#Comicsgate - The Culture Wars Hit The Funny Books!

[Miniluv]

I can't help but feel like it's because of the fake geek girls that nerd culture is in the shitter, or at least one of the reasons.

It's definitely one of the reasons, but I think that just stems from the fact that there's no real social cost to being a "nerd" anymore. Kids aren't getting ostracized for reading comics or liking sci-fi and that sense of being something of an outsider was kind of a glue that held geeks together and made it a subculture in the first place. Nerd culture is just regular pop culture now, so it's safe for the fake geek girls to use as a tool to get their boobs more attention like they would in any other social scene and they don't have to worry about being seen as some kind of outcast.

I think the biggest indicator for me that nerd culture was dead and the mainstream was wearing its skin was watching SDCC transform from Mecca for comic book dorks to the world's biggest Hollywood press junket.

 

[Headshotmaster138]

It's definitely one of the reasons, but I think that just stems from the fact that there's no real social cost to being a "nerd" anymore. Kids aren't getting ostracized for reading comics or liking sci-fi and that sense of being something of an outsider was kind of a glue that held geeks together and made it a subculture in the first place. Nerd culture is just regular pop culture now, so it's safe for the fake geek girls to use as a tool to get their boobs more attention like they would in any other social scene and they don't have to worry about being seen as some kind of outcast.

I think the biggest indicator for me that nerd culture was dead and the mainstream was wearing its skin was watching SDCC transform from Mecca for comic book dorks to the world's biggest Hollywood press junket.

I know back in the 2000s and before if you ever an nerd for anything for anything, especially anime and manga, you would get bullied ruthlessly. When did that happen exactly? The SDCC part?

 

[Miniluv]

I know back in the 2000s and before if you ever an nerd for anything for anything, especially anime and manga, you would get bullied ruthlessly. When did that happen exactly? The SDCC part?

Hard to really nail down when exactly the nerd stuff metastasized to that point. I think the success of the first X-Men movie in 1999 can't be understated and that was around the time when the Toonami block on CN started airing DragonBall Z, Sailor Moon, and Outlaw Star.

That same year, The Phantom Menace premiered which was a phenomenon in its own right (even if it didn't really live up to the hype) as it was the return of Star Wars after nearly 20 years and brought in a new audience for it as well as their parents. This was all coming off of arguably the most financially successful decade the American comics industry had seen in a generation, which was kickstarted by another blockbuster genre movie, Tim Burton's Batman in 1989.

I'd say it started becoming a big deal culturally in 1999-2000 and the massive financial success of Iron Man in 2008 meant that Hollywood could no longer consider comic book and geek culture audiences as a niche market. Once the MCU kicked off, geek culture became ubiquitous and Hollywood began strip mining it in earnest. A whole generation has been raised on it and it's just not a big deal to be a "nerd" anymore. Your kid is more likely to be made fun of for not liking the shit these days.

 

[Headshotmaster138]

Hard to really nail down when exactly the nerd stuff metastasized to that point. I think the massive success of the first X-Men movie in 1999 can't be understated and that was around the time when the Toonami block on CN started airing DragonBall Z, Sailor Moon, and Outlaw Star.

That same year, The Phantom Menace premiered which was a phenomenon in its own right (even if it didn't really live up to the hype) as it was the return of Star Wars after nearly 20 years and brought in a new audience for it as well as their parents. This was all coming off of arguably the most financially successful decade the American comics industry had seen in a generation, which was kickstarted by another blockbuster genre movie, Tim Burton's Batman in 1989.

I'd say it started becoming a big deal culturally in 1999-2000 and the massive financial success of Iron Man in 2008 meant that Hollywood could no longer consider comic books and geek culture audiences as a niche market. Once the MCU kicked off, geek culture became ubiquitous and Hollywood began strip mining it in earnest. A whole generation has been raised on it and it's just not a big deal to be a "nerd" anymore. Your kid is more likely to be made fun of for not liking the shit these days.

I find what you typed interesting because whenever the topic of nerd culture hitting the mainstream, the biggest example is the Big Bang Theory when it premiered back in 2007.

 

[Ike Aim]

SimpCast stream back up and post updated if anyone is interested, but it's a slog for educational purposes only.

