Andres G - You tell me and we'll both know. The last time I looked there were 1,870 signatures -- 130 to go -- and then the number disappeared for some reason. Convention season has started again, so Alfonso and the STUDIO COMIX crew are pretty sure they can put that "over the top". All I know is what I read in the newspapers. :)
No idea what the "Horned Warrior" piece is from, but it looks as if it was drawn on bristol board and the format is digest, so I'm guessing an illustration for Gene Day's DARK FANTASY fiction zine. But, that's just a guess.
Re: the iPetition: There have been allegations of petition signatures fraudulently obtained. From the Cerebus Facebook group: https://twitter.com/LightningSlim1/status/829891017541312513.
Sounds like a case of the people at the cons not distinguishing between a mailing list and "this is a petition saying Dave Sim is not a misogynist". Hopefully it was just a case of not being clear and not a case of bait and switch.
I'm also amused that the guy read the comics and liked them, and then apparently didn't like them after reading about Dave. Heh.
In other news, apparently #CerebusSyndrome is a thing?
Sandeep Atwal: (Cerebus Facebook Group, 10 Feb 2017) "Alfonso [Espinos] has shown to me, and given to Dave, the petition signed at conventions which Alfonso then uses to update the petition online. He has physical proof, given to Dave, as well as the aforementioned video, of the signatures he collects. He makes it clear what the petition is for. Not everyone signs the petition, and signing the petition is not a requirement for getting the free comics. There's obviously some misunderstanding here."
I always try to remember the old saw, "Don't attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity." I think the petition is dumb and makes Dave look like a joke, and I think that he is a misogynist, but I support Margaret's right to found it, Dave's right to insist on it, and anybody's right to sign it. I hope that this kerfuffle turns out to be the result of some over-zealous volunteer mistakenly adding names to the petition, or some inattentive individual signing what he thought was just a mailing list. And I hope that the matter is straightened out soon.
The "Horned Warrior" is definitely an illustration for a short story. The only thing I remember about it is that he central figure was a captive and was facing the penalty of beheading (the axe in the foreground). I think it was a parable about seeing evil just because someone has devil's horns growing out of his head.
I would point out that I only have a SELECTION of the hand-signed petitions and petition slips that Alfonso got at conventions. Which I requested as souvenirs for The Cerebus Archive. It does seem EXTREMELY unlikely that that many Canadians (Alfonso goes mostly to Canadian conventions) would think that I wasn't a misogynist given the political context we all inhabit -- and Canadians to a far greater extent than most.
I would very much doubt that the matter will be "straightened out" unless we backtrack and e-mail everyone for confirmation that they do, indeed, think that I'm not a misogynist and that they understood what they were signing.
Even if everything turns out to be "kopacetic" the fact that it has taken nine years to get to 2,000 signatures definitely doesn't leave me with an impression that anything has been settled. I infer that Damian's views represent 99.9% of the comic-book field and -- having lived with that for the last 21 years -- I have no problem with continuing to live with that. i.e. Not going out in public.
Most Canadians have no opinion about Dave Sim, because most Canadians have never heard of him. Even most Canadian comics fans don't know who he is. This isn't to slag Dave; the comics field has a regrettably short memory.
In terms of things being "settled", I suggest that they have been. I maintain that the view that Dave is a misogynist is quite accessible to anyone who can read Dave's words. But, in the spirit of reading into the record, I predicted four years ago that Dave would move the goalposts, and that when the petition got 2,000 signatures he would say it took too long and decide to remain a recluse. (He will now say, "I only ever said I would consider going out in public if the petition got enough signatures.")
Of course Dave can do whatever he wants. It would be great to have him at a convention, delivering a presentation on Alex Raymond. That would educate an audience about a largely-forgotten artist and art style (comics' short memory again), and it would seed the comics audience for SDoAR's subsequent publication. But Dave said that what he wants is to sit alone in his room, read the same books over and over, and pray -- again, his perfect right. Just 'cause I'd like to hear what he has to say places him under no obligation to speak.
But that's his decision to withdraw, not the world's decision to banish him.
10 comments:
what's up with the ipetition page?
