And DC Editor Matt Idelson Takes the Gold for Best Dismissive Comment of the Year!
Straight out of the 'Ask Matt' column at Superman Homepage:
fmoon (Email address withheld by request) asks:
As a female fan of Superman I find it very disheartening a certain section of this fandom are going around the internet and accusing DC creators like Rags Morales, Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, James Robinson as woman hating. I for one love what you are doing with Superman and I don't agree nor appreciate the unfair bashing of hard working creators. How do you begin to deal with this kind of irrational hysteria that is in no way reflective of all female fans?
Matt: That's an awesome question, fmoon, and I wish I had a (semi) monthly prize to give you! Honestly, the only way to deal with this sort of thing is to ignore it. The internet invites all sorts of horrible commentary, accusations and rumor mongering, and it's like that 'cause people don't have to sign their name to it or look you in the eye when saying it. It's kind of the coward's domain, in effect. And since none of us in this business can control what other people think, the best we can do is just keep doing our work, sticking to our principles and forging ahead.
I used to read reviews of the books I work on, but so often the "critiques" were unconstructive and generally fell into the realm of things I can't repeat here, rather than a thoughtful analysis of what did or didn't work. Believe me, if I thought I could get useful feedback from the internet, I'd be all over that. That's not to say that every review site falls into this category, but you reach a point where it's just not worth sorting through the noise for useful nuggets of wisdom, you know? Truthfully, the best feedback I get from readers is via this column and when I go to conventions.
Well. This actually makes me glad that the most I'm spending on DC Comics is $5 or less a month if this is how I am valued as a buying customer.
The most disheartening part about this is when other female fans use the 'I'm a female and I don't see the problem' tactic to dismiss issues brought against gender issues that prevail at DC and effectively reinforce the acceptance misogynistic storytelling. (Although the one in this particular post is most likely a troll in any case).
At least I take comfort in knowing that my $5 spent isn't going to a book that's being edited by Matt.
fmoon (Email address withheld by request) asks:
As a female fan of Superman I find it very disheartening a certain section of this fandom are going around the internet and accusing DC creators like Rags Morales, Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, James Robinson as woman hating. I for one love what you are doing with Superman and I don't agree nor appreciate the unfair bashing of hard working creators. How do you begin to deal with this kind of irrational hysteria that is in no way reflective of all female fans?
Matt: That's an awesome question, fmoon, and I wish I had a (semi) monthly prize to give you! Honestly, the only way to deal with this sort of thing is to ignore it. The internet invites all sorts of horrible commentary, accusations and rumor mongering, and it's like that 'cause people don't have to sign their name to it or look you in the eye when saying it. It's kind of the coward's domain, in effect. And since none of us in this business can control what other people think, the best we can do is just keep doing our work, sticking to our principles and forging ahead.
I used to read reviews of the books I work on, but so often the "critiques" were unconstructive and generally fell into the realm of things I can't repeat here, rather than a thoughtful analysis of what did or didn't work. Believe me, if I thought I could get useful feedback from the internet, I'd be all over that. That's not to say that every review site falls into this category, but you reach a point where it's just not worth sorting through the noise for useful nuggets of wisdom, you know? Truthfully, the best feedback I get from readers is via this column and when I go to conventions.
Well. This actually makes me glad that the most I'm spending on DC Comics is $5 or less a month if this is how I am valued as a buying customer.
The most disheartening part about this is when other female fans use the 'I'm a female and I don't see the problem' tactic to dismiss issues brought against gender issues that prevail at DC and effectively reinforce the acceptance misogynistic storytelling. (Although the one in this particular post is most likely a troll in any case).
At least I take comfort in knowing that my $5 spent isn't going to a book that's being edited by Matt.