Never have female friends and never be alone with a woman in circumstances you can't record.

While you can certainly be safe taking the Mike Pence approach to women, it's not my intent to endorse such extreme measures here.

Only that should you encounter aging female comedians with eyes like a traumatized bunny rabbit, who admit they know little to nothing about your field of interest, but who insist that they absolutely must be a part of your community (and bring their sex worker friends, too), maybe consider that your community is being poorly served by the message being sent and you may be walking into a trap that may not spring for years to come. Or not, I mean. No leadership, no responsibility, so there's always letting the whole ship drift wherever it will. I'm sure it'll be fine.

And before I'm accused of being no-fun-allowed, just keep in mind that there's always leaning-in, in a manner of speaking. Take Wal-Mart for example, an evil organization to be sure, but one that has developed elaborate warding rituals to consume all the free oxygen floating amongst their workforce, co-opt the smug energy, and prevent troublemakers from getting a foothold.

Not sure how the specific tactics translate here, but I'm sure the overall strategy is sound. Stay engaged with strong energy and a sharp learning curve and you've probably cut down your exposure to harpies by half.

I guess this sperging is more meant to point out a certain type of low self-esteem female interloper and a general attitude towards the women that are around. It's not addressed to female presence in it's entirety. Martina Markota is what it says on the tin and seems to have ample confidence and options to go with her ample other things. Renie is absolutely charming and talented and makes real contributions that deserve to be taken seriously, despite the horrid treatment she has received by these so-called "Kings" of Comicsgate.

I'll say something nice for X-Ray Girl

Oddly, all the asian females I've encountered in these circles seem like they can hang pretty well. I'm sure there are some nutters, particularly amongst the hafu contingent somewhere, but I've not yet seen it. I dunno what you'd attribute it to. I'd be reluctant to call it "confidence", but maybe being possessed of a strong sense of self. Low emotional-reactivity. They know nerds dig them? I dunno.

I'd say it started becoming a big deal culturally in 1999-2000 and the massive financial success of Iron Man in 2008

"The Cake is a Lie XD", 2007

 

[BlankSpaceBaby]

Your kid is more likely to be made fun of for not liking the shit these days.

Most kids below 15 that I am aware of thumb their noses up at MCU, actually. They are far more excited about Minecraft, Roblox, shooter games, and streaming pirated movies on group movie nights in their personal Discord (or is it Twitch - I'm tad too adult to keep track...).

 

[Elwood P. Dowd]

Most kids below 15 that I am aware of thumb their noses up at MCU, actually. They are far more excited about Minecraft, Roblox, shooter games, and streaming pirated movies on group movie nights in their personal Discord (or is it Twitch - I'm tad too adult to keep track...).

That kind of surprises me. I know Star Wars is deader than Elvis among the under 18 demographic, but last I recall reading about toy sales MCU capeshit continued to do reasonably well. Though I must admit in MCU Phase 4 the only thing I would imagine of interest to the kiddos is likely Spider-man.

 

[BlankSpaceBaby]

Not scientific, just theory: when a young kid watches someone that looks like their fat uncle sperging over consoomer crap on YouTube, they are more likely to go "Eeeuw!" and find those things uncool.

MCU is actively courting the young crowd with its brigade of multi-shaded perfect, super-smart, super-sassy teen genius-martial artist-psychic-whatever female characters, but a part of me wonders whether that will work when the scripts were clearly written by adults that seem to have no personal interactions with their target audience to know what these kids relate to, what to see, etc.

I hang out in the romance and other female-centric book circles, and I know for a fact that while many pay lipservice to how awesome it is to have a stronk, independent womyn in lead roles, they secretly purchase stories of bad boys on Harley and virginal new girls in college. Because the ultimate female power fantasy is NOT an overbearing teen genius beating everyone at everything without effort because WOMYN - it's actually a supposedly innocent ingenue that manages to break down and tame the ultimate bad boy by the power of her love.

That's also why very few female fans REEE about Rey alone - it's always about Rey and the horse-faced douche, because Rey taming the evil bad boy with the power of love IS the female power fantasy here.

