I wasn’t trying to get sucked into The Discourse, but here I am getting sucked into The Discourse.
A comics artist recently put out a webcomic on their personal Instagram about a Cartoon Rabbit who perceives another Artist getting a lot of attention, but only because this person is implied to be part of a special group. The cartoon rabbit calls the Artist’s work “Cal-Arts adjacent”, “mediocre” and “garbage.” The vibe is very “You only got published here cuz you’re diverse.” Clearly, this person has a problem with stories published by socially marginalized people just because they exist.
But the comic itself is also mediocre. The Projection is just…wow.
There are many cardinal comics sins in this thing: the dreaded wall of text. Wonky paneling. Characters with zero personality. And the whole punchline is “Nah, we don’t really enjoy this person’s work. We just say we do to look good.” Which is not much of a punchline. I mean sure, the publishing industry is performative AF. I’ll co-sign that. But to imply that anyone reads queer or POC comics because they’re trendy or virtue signaling short sells them. Dare to believe a POC could make a comic that’s actually good because it’s a unique emotional experience. One you wouldn’t get from the average, mediocre Becky.
And if you can’t relate to that, I’m sorry you hate surfing.
Queer people and People of Color can get to places the average Becky can’t. That’s why our stories are interesting. I have so many comics about surfing. I’m an insane Island Woman with many insane stories to share. I wouldn’t have ended up a surfer if I wasn’t descended from the Caribbean. My flavor makes me special. My surfer stories are about trying not to step on stingrays. I impart Island Woman humor one angry pancake at a time and nobody else serves surfer girl cartoons like I do.
Anyway this is meant to be a lesson for the rest of you. Sure, you can add your spicy opinion to the discourse, especially to help promote your book with An Actually Big Publisher. Marketing is hard. I get it. But be warned. Other artists are watching you. We’re taking notice of how loud and wrong you are.
And we will absolutely call your wall of text with a toothless punchline mid.