This is why we can’t have nice things.
First, let’s turn back the clock to Friday’s post, wherein I warned the memebrs of #ComicsGate that they were repeating the same mistakes as #GamerGate and Sad Puppies. A couple of comments seem downright prescient in light of yesterday’s turf war.
First, reader anonme predicted:
I wish all these crowd funded comics luck, but it’s only a matter of time before they are hit with their own BASEDGAMER, and someone takes the money and runs.
Slowly, but surely all the same containment tricks are being used on them, with the ultimate goals being to trap this now self identified community in it’s own little bubble, and then throw enough blood in the water to get them to eat themselves alive. Maybe this is in early enough stages they can avoid that trap.
To which commenter JD Cowan added:
It’s already started fracturing with what Capn Cummings did. It’s water under the bridge, but he privated his videos and vanished. Meanwhile, EVS’s channel grows and grows.
Once a scammer pops up and EVS falls for it, there will be jealous individuals to jump down his throat for it and fracture the whole thing.
But at this point ComicsGate is basically over. The industry has already proven itself to be a rotting corpse with no chance of revival for the exact reasons shown over and over again.
All that’s left is to build alternatives.
Flash forward to yesterday, when Alt-Hero publisher Vox Day made an exclusive announcement at Bounding into Comics.
Vox Day continues to expand his comic book business as he exclusively announced his brand new comic imprint, ComicsGate, with us. This imprint joins Arkhaven Comics as well as Dark Legion.
Take a look at the brand new logo for the imprint:
Why does a guy with two existing comic book imprints need a third? Vox explained:
BIC: How will you differentiate this imprint from Arkhaven and Dark Legion?
Vox: Arkhaven is for the original material that we create. Dark Legion is what other creators bring to us for publishing. ComicsGate is similar to Dark Legion, but it is specifically for creators and fans who wish to make public their support for ComicsGate. We don’t claim to define ComicsGate, we don’t claim to be the official publisher of ComicsGate, and there will certainly be ComicsGaters who will utilize other publishers and distribution channels, this is merely our way of offering our structural support for the people and philosophy of ComicsGate.
The prophesied fracturing took place an hour later when Cyberfrog creator Ethan Van Sciver convened a session of his ComicsGate live stream show to address Vox’s ComicsGate imprint. Van Sciver claimed ownership of the ComicsGate copyright by virtue of his identically named show. He also revealed that he’d issued an informal cease and desist notice to Vox ordering him to discontinue use of the ComicsGate name in reference to his new imprint.
A besetting sin of the Right is that we’re at each other’s throats the second there’s no immediate enemy threat to keep us occupied. Following Vox’s announcement and Ethan’s stream, the usual cast of hatchet-toting subversives came out of the woodwork to settle old scores. VD and EVS had a tenuous truce before yesterday’s Charlie Foxtrot. This time the rift might be permanent.
If you’re wondering how anonme and JD predicted this clown funeral three days in advance–minus theft as the inciting incident, though EVS alleges copyright infringement–anyone who took part in #GamerGate and Sad Puppies saw this sordid mess coming a mile off.
It was nice laughing at the World Con SJWs for eating each other. Now that laughter rings hollow.
At this point, I have no use for moderates. All they do is bite the hand trying to feed them in order to appease those that want them unpersoned.
If gamergate, sad puppies, and comicsgate are any indication, moderates don't get anything done. There are hundreds of examples showing that appeasing the left never works.
If, by this point, you still think that's a working strategy, you've stuck your head too far up your own ass.
I may not agree with everything Vox Day says or does, but the guy is going for the win. Rejecting an experienced guy like Vox Day who is more than willing to help because of wrongthink is just so unbelievably stupid. This is so depressingly laugable.
You bring up a salient point. VD wrote the book on cucks. He must have known how the moderates in CG would react to the BiC announcement.
Whenever Vox has made an apparent misstep before, I've found it useful to keep in mind that he's a strategist, not a tactician. There was no obvious reason to name the third imprint ComicsGate, or even to make a third imprint at all, since Dark Legion already fills the exact same role. Then we have the announcement being made exclusively on BiC, which CGers frequent, instead of on VP, which they don't.
