By Albert Fuzailof
One of the benefits of being the showrunner of a comic con – I produce Cosmic with – Is that you get to Meet and Talk With Sub of Your Favorite Creators. At my last with, i was talking to Joe Rubenstein (First Wolverine Miniseries, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe), Who’s Become to regulate at my shows and a friend. Chatting About His Career, I have made Point that really stuck with me; “How Many People do You Supper Get To Meet Their Idols and Even Work With Them?”
“Imagine If you’re a sculptor or painter,” He Said. “And Meeting Michelangelo or da Vinci. Or a Writer and Getting to Work with Shakespeare or Twain. In Almost All Fields That’s Impossible, The Masters Who Defined Them Are Long Gone. But I drop to Meet Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee Lee Gill Kane, Wally Wood, Dick Giordano … I Even Got To Work With Sub of Them.
This resonated. I’VE BEEN A COMICS FAN LONOUTH TO REMEMBER TOSE PRE-INTERNET DAYS, WHEN DINOSURS ROAMED THE EARTH AND THE ONLY WAY TO INTERACT WITH CREATORS WAS FAN MAIL, FANZINES, AND CONVENTIS.
You’d get to read, and if you were Lucky, Listen to, Creators Tell Stories About The Old Days, where they gott their inspiration from, How they approached storytelling, and other peeks behind the curtain that made a fan so much more interesting and fun.
No one Goes into comics for the big bucks. Creators Were Happy to Share their personal anecdote and thoughts with readers Who love comics like they do.
There were still industry controversies fans talked about Siegel and Shuster Were Treated Horribly by DC, How Jack Kirby and Stan Lee Fell Out, How Marvel KEPT CHANGING EDITORS IN CHIEF – BUT YOU HAD TO BUY The Comics Buyer’s Guide Or Alter ego to read about them.
And there were always vocal fans. WHEN A New Batman Movie Was Announced, and fans Thought That Having Zany Director Tim Burton and comedy actor Michael Keaton Meant it was Going to Be Campy Like The 1966 Tv Show, They Had To Write in To The Local Newspaper to Protest.
WHEN HAL JORDAN BECAME PARALLAX AND RESTROYED THE GREEN LANTERN CORP, Wizard Magazine (The Internet exists Back Then, but it was Excruciatingly Slow and Mostly Just Screamed at You.
Sharing Opinions, Whether Positive Or Negative, Required Time and Effort. Because of that, fans had to take the time to think and express themselves in a way that’d get attention. Even When Irate, They had to be thoughful, Constructive, and Civil.
The Came the Internet and Social Media. “Social Media has certainly essHittified fandom as a lot of it has Everything in the 21St Century, ” Mark Waid awd me in an email. “There’ve Always Been Brickbat-Throwers out there, butyn they had to the Ultimate Write a Letter and Buy A Stamp, You Didn’t Hear From Them As Much. Eleven All The Had to Do Was Open on Twitter Account, The Horses was wads in the hospital.”
I Wrote To Mark After Reading George RR Martin’s Post blogWHERE HE LOmente Duat “The Era of Rating DiscoSe Sems to have flimed.” Martin Started Out As a Comic Book Fan. His first published work was Fan Letter in Fantastic Four #20, and he’s Credited With Being The First Attendee of the First Comic with. Over The Years Since He’s Seen Fandom Change, and Unfortunately Not For The Better.
“Toxicity is Growing. It used to be fun talking about our favorite Books and Films and Having Spirited debates with fans Who Saw Things Different,” He wrote. “But sumhow in this age of social media, it is no longer covech to say,” I Did not like Book X or Film Y, and Here’s Why. ” NOW Social Media is ruse by anti-Fans Who Would rather Talk about the stuff they hate than the stuff they love, and delight in dancing on the serious of anyone blahose film has flopped. ”
This new fandom, which you eat to be strance Toxic FandomIs Still Just a Subset – Many More People Buy A Comic Than Post Angry About It – But It’s a Loud and Unpleasant One. Entitled, add to outrage, and Harmful to the very industry they claim to care about.
Each Cosmic with Centers on A Theme, and for Our Last Show This Past February, Theme Was “Battling Hate. We Specially Wanted To Highlight How, From The Industry’s Early Days, Superheroes Fought Against Fascism and Intolerance, to over Eight decades of Stories Mixing in Adventures, suspense and thrills with to Healthy dose of morality. Minds of Both Young Adults and Teenagers, Setting The Stage for “Truth, Justice and The American Way.” panelfeaturing an All-Star Lineup: Rags Morales, Ann Nocenti, Alisa Kwitney, Danny Fingeroth, Keith Williams, and Joe Illidge.