Andres G - You tell me and we'll both know. The last time I looked there were 1,870 signatures -- 130 to go -- and then the number disappeared for some reason. Convention season has started again, so Alfonso and the STUDIO COMIX crew are pretty sure they can put that "over the top". All I know is what I read in the newspapers. :)
No idea what the "Horned Warrior" piece is from, but it looks as if it was drawn on bristol board and the format is digest, so I'm guessing an illustration for Gene Day's DARK FANTASY fiction zine. But, that's just a guess.
Re: the iPetition: There have been allegations of petition signatures fraudulently obtained. From the Cerebus Facebook group: https://twitter.com/LightningSlim1/status/829891017541312513.
-- Damian
Sounds like a case of the people at the cons not distinguishing between a mailing list and "this is a petition saying Dave Sim is not a misogynist". Hopefully it was just a case of not being clear and not a case of bait and switch.
I'm also amused that the guy read the comics and liked them, and then apparently didn't like them after reading about Dave. Heh.
In other news, apparently #CerebusSyndrome is a thing?
Sandeep Atwal:
(Cerebus Facebook Group, 10 Feb 2017)
"Alfonso [Espinos] has shown to me, and given to Dave, the petition signed at conventions which Alfonso then uses to update the petition online. He has physical proof, given to Dave, as well as the aforementioned video, of the signatures he collects. He makes it clear what the petition is for. Not everyone signs the petition, and signing the petition is not a requirement for getting the free comics. There's obviously some misunderstanding here."
I always try to remember the old saw, "Don't attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity." I think the petition is dumb and makes Dave look like a joke, and I think that he is a misogynist, but I support Margaret's right to found it, Dave's right to insist on it, and anybody's right to sign it. I hope that this kerfuffle turns out to be the result of some over-zealous volunteer mistakenly adding names to the petition, or some inattentive individual signing what he thought was just a mailing list. And I hope that the matter is straightened out soon.
-- Damian
The "Horned Warrior" is definitely an illustration for a short story. The only thing I remember about it is that he central figure was a captive and was facing the penalty of beheading (the axe in the foreground). I think it was a parable about seeing evil just because someone has devil's horns growing out of his head.
I would point out that I only have a SELECTION of the hand-signed petitions and petition slips that Alfonso got at conventions. Which I requested as souvenirs for The Cerebus Archive. It does seem EXTREMELY unlikely that that many Canadians (Alfonso goes mostly to Canadian conventions) would think that I wasn't a misogynist given the political context we all inhabit -- and Canadians to a far greater extent than most.
I would very much doubt that the matter will be "straightened out" unless we backtrack and e-mail everyone for confirmation that they do, indeed, think that I'm not a misogynist and that they understood what they were signing.
Even if everything turns out to be "kopacetic" the fact that it has taken nine years to get to 2,000 signatures definitely doesn't leave me with an impression that anything has been settled. I infer that Damian's views represent 99.9% of the comic-book field and -- having lived with that for the last 21 years -- I have no problem with continuing to live with that. i.e. Not going out in public.
Most Canadians have no opinion about Dave Sim, because most Canadians have never heard of him. Even most Canadian comics fans don't know who he is. This isn't to slag Dave; the comics field has a regrettably short memory.
In terms of things being "settled", I suggest that they have been. I maintain that the view that Dave is a misogynist is quite accessible to anyone who can read Dave's words. But, in the spirit of reading into the record, I predicted four years ago that Dave would move the goalposts, and that when the petition got 2,000 signatures he would say it took too long and decide to remain a recluse. (He will now say, "I only ever said I would consider going out in public if the petition got enough signatures.")
Of course Dave can do whatever he wants. It would be great to have him at a convention, delivering a presentation on Alex Raymond. That would educate an audience about a largely-forgotten artist and art style (comics' short memory again), and it would seed the comics audience for SDoAR's subsequent publication. But Dave said that what he wants is to sit alone in his room, read the same books over and over, and pray -- again, his perfect right. Just 'cause I'd like to hear what he has to say places him under no obligation to speak.
But that's his decision to withdraw, not the world's decision to banish him.
-- Damian
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