Vox doesn't make big moves like that without considering all the angles and factoring in the second and third-order effects. If I were a betting man, I'd put real money on the announcement having been engineered to get exactly the response we're seeing. Don't be surprised if in a few weeks it turns out that EVS &co. played right into VD's hands.
Exactly. This is why I'm very hesitant to bet against VD.
He has something planned, and it usually ends up blowing in the face of those who go against him. Makes for some great entertainment though, I won't deny that.
It gets deeper. VD told EVS beforehand about the new CG imprint, and he didn't have any objections then. He only objected after it went public.
To borrow a phrase, gammas gonna gamma.
The jury's still out. Ethan claims he only learned about it an hour before his stream went live.
Vox says he spoke to EVS about it for 30 minutes on 8/29. In that case it comes down to which one you trust. Based on past history, I say VD. I could be wrong, and only time will tell, but I haven't seen VD lie yet.
To clarify, I'm not accusing anyone of deception. Let's call it a possible ruse de guerre.
The saddest part is that we on the right end up stabbing each other in the back more than the left do. We gatekeep against each other. We virtue signal to the left that we aren't the monsters that they claim we are. All to one day be accepted back into the fold as it once were. These people are just sjw-lite.
If Vox is lying he'll lose everything as his Castalia House brand will crash all around him. Who would want to work with a man that co-opted a brand name and lied about it. If he's not and I suspect he isn't, that just proves that Ethan was a scumbag moderate left appeaser from the start. A liar to boot. All of this to be invited back to the "cool" kids table.
I was really optimistic that we'd see the right unite to create our own institutions for books/comics with the idea to expand to film and gaming. Instead we go back to our own petty civil war with a "me against the world" mentality.
Your assessment of the Right has merit, but here are a couple of white pills. First, the Left have their own problems, too. We purity spiral, but they orthodoxy spiral.
Second, there's a third option in the CG controversy: honest miscommunication or even straight up cooperation on a shared plan.
I was sorta around during GG and generally aware of the players involved but honestly wasn't too deeply invested. But with CG, given my love of comics, I've been around since just before Zach exploded so its immensely disappointing to see things go this way firsthand.
It seems like now we're going to have to wait and see who is lying: VD or EVS. I appreciate both for different reasons so it'll be unfortunate to find who the liar is. But alas, I suppose its best to find out sooner rather than later.
For what it's worth, there are possible scenarios where neither of them is lying. Human interactions are messy.
The drama is killing me. I’ve been suspicious about EVS for a while, and this confirms those suspicions. I say this because, like Rigel said, I am yet to see Vox lie about anything.
For crying out loud, the right never seems to learn that the most organized wins. Also, “No politics/No messsge fiction!” is, to my mind, becoming increasingly unrealistic and unworkable a standard. All politics reflects values and philosophy, and a fiction has a message. It’s the “What message?” question that’s important, just as much as “Is it good?”
What do you think of EVS's claim that he owns the ComicsGate copyright because of his show and that Vox's imprint is in violation?
I think that’s complete and utter BS. If anything, it’d be a TRADEMARK he should try claiming. But even that, unless you’ve done business under that name, would be a tenuous claim absent registration, as far as I know.
Copyrights protect creative works. A name of a thing someone else came up with is not a copyright.
Thanks for your informed insight.
I think Vox is simply trying to show that he has infrastructure and others do not.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Had to edit because my spelling was off. Sorry about that.
I was mostly aware of Rabid/Sads vs Hugos blow up. So I only have that to compare with comicsgate in its current situation and its like that old, "This has all happened before…" BSG click. Both movements highlighted underpinnings rotting out the core of old guard establishments and I am glad for that. Would it have been better for Vox to just make a different brandname? Was it a major mistep to take the CG tag to another level? I mostly vote with my wallet and I figured the best way was to do just that. Support stuff you love and let the rest of the dust settle.
