This is a fanboy post, but I needed to get it off my chest:
Simon Jones on the Icarus Comics blog posted news last week that a manga-ka who passed away may have committed suicide after reading a harsh review of his work online. [Edit: Simon pops up in the comments to remind me and you that this is just a rumour, and an unverifiable one at that, and that this is just a sad state of affairs all around. I agree with him…]
It made me stop to think about the sorts of things I’ve posted and the reactions to them. I just realized that I didn’t name names in my last post regarding who the most awful perpetrators of terrible graphic novels are… I’m not worried about them offing themselves or anything, it’s just because it’s all very obvious. I mean, do you need me to point-and-scream, Invasion of the Body-Snatchers style, every time some lifeless “inspired by the hit film!” piece of tripe hits the stands of your local comic book store? The problem is not the individual books so much as the thinking… or rather thoughtlessness… behind them.
That said, I just read the new Amazing Spider-Man, #552, and it’s awful. That’s no surprise, I read about 20 comics this week and half of them were pretty bad, but this one is written by Bob Gale, who wrote Back to the Future. Why is that important? Other than the failure of the writer on this one, there’s the failure of the editor as well for hiring him… This is the same Bob Gale who wrote Daredevil #19-25 (current series). A story-arc so mediocre that they didn’t even bother to collect it in trade paperback, and considering Marvel was collecting nearly everything at that point, including every Daredevil story, that’s saying a lot. Maybe the creative abortion that was DC’s 52 inspired editor on both projects Steve Wacker to plug-and-pay his writers on the new Amazing Spider-Man like he did with the artists on 52 (and let’s not forget, that story was _so_well_written_ that it necessitated a four-issue mini-series to explain what happened between the 50th and 51st issues, AND a six-issue mini-series afterwards to explain what happened to the bad guys of the whole series), but it didn’t work Steve. This was bad superhero comics, and this is speaking as someone who’s enjoyed AND promoted the new series in store. What made you think this was a good idea? Was it the fact that Gale hasn’t written comics since 2001, the year of his Dardevil run that Marvel have never reprinted?
I thought this was your flagship book?
– Christopher
Having followed the link, it’s overstating the case to call it “news” — it’s not even 100% clear that his death was a suicide, much less that the bad reviews contributed.
And nobody’s going to commit suicide on foot of a bad review (or even a cluster of bad reviews) unless they have serious psychological problems. In which case, there’s no knowing what could trigger a breakdown.
Which is not to say reviewers can do whatever they like, but let’s not overestimate the power of the review. I wouldn’t want the power to make an artist commit suicide, but if I thought I could stop him or her from making shitty comics with a bad review… man, that’d be awesome. Shame it’s never going to happen.
You’re a meanie.
Katherine- Fair enough.
Chip- Agreed.
But, also, you’re my favourite meanie.
This never would have happened if Mary Jane was still married to Spider-Man. >:|
I don’t quite get the connection here. The Icarus blog post got you thinking about the (deadly?) potential consequences of negative reviews… which prompted you to write a really negative review?
I believe you that this is a bad comic book, and I don’t think Bob Gale’s going to kill himself, but I don’t see what you’re getting at here.
Leigh- Sorry, it was very late at night for me when I wrote this, I guess my line of thinking wasn’t as clearly presented as it could’ve been.
–> Simon posts about possible connection between bad review and creator suicide.
–> I think about bad reviews I’ve written.
–> I think about the previous post I just made, where I didn’t actually name anyone whilst giving the industry a bad review, and did reading simon’s post subconsciously affect me?
–> [Missing step] I think that’s nonsense and the only obligation I’ve got is to be honest and accurate when I write things, and everything else is besides the point.
–> For example, I just read this awful Spider-Man comic.
Re-reading it, it’s clearly missing a sentence … Urgh.
– Christopher
Got it! That’s fair.
It’s interesting to see you heap scorn on 52, which is generally held in pretty high regard by the interblag. Is that just nostalgie de la boue d’hier? Is it that Countdown just so bad that it makes anything look good?
I can’t speak for anyone else’s opinions, but I read it, it’s awful. Countdown is worse, of course, but I can’t imagine how the standards got so low that that mess could be considered good comics…
I have customers at the store that liked it, they’re welcome to their opinions of course but I can’t share them. Even on a technical level DC couldn’t fulfill the basic premise of the series: 52 weekly issues to tell a year long story–they needed to kick in an extra 10 issues! Add to that creative inconsistentcy, the lack of resolution to many of the plot threads, the dull and plodding nature of the middle-sections… Awful.
– Chris
To reiterate what Katherine wrote… this is purely an unsettling rumor. And no one is saying that any one review of the (apparently) many bad reviews directed at the deceased artist was the sole cause. (None of the original posts could even be vetted, since they’re all gone.) Doing so would be taking a callously simplistic view of a very complex, tragic subject.
It is an unusually pathetic twist to an already unfortunate story, but no more than that; a strange occurance one hopes is not repeated again.
I’d thought Bob Gale’s two contributions to the Batbooks during NO MAN’S LAND were pretty solid, but that DAREDEVIL storyline… yeah, not so good. (Can’t say I’ll bother with his newest one.)
Needs to work with a strong editor? Still resting on his laurels? The mystery continues.
So does your opening paragraph mean that you don’t care what happens to Bob Gale? A hint maybe?
Personally I enjoyed the Daredevil storyline right up to the resolution when I went WTF?