Toxicity in Fandom

We have encountered a major problem within the community of geekery. My fellow nerds and my fandoms were once a safe escape from the rest of the world. When the jerks of the world were making it hard to get through the day, I could turn to my fictional escapes, and to my friends – online and in real life – that shared the same passions. I could turn to Instagram or Twitter or wherever. I remember being excited for new adaptations of comics or books or games, whatever, just because I had a new version of something I cared about to enjoy.
But things have been going downhill for a while now, and not just for me.

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Heroes in Crisis 5

 

“The secrets of the DC Universe are hacked! Sanctuary wasn’t supposed to keep records, but now that the A.I. is compromised, superhero secrets are leaking all over the ’Net. Booster and Harley set aside their differences to focus on who they believe is the real killer (assuming one of them isn’t lying, that is). Meanwhile, Batman and the Flash continue to investigate the mysterious murderer. The answer can be found in Sanctuary…but is it safe to go digging in the crime scene?”

Heroes in Crisis issue 5 is out today, and Tom King is here to tug on our heartstrings again.

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Heroes in Crisis: Tom is Still the King

DC has been getting a lot of attention for controversial things the last few months: the BatCat Wedding, the infamous Damned insanity – both things I was completely fine with. I loved both issues. And come on, people. Human anatomy isn’t a big deal in a mature title. No one cares about Dr. Manhattan’s penis being out in Watchmen.

That brings me to a new buzz topic: I feel like there is an Anti-Tom King Club, full of some fairly silly people that either don’t understand what they’re reading, don’t get fed their fan fiction they want, or they’re insanely jealous. At the end of the day, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, of course. But I would like my energy to be devoted to doing the opposite of most people – when I love something, I want to talk about it and praise the creators.

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Comic Talk: Why Tom King IS the King

Something has perplexed me in the world of comics, recently: The random whining over the work of current Batman writer, Tom King. For example:

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From Tom King’s Twitter.

I couldn’t understand where this was all coming from. I’ve seen it off and on for a bit, now. If you don’t know much about King, you can listen to his first interview on Bat Force Radio – which is ridiculously enjoyable, and I’ve listened to it more times than I can count. I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting Tom twice in the last few months – both at Fan Expo Canada and Planet Comic Con. It’s easy to gather from meeting him, or even just the podcast interview – Tom King is a fantastic guy. So, the complaints can’t be based on people disliking him as a person.

I thought more about the things people were complaining about, specifically. And this is where I found my answers:

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STL Comics Summer 1 Day

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I first heard about the STL Comics Summer 1 Day show when I saw a flyer at Villainous Grounds, a while back. It sounded awesome – a con focused on comics, with loads of vendors, and only $5 admission for adults. THIS was something I severely needed in my life, since our area feels like it’s lacking this sort of event. That was one of my huge complaints about Wizard World St Louis this year – where the hell were the comics?

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