 

[Headshotmaster138]

That kind of surprises me. I know Star Wars is deader than Elvis among the under 18 demographic, but last I recall reading about toy sales MCU capeshit continued to do reasonably well. Though I must admit in MCU Phase 4 the only thing I would imagine of interest to the kiddos is likely Spider-man.

Makes sense for kids to like Spiderman instead of Ms.Marvel or whatever shitty All new all different characters Marvel is trying to shill for despite how awful those comics are.

 

[chalkyresidue]

despite the horrid treatment she has received by these so-called "Kings" of Comicsgate.

My theory is that by laughing off that kind of performative sexist-guy pantomime the CG guys are wont to do from time to time, she’s doing two things;

1. flipping the bird at her old boss Heather Antos & associates, who talked a good game about sisterhood but never gave her much action at Marvel…. Literally. All she wanted to do was draw action but they gave her crap like Gwenpool. So she crowdfunds her own book of flimsy framing sequences and protracted fight scenes, and then they leave it for dead.
‘Oh this behavior offends your feminism?? Lol bring it on!’
Leading me to the other point,

2. She is totally aware that to get in with her old crowd’s mortal enemies, you need to give the password. Her first CG stream was on a Shane/Leroy snooze fest. Fiendish was closing out and Shane’s chat was nagging him to bring her on. ( I don’t have the link, but it’s from the original closeout date from Fiendish 1 if you want to confirm)
Shane is leery AF, but she comes on like the most cordial and genial guest you could hope for. They try and see if they can get her to reeee over things like asking her if she’d make a man a sandwich. She got into it, acted as ongoing in the subject as possible. The chemistry was real.

Not between her and Shane, mind you, but between her and the chat. Shane was not in kayfabe tiger mode and seemed like he wanted to pull a Mike Pence.

 

[Miniluv]

I find what you typed interesting because whenever the topic of nerd culture hitting the mainstream, the biggest example is the Big Bang Theory when it premiered back in 2007.

And those characters were still portrayed the way most normies saw people who were into comics and sci-fi. Eggheaded smarts, smug attitude, socially inept. The same stereotypes that had been hanging around since the 60s and 70s when a "nerd" was somebody like George McFly with taped up glasses, a pocket protector, carrying a slide rule. The difference was that they were also written to be somewhat likeable and charming and they managed to get laid a lot so that they were more palatable to normie audiences than actual nerds would be as many of them are abrasive, autistically unfunny, and have terrible personal hygiene. Whoever described BBT as "nerd blackface" was pretty spot-on.

 

[Ike Aim]

My theory is that by laughing off that kind of performative sexist-guy pantomime the CG guys are wont to do from time to time, she’s doing two things;

Indeed, I believe their behavior is in jest and as you say, performative, as is her reaction to it. I'm just busting their balls. I could be naive, but I don't think anyone from CG Kings is pulling a Cecil and working behind the scenes to try and to turn her out for fun and profit. She does seem to take the exposure in stride despite apparently getting more than what she'd bargained for at times (someone showing up at her house, apparently). As for Shane, I don't begrudge him his reactions.

 

[SaidNoOneEver]

Anybody ever heard of Andrey Fetisov? Pretty good likeness of Dankula running for his life, has potential:

Dank retweeted it and now people in his comments are suggesting he crowdfund for it to be made.

 

[Milwaukee Macho Man]

but last I recall reading about toy sales MCU capeshit continued to do reasonably well

I'm like 95% sure most kids don't play with toys much anymore. They're far more into apps and games.

Most Marvel toys are probably either being bought by adults for themselves or for their children in the hopes they'll get into it.

 

[dogemperorofdune]

I'm like 95% sure most kids don't play with toys much anymore. They're far more into apps and games.

Most Marvel toys are probably either being bought by adults for themselves or for their children in the hopes they'll get into it.

Why play on the floor with your imagination and Star Wars action figures in your hands when you can control them and immerse yourself in a 3D digital world? Same thing applies to passively watching American action cartoons, which have declined in the last decade because of video games' success. An action cartoon these days is more likely to be directed at adults, i.e. how Young Justice went from a kids show to one mainly for adults.

