#read something from boom! or image or please for the love of g-d ahoy!

[augustheart]

i think that the cape comics fandom mantra of “comics suck don’t read comics” has been very detrimental to new readers and to the general state of comics fan circles online in general. criticizing something is good and it’s not exactly the death knell of the industry to go “i think this thing isn’t well written/has poor characterization/isn’t well illustrated,” far from it, but i guess it’s just… i don’t think it’s good to only ever tear down and complain about something that you claim to really love.

it’s also just not encouraging for people who want to get into comics. if comics suck and are universally terrible then why should someone read them instead of getting all their information from random comic panels referencing memes posted on twitter? consuming them that way must be inherently superior to actually reading them because comics are bad and these specific scenes are flukes in otherwise terrible issues, right? there's no point in reading comics if they're all just awful.

of course i'm guilty of this. there are definitely characters where i look at their backlog and i'm just like wow, all of this sucks, but at least more and more i'm seeing people explain why they don't like or wouldn't recommend something. and just saying "this comic sucks" can easily be shorthand for "this work has something fundamentally flawed in it like racism or misogyny or what have you" and it's good to discuss those things and call them out when they might be hiding behind a shiny exterior. but while i kvetch and moan about comics all the time i do earnestly love them. more than anything, i want people to love comics the way i do. i want them to like the characters i like and enjoy the stories i enjoy, because some of those stories are the best i’ve ever read anywhere! i want them to see this art form as something worthwhile and incredible!

comics are bad, but comics are also good. i think more people would like them if they knew that.