Even if by some miracle this turns around, I don’t believe in the basic goodness of my fellow Americans anymore, and without this, I cannot write superheroes. There’s no point. When you see a decline in the quality of my work soon, you’ll be able to trace it back to this night.
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But maybe... just maybe this is when the hero shows up.
Sure could use one.
"When you see a decline in the quality of my work soon"
Won't be noticeable.
A hero is most needed in times of despair. That's where the story is
But it's worth reflecting that when Siegel and Shuster created Superman—at what must have felt like the 20th century's nadir—they also rescued the word from fascists who had hijacked it philosophically.
(c.f. Donald Trump's NFT depicting him as a superhero in a red costume—not unlike your Plutonian—and American flag cape. I'm not going to post it in your feed w/o a CW)
I think the decline in your work hit suddenly around ten years ago
I am still a fan of your work up until around 2015-16.
You were a great writer
Instead of dimming your light, be the change you want to see, in the world.
If we all give up the war after one battle, the bad guys really do win.
Works like The Boys have become really popular, and The Homelander has become one of the most iconic superheroes ever!
Even if so many lack that goodness, don’t give up on those who do. Because they’ll need superheroes more than ever.
Be better, for us.
“Heroic people didn’t exist, only heroic actions.
And most times the heroism was a mask for frustration.”
— unknown “certified hero”
Don't give up on the world yet.
We need the anti-hero. We need the person willing to fight oppression, willing to be moral in face of the unjust law. We need kindness, and rage, and community. We need champions in this rebellion.
While it definitely is, it's more of a success of people who don't deny truth but try to challenge the existence of truth as a concept.
Maybe you can't start writing heroes, but you could inform how a villain can fall.
To remind us that we can be better.
Batman doesn’t give up because the Joker got away
Superman doesn’t bow down because Zodd kicked his ass.
Remember, Being a hero ain’t about the getting knocked down ITS ABOUT THE GETTING BACK UP!!!
This weekend I'm at a comiccon helping out at a TARDIS stand and raising money for a charity for young people with disabilities to be more independent
I don't think of that as anything extra on my part nor should it be
https://bsky.app/profile/gwillow.me/post/3lacbbuvmx525
During Covid I wrote a short comic about an apocalyptic world of storms that was so full of anger at people.
More recently people I respected turning out trash has led to a story about killing your heroes.
But yes, the sad truth is that most Americans are bad, ignorant, and bigoted people. But we still must fight for what's right and stand-up to their evil regardless.
Then you wouldn't have a Story to Dell
Marvel treats this altruism as the exception.
If we were just, would we need stories about justice to remind us?
I'm sorry this may permanently negatively affect your work.
The fact so many people saw this guy and thought he was the type of leader they wanted... just has me so disappointed in my countrymen
Unfortunately, the world is gonna need a whole lot of hope and belief in the basic goodness going forward.
Thank you, again, Mark for sharing your gifts and your self with us.
The reason dictators and those of their ilk come for artists 1ST is because we speak to the hearts of their supporters and oppressed equally.
Mark Twain. Upton Sinclair. James Baldwin. John Steinbeck.
It's a long list. Be on it
Frank Miller's Holy Terror comes to mind.. guess we should call ourselves lucky he never did a graphic novel of Farnham's Freehold.
yellow cat loses his innocence and realizes there's bad people out there who permanently hurt you
Superman wasn't so moral because the Kents were typical Americans... but because they weren't.
Batman fights crime in Gotham because it's populated by criminals and criminals with badges, not because Gothamites are on the side of justice and peace.
Reach out to your community and start helping us preserve real American history, digital books, religious texts etc?
We need a distributed preservation system going now. Maybe we can embed it in the games.
And I take comfort in that...
So... Thank you for that.
We need you and your writing. ❤️
It's a reflection of the collective soul.
What is a hero if not one that fights even when all seems lost?
Oh boy, I sure would love to be saved by "I give up" man.
Much love.
Put your energy into fighting back.
And it's nice some of you are finally noticing
All your lives combined are worth "less" than mine to history in the future
I'm still throwing myself under the bus to launch humans back toward their own humanity because what the fuck else is the point?
The character is meant to inspire us to be better. What better time to do that than... Now?
(Except for the Golden Age, when Hitlers came in brown instead of orange)
This shit was unacceptable the first time. The fact we left this man back into office a second time is criminal in of itself.
I will not stand for this.
Secondly, maybe work to change how comics portray leadership.The message that a hero will save us, morality speech prepared, is a comics staple. False leaders are rare.
Why do we fall? So we can get back up again.
Don’t give up.
But we still need characters to aspire too. I've loved your work since Impulse and could really use more of it...
it may be too late, the next 4 years may be the final nail in the coffing of climate collapse, but we shouldn't go gently into the night
You think Americans have a “basic goodness” that other people lack?
You think Americans should have been uniquely immune to demagoguery?
Was the superhero genre just an expression and elaboration of this exceptionalism?
Anyway I’d talk to Black-American comic book writers if I were you.
My people’s entire history is a testament to the opposite.
Black-Americans tend to be more Christian than anyone else because it’s the main way we remain decent despite living in a nation whose authority…
I’m not a Christian, though.
Christianity ultimately asks us to sacrifice and replace our unique, diverse, human ancestral connections in favor of a singular, Yahwist story. It asks us to accept self inflicted cultural genocide.
Indecency all the way down.
But it’s your job to give us better stories than this.
See these problems with the stories and histories we’re handed and write something better.
Or how Star Wars urges us …
Hope to bleakness on a lot of superhero genre stories. And it’s not just in North America. This trend of bigotry, selfishness, and just utter lack of empathy is spreading all over the world.
Seems like we could really do with a (few) superhero(es). The whole world is going to need somewhere / someone to turn to. I’m going to start by just being a bit nicer to people - not sure what else to do…! Take care.
Might be good to freshen up on during which times loads of superheroes were created.
People don't need LESS superheroes. People need less grimdark ultra-edgy hyper-violent superhero trash that DC and Marvel make these days.
Though downside of that is I am still not great at humans
If you ever start it, I'd love to read and support as much as possible. ❤️
You have the power to spread goodness through art that reaches your audience, and that goodness spreads to the people close to them, like candles lighting other candles.
Despair spreads the same way and uses the same amount of energy.
All this to say, please don’t give up. 4/4
This isn't that
We all know both options were dumpster fires. But there's still truth you don't get from the MSM which means you might lack context.