Comic Books and Facebook - Thoughts?

[JP Sarri]

Originally Posted by wktf

I belong to several Facebook comic book groups and I assume the same is true for many of you. I find them fun because I get to see art from great and/or legendary artists I've never seen before and get to engage in discussions with other similarly passionate and knowledgeable people.

However...

The rancor in some of them, not necessarily I'll-deserved mind you, is so off-putting. There are Kirby and Silver Age groups, for example, where the pure hatred for Stan Lee is venomous. Now, I do get this, given the long history of Kirby's public resentment of Lee, Lee's tendency for self-promotion and glory/credit hogging, and the money that Lee made that Kirby did not in his lifetime. Many feel that Lee cheated Kirby (as well as Ditko, Wood and others) of the credit he deserved as creator/writer as well as artists and, hence, money he should have made.

There are some, like the Jack Kirby group that Eric Larson formed, that forbid this kind of angry Lee vs. Kirby rhetoric in their groups. So they're not all hotbeds of angry name calling.

But my question is about the basically troll-like behavior on these other groups toward other group members who have differing views. I know people are people, and bad behavior is common especially on the Internet. But the personal attacks on some group members who just ask questions or form different opinions have made me consider just exiting these groups altogether. And, this is NOT a reaction to any treatment I've received, personally.

I know, I should and I will do what makes sense for me. I'm just wondering if any of you other comic book lovers have been experiencing the same sentiments and forming the same thoughts about these Facebook groups.

I totally agree with you. I joined many of these groups to have a good time, to engage in constructive conversation, to learn new info and to enjoy unseen art (at least by me). But Sadly, the rhetoric that it is expressed in many of these groups is toxic to the core. The hatred, the name calling and the narrow views are everywhere and turn the members into zombies nodding to the instigators' hateful speech. It is nauseating.

Nowadays, I only check the art for a few seconds, and then I keep scrolling down.

[nbr3bagshotrow]

Originally Posted by JP Sarri

I totally agree with you. I joined many of these groups to have a good time, to engage in constructive conversation, to learn new info and to enjoy unseen art (at least by me). But Sadly, the rhetoric that it is expressed in many of these groups is toxic to the core. The hatred, the name calling and the narrow views are everywhere and turn the members into zombies nodding to the instigators' hateful speech. It is nauseating.

Nowadays, I only check the art for a few seconds, and then I keep scrolling down.

All comes down to the admins/mods of the FB groups. Get decent admins/mods then the group tends to be pretty good. If you have admins that let anything go then it's not a very good FB group.

[JP Sarri]

Originally Posted by nbr3bagshotrow

All comes down to the admins/mods of the FB groups. Get decent admins/mods then the group tends to be pretty good. If you have admins that let anything go then it's not a very good FB group.

You are completely right. The problem is that some of these FB groups are created and administered by individuals that utlized the medium as a soap box. They use their authority as a way to manipulate the view of others, and as a despotic tool to shame whoever disagrees.

The sad part is that they are not doing the artists any favors. They are only widening the generational gap between fans. How can the lifetime work and the legacy of these artists survive among youngsters, when the so-called "protectors of the art" alienate themselves from the rest of the world? It is not only a disservice to the art but to the creators as well.

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by JP Sarri

I totally agree with you. I joined many of these groups to have a good time, to engage in constructive conversation, to learn new info and to enjoy unseen art (at least by me). But Sadly, the rhetoric that it is expressed in many of these groups is toxic to the core. The hatred, the name calling and the narrow views are everywhere and turn the members into zombies nodding to the instigators' hateful speech. It is nauseating.

Nowadays, I only check the art for a few seconds, and then I keep scrolling down.

In all honesty, that type of attitude is everywhere in internet forums and groups these days. It doesn't matter if your talking about comics, movies, video games, politics, various other collecting hobbies, etc. Personally, I think a lot of it has to do with the anonymity of the internet. I think people would be far less likely to act in such a manner if they were forced to use thier real identity online. And unfortunately, this type of behavior has really been like a virus on the internet and has only spread to more and more websites and has only gotten worse and worse as the years have gone by. Its just a very sad aspect of modern day internet activity. I don't really understand why the internet has evolved in this way, but it has and it really can be found almost everywhere these days. Civil forums where people have quality discussions and actually respect other people's opinions, even if they happen to disagree with them, is a VERY RARE thing today.

[Teague]

Like Keith said, one of the reasons I come back to this site is the level of the conversation, which is significantly higher (even when it's sometimes contentious) than on FB.

And yeah, I'll never get the allure of trolling. Or of spite, for that matter. I know some people who don't much care for Stan Lee's treatment of Jack Kirby, and who consider themselves much more a fan of the latter than the former...but they still have a healthy respect for Stan, and wouldn't pass up a chance to see him, shake his hand, get his autograph, whatever. I mean, if support for one person requires the disrespect of another, then you're probably doing it wrong.

[THECLOWN KNIGHT]

I found this article of Vulture(thanks to Comic Book Resources) very interesting.

It's about part of the topic of this thread-Stan Lee-

http://www.vulture.com/2016/02/stan-...rse-c-v-r.html

I wonder if we'll ever see a movie about it.

[Bmutha]

It's the same in statue groups on FB. There are "fanboys" in any walk of life that feel the need to attack others that do not share the same views. Ford vs Chevy, Xbox vs PS, Kirby vs Lee, Marvel vs DC, and so on.