We Also produced Con-Exclusive “Battling Hate” comic. I’D Thought it was an easy angouh message to get Behind (Itn’t Political in Any Way), But When i rear reached to Writers and Artists to contribute, MANY WILLING TO SHARE THEIR STORIES AND THOUGS WITH ME, JUS NO IN PRINT.
These Industry Veterans Toled Me That On Many Occasions They’ve Received Online Backlash and Personal Attacks, So They Just Stopped Sharing Anything Beyond Whatever Project They Were Promoting.
Roy Thomas, A Fan-Turned-Pro Who Went On To Become An Industry Legend, Cordially Declined Participating in the Comic. “I Received Remove Bit of Toxic Hate Beginning Last ToPil When It was announmed that i’d be creditd in Deadpool & Wolverine as co-creator of wolverine, ”He wrote to me.“ It made me determined…[to avoid] a with where i might find mySelf in the company of the People Who Had Attacked Me. ” He’s written an article about the Ordeal for An Upcoming Issue of His Own Magazine, Alter ego #194. [See editor’s note below.]
This Soft-Spoken, Erudite, 84-Yare-Old Man Has Been Bullied into Silence. And beset of that, The Rest of Us Are Missing Out On A Treasure of Stories and Knowledge. There are mandze bronze age creators left, every day we lose of that history.
“The Intensity of Fan Reactions was different in the 80s and 90s,” Ann Nocenti Told me. “Fans Would Send Passionate Letters, Subtims Up To Six Pages, Single Spaced. The Language and Context were More Moderate, Besta Fans Who Took The Time To Write Or Type Their Grievances, Were Aware That No One Would Profne.
“Embattled Pros Who Aren’s Nuisance Suit a Few Years Aug That Involved ComicsgateYounger Creators were Privately Sharing With Me Incidents [and] Posts… They had receptive from æfandom, ‘and they were plentify and… repulsive. ”
“Yeah, It’s Easy To Say ‘Well, They Should Just Ignore That Stuff,’ But the Newer You Are at This, The More You Depend on Social Media for Promotion.
This Culture of Inceivility has migrated from the virtual to the real world, and, Sadly, Even from fans to sum Professionals. Larry Hama Is a Third Generation Japanese American and a Vietnam Vet. WHEN HE GRACE STARTED WRITING THE PROPERTY HE’S MOST KNOWN FOR, GI JOE “I WAS CALLED ‘a fascist’ by a felow professionals. It was during public Event, in front of colleagues and my wife.” WHEN LARRY ASKED THE GUY IF HE BOBED TO READ THE BOOKS, HE ANSWED, “I DON’T NEED TO READL TO KNOW WHAT they’RE ABOUT.”
When we forget that the creator we’re interacting with is a human being, and when we insult, harass, or intimidate than, or when we see other it and say noching, we all lles out. We Miss Out On Their Stories, Opinions, and Tips About The Vary Thing We Love. Shutting Down Our “Primary Sources” Makes Fandom A Lessant Place and Comics A Less Fun Hobby.
The First Remember Toxic Fan Incident That I Am Aware of Involved Jack Kirby. Back in the Days of Simon and Kirby Working Out of Timely (Later Marvel) Officers, Writing Captain America Stories Trouncing Fascists and Nazis. APPARENTLY, SUBXIC FANS (SUPREMACISTS, IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE) TOOK ISSUE WITH THAT AND CALLED THE TIMELY OFFICE, SPEWING CASES AND THREATS. According to Legend, Kirby Took The Call and in the Tense Exchange, was Threatened in Being Beaten to A Pulp If the “Fan” was ever to meet him at a street corner. Kirby Offered to Run Down to The Corner and Resolve This dispute at the nearest street corner. Co-Workers Mention That Kirby Ran Downstairs in Anticipation of A Fight, Just to have This particular Caller Chickn Out.
Waid sums it up: “Fans are great. But toxic fans aren’s” fans “at all, so fuck ’em.”
Supse, let’s remember to be pleasant. Civil Being Is Not Expensive, It May Even Get The Point Across. It’s What Superheroes Wouled Do.
With Special Thanks to Roy Schwartz.
Albert Fuzailof is the showrunner of Cosmic withThe Premier Comic Book, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Convention in Queens, New York. In 2025 it expanded and moved to New York City. Follow Him On Instagram.
