“As someone who reads comics, watches art film and listens to metal, I'm in a unique position to be driven totally insane by neophytes dipping their toes into the things I'm into and having the nerve-the gall!-to call themselves "fans." I spend a significant amount of time researching the things I'm into and going on excavation digs to find hidden gems in the various forms of art that I love, and so when someone says they're a huge Batman fan after only having seen the Nolan movies, or when someone says they're really into "indie" movies when the only non-blockbusters they've ever seen are a smattering of Wes Anderson films and Juno, or when somebody tries to claim membership to the Metal Club by holding up a Disturbed album as identification, my gut reaction is to get a little irritated, maybe even to retort with a catty putdown. After all, I'm the one who's spent hours, years, of my life plunging the depths of the things I've loved. I've earned the right to call myself a "fan"-how dare you exercise the same privilege after such nominal involvement in that which you purport to love? And then, once that initial wash of indignation has subsided, I climb down off my high horse. I keep in mind that there are people out there who can name every title that the Buscema brothers have ever worked on, down to the issue numbers; I remember that there are film buffs out there that would laugh in my face if I told them that I had never seen a film by Bela Tarr; I consider all the black metal kids with their fathomless collections of demo tapes culled from all over the world and reflect that I will never in my life match their dedication. Fandom is a curious thing: You can't seem to claim membership if you don't try to kick someone else off the docket, and a lot of the time, if you're to believe your peers, your credentials don't seem to be as sound as you think they are, especially if you're a woman or a teenager. Everyone is going to have to take part in a Beta-Male Headbutting Championship over the things they love at some point, but for those two groups it can practically be a given before entering a conversation.”
—I wrote this article for Comics Bulletin. Like everyone else in the world I was inspired to write something about Tony Harris’ absurd outburst on Facebook. I do think that elitism has a tendency to be kind of inherent in any subculture but you fight against that, for God’s sake, you don’t revel in it.
Comics
comicsbulletin.comIf I possess a single genuine nerd credential, it’s my obsession with comics.
When I was kid, my dad used to go away for work and when he returned, it’d be with a pile of comics. Disney and Harvey Comics initially (in retrospect, Baby Huey is actually quite creepy … super-strong, selfish, badly retarded), then as I got older, The Phantom and Mandrake.
The Phantom was bad-ass. Not only was he the ultimate fighting machine, but the comic would give you a proverb (“Old Jungle Saying…”) as the grape-clad hero mercilessly beat the snot out of various pirates and smugglers, permanently disfiguring them with his Skull Ring. Did I mention he also owned an island populated by all kinds of crazy shit … dinosaurs, munchkins, Missing Link-style cavemen, and cats who are friends with dogs (and vice versa). Yep.
I still have an epic “drawing” I did of the The Phantom when I was 12, whereby I traced him shooting an M1911 pistol (The Phantom only used his guns to disarm baddies). Somehow, I fucked it up so that his hand morphed into the pistol and he was shooting using his two fingers, like James Woods in “Videodrome”.
Anyway, I eventually got into harder stuff like 2000AD (a storyline where Judge Dredd turns into a werewolf, called “Cry of the Werewolf”, gave me nightmares for months) and DC Comics. Now I’m at the point where I can tell you the difference between “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, “Identity Crisis” and “Final Crisis”. I don’t say this with pride. I wouldn’t want to tell you the difference, and I’d probably throw up afterwards from shame nausea but, with a gun to my temple, I could explain each “Crisis” and the greater ramifications for the DC Universe.
Essentially, fond childhood memories, indulged over the years, eventually transformed into nerd traits. I’ve even started doing some reviews for Comics Bulletin (“The Internet’s Most Diverse Comic Webzine”) recently. Click the link to check them out.
“When you spend a lifetime trying to find something you don't have, a young man making his way in the world that doesn't love him, doesn't trust him and is trying to kill him, love becomes fear. Baby don't hurt me is what we say when love isn't safe. When the world is full of double agents, cyborg killers, and psychic battles, love is a myth. This quest for love, for a moment of safety in a world of danger and madness is what Luxuia is really about. Sex, drugs, rock and roll, fighting, fucking, betrayal are what you fill a day with when the emptiness of your heart is asking just to be loved.”
—Aaron Myers, during an insanely detailed and gratifying round table discussing Casanova:Luxuria over at Comics BulletinNew article: Motorway to Damascus: Fate and Agency in Dear Esther
My latest article for Comics Bulletin went up a few days ago! I recently played thechineseroom’s Dear Esther, and found that the game’s linearity and symbolism reflects its theme of fate. It was a great experience in which the pieces of the puzzle slowly but surely fell together in my head. I’d highly recommend you purchase and play the game! You can read the article here.
I Write on the Internet Now.
comicsbulletin.comA gig I got thanks to Tumblr and not making friends easily at a young age. My only regret is that I lack the means to travel back in time and tell my mother that, yes, there is a future in video games and comics.