 

[Headshotmaster138]

Not scientific, just theory: when a young kid watches someone that looks like their fat uncle sperging over consoomer crap on YouTube, they are more likely to go "Eeeuw!" and find those things uncool.

MCU is actively courting the young crowd with its brigade of multi-shaded perfect, super-smart, super-sassy teen genius-martial artist-psychic-whatever female characters, but a part of me wonders whether that will work when the scripts were clearly written by adults that seem to have no personal interactions with their target audience to know what these kids relate to, what to see, etc.

I hang out in the romance and other female-centric book circles, and I know for a fact that while many pay lipservice to how awesome it is to have a stronk, independent womyn in lead roles, they secretly purchase stories of bad boys on Harley and virginal new girls in college. Because the ultimate female power fantasy is NOT an overbearing teen genius beating everyone at everything without effort because WOMYN - it's actually a supposedly innocent ingenue that manages to break down and tame the ultimate bad boy by the power of her love.

That's also why very few female fans REEE about Rey alone - it's always about Rey and the horse-faced douche, because Rey taming the evil bad boy with the power of love IS the female power fantasy here.

I have a feeling most of those kids that Marvel is trying to catering to have just moved onto Anime and Manga.

Why play on the floor with your imagination and Star Wars action figures in your hands when you can control them and immerse yourself in a 3D digital world? Same thing applies to passively watching American action cartoons, which have declined in the last decade because of video games' success. An action cartoon these days is more likely to be directed at adults, i.e. how Young Justice went from a kids show to one mainly for adults.

I feel like Young Justice should've stayed as a kids show considering how bad it turned after being brought back in Netflix Thank God Specular Spiderman was never revived because I can imagine the bullshit they would pull on it.

 

[5t3n0g0ph3r]

It's just kind of a shame that more of the Shonen/Action/Adventure oriented manga doesn't use colors since like old American comics just brings out more of the energy that's coming out of each panel. Sure it might be expensive yes but if manga wants to make it big here in the States on a mainstream level it has to make some changes. Even the cheapest/poorest American comics were still in color.

Holy shit, your take is so boomer it hurts. Manga has been curbstomping comics in the States for over 15 years.
As for color, oh, boy, have I got a surprise for you:
Here's Dragon Ball IN COLOR!

https://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Ball-Full-Color-Vol/dp/1421565927

The only gripe I have is that only the Saiyan & Freeza arcs were covered in the English release, but Japan has the entire series like this.
To bring this back to ComicsGate, we have something special.
@TheCosmicWarrior has got Amouranth (yes, THAT Amouranth) to interact with him:

In other news, @TheCosmicWarrior is getting into a slapfight with Amouranth over Anime Matsuri and her claims of being groomed by John Leigh:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=9K0zFUUFuJk

https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/9K0zFUUFuJk

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https://youtube.com/watch?v=NImxtUL-MfE

https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/NImxtUL-MfE

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[Mecha II]

Anybody ever heard of Andrey Fetisov? Pretty good likeness of Dankula running for his life, has potential:

View attachment 3555951

View attachment 3555954

Dank retweeted it and now people in his comments are suggesting he crowdfund for it to be made.

The next CashGrab!

Maybe Nerdrotic and Jeremy Griggs will take their "Fandom" to the next level and do comic books themselves, about themselves.

 

[Newman's Lovechild]

Maybe Nerdrotic and Jeremy Griggs will take their "Fandom" to the next level and do comic books themselves, about themselves.

Have you seen the full intro/outro and credit sequence of the Nerdrotic Nooner? They certainly seem like they'd be narcissistic enough.

Maybe they figured out what Frog didn't, that nerdrage superchats rake in plenty of bucks already, without all that pesky work.

 

[FROG]

Have you seen the full intro/outro and credit sequence of the Nerdrotic Nooner? They certainly seem like they'd be narcissistic enough.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=_yQEkrQKds8:12346
Maybe they figured out what Frog didn't, that nerdrage superchats rake in plenty of bucks already, without all that pesky work.

It's definitely a lot of money. They make like five times hourly what I make livestreaming according to Playboards.

https://playboard.co/en/channel/UC5T0tXJN5CrMZUEJuz4oovw