn't a Marvel marketing ploy, if it is I will
When people and their audience are anonymous, there's no incentive to think about the content, plausibility, or credibility of what you're about to say. THIS is why the internet comic fan community feel like they're not being paid attention to. Because you can't.
No, it isn't that he doesn't allow comments. No, it isn't about his reason for not allowing comments.
It's
dismissing the whole of internet comic book fandom by the way a relatively small percentage of the whole wield their anonymity like a weapon.Marvel Comics put out survey forms in some of their comic books a few months ago (and what a colossal mistake that was, IMO). Other than assuredly having made a purpose of some sort, you could not have any certainty that the results weren't manipulated enough to render the data invalid.
As long as comic book companies give no other form of feedback (besides sales to retailers) for their target audience, you HAVE to attempt to find some formula for reading and reacting to the internet comic fan community. It might be a smart idea if the larger companies came up with a registration process that at least confirmed home address (can't login until you've received y
our PIN on a postcard, possibly) so that they have a way to hear the signal through the noise.Oh...regardless of whether he still wants to make love to me...I do feel it necessary to point out one of his best blogs. The man draws a purty picture and is a heckuva storyteller, too.
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I agree with what you're are saying, but there is much merit to what Choi was saying as well. I think he was looking at it in a more personal and immediate way however, whereas you used it as an indictment of the comic industry and how the fans get fucked a lot. Both of you are right. We do get screwed over by the big a lot, hence the fanboy rage on message boards, which is continuously ignored in a vicious cycle.
ReplyDeleteAnd also, some fanboys are over the top and idiotic, like you have on any message board for any topic I guess, and the post Choi highlighted is a great example of that.
I get what you're saying. I'm not trying to say that there isn't any merit to Mike's point of view. But I do feel that he's exaggerating the overall situation by trying to take the worst of the lowest common denominator and act like it's great example of the average comic fan interaction.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree with that. I think he was just frustrated at what he took as an over-the-top comment, or at least I hope so.
ReplyDeleteYou're right though, that is NOT indicative of every fan posting on boards though. There are many, many great fans to meet and wonderful discussions to be had on the boards.
I have to say though, the posters that ARE whiny and trollish do seem to be the most prolific and vocal, which annoys me to no end. They are also the easiest to single out, which Mike obviously did.
By the way, I just discovered your blog thanks to "Marvel Boy" and "Mr. Anonymous", and I love it, but it could do with a little less bickering between you and Slott! It's not very fun for us casual fans to read, haha. ;)
I think the internet slapfight between Dan Slott and I will finally die down now.
ReplyDeleteOn the prolific nature of the trolls, for every troll post there's often 10-20 lambasting them for being a troll.
Then it is the nature of what gets said by the polite posters versus the trolls. You're much more prone to remember a poster saying someone should get dunked in a vat of acid than the poster saying a professional has guided their favorite company to the top.
Like I said, I think Mike Choi is great. I just disagree with his stance on this. You might be right that it is a bit of a knee jerk reaction that he felt in the heat of the moment.
Hi Kevin - I love your blog.
ReplyDeleteObviously my post is a bit of a blanket statement on my part. I'm on blogs and messageboards all the time, getting a lot of great insight from the people who make up the comic community, pros, corporate, retailers, and the fans. It's there, you just have to look for it :)
The only thing is, and I'll admit it, overwhelming negativity bothers me. Comments designed to just be snarky, antagonistic and sarcastic. And while I'm willing to wade through them on public forums to get to the constructive criticism (holy crap, Cap DOES look like a 12-year-old in X-23!), I'm unwilling to put up with even the possibility of that on my doorstep. People who want to talk to me and give me feedback know where I am (I refer to the Bendis board and Millar world all the time in my blog) and they do, and positive or negative (which, even if it's not constructive, comes from not-a-bad-place), I always appreciate it when anyone talks about me (ego).
My blog isn't intended to be two-way discussion, I go to messageboards for that. My blog is just me being emo and talking about bs that I'm surprised if anyone gives a crap about. In fact, I think I have a post about pooing in Portland.
That's my flimsy excuse, I know. I appreciate the compliments Kevin, and it's very nice of you to say them.
mike
If you're still reading, Mike...I completely get the whole "no comments" thing. I think that is a fair way for bloggers to go when they're just looking for an outlet to talk about whatever strikes them.
ReplyDeleteIt was about potentially dismissing the internet comic fan community at-large for the actions of the lowest common denominator. Very glad to see your clarification of this...and for you to drop in on the blog, sir. ;)