If I were to have politics in a story, do it like Dune did, showcase the good and bad of your society's various povs/laws ect. Use it with a thoughtful brush. To make people pause and think.
Fiannawolf
“If I were to have politics in a story, do it like Dune did, showcase the good and bad of your society's various povs/laws ect. Use it with a thoughtful brush. To make people pause and think.”
Well said Finna. Maybe that’s the politics/philosophy distinction no one else is really making.
I've written something to that effect before; politics and philosophies that rise out of a story's internal fiction are fine by me, so long as they make sense for that world. Stories that are thinly veiled propaganda for current events and political proselytizing get very old very fast, since they aren't internally interesting or fully realized fiction.
Good points, all three of you. I think everybody's on the same page, here.
Btw Tesh, you've piqued my curiosity. What did you write?
Comics and Diversity has turned and banned people who supported Vox on their facebook page. Turns out that they were gatekeepers as well, they just wanted to be the ones in charge. I just want to read good books.
Many of these comicsgaters cling to the belief that Marvel and DC can be fixed. No. They are gone forever. The quicker they (with diamond) are finished off the faster we can build something bigger and better.
And look how quickly they resort to calling vox a white nationalist, nazi, or whatever. These comicsgate clowns showed their true colors. Glad I did not support a single one of them.
Seeing who's regurgitating the "Vox is a WigNat!" zombie meme has been useful for figuring out who to ignore from now on.
Don’t drive out Vox Day, these idiots NEED him IF comicsgate actually intends to supplant the comics industry. Any five year old can telk you an industry needs infrastructure, something Vox Day is expert at. Without him you’ll just be relegated to one off sungle run indiegogo comics. What if i wanna buy another Cyber Frog a year later? Will i have to pay 2,000 on ebay for a special cover variant sold by some grifter on ebay? Will they have to run ANOTHER indiegogo campaign to reprint it? Fuck outta here
Don't worry, the 2nd indiegogo print run will only cost $50. Way cheaper than the $1000 ebay prices.
This is the main frustration. The unbridled emotionalism and backpatting is disgusting considering the fact that NONE of them have any plan for the future.
They're more content crying over a made up word.
Harrison gets it.
* LONG DIATRIBE FOLLOWS *
Similar to what I wrote on G+, I think ComicsGage Comics was Vox's gift to the #ComicsGate crowd to take their Kickstarters/Indiegogo into comic store support, rather than just fulfilling the crowdfunding orders. EVS shunned the gift.
Here's my speculation (and JimFear hit on this in his Twitter as well):
How does EVS get an issue of Cyberfrog to a kid who hears about this crowdfunder two years from now? He can't unless he's saved a small supply of books. How do any of the #COMICSGATE creators support the comics stores with their efforts? As it stands, they don't. So none of them are a solution to the problem of the distribution chokepoint monopoly that is killing comic book retailers. On top of that, YouTube, Amazon, and Diamond Distributors can cut them all off at the knees tomorrow.
Why ComicsGate Comics? Vox built a channel that could accommodate *PRINT* versions of all of the #ComicsGate efforts, that would allow comic book stores to order theses books — ANY TIME. ON DEMAND.
Current Busted Paradigm:
Little Billy: "I'd like a copy of 'Captain MoxNix' number 61, please."
Store Owner: "Sorry, Billy. Sold out 12 months ago, but I do have a copy of Issue 78. Or I have 200 copies of 'Super SJW Boy-chick'."
Little Billy: "WAAAAAAAHHH!"
New Shiny Pardigm:
Little Billy: "I'd like a copy of 'Captain MoxNix' number 61, please."
Store Owner: "Sure, Billy. I'll put in the order and it will be here next week. Anything else?"
Little Billy: "Yes! Issues 3, 12, 55, and 59, please."
Store Owner: "Ok, Billy. They will all be here next week."
(This is all in addition to the electronic library for eBook.)
Think of deals where the owner orders in bulk for discounts and you see that this might just rescue a store or two from the brink of Marvel/DC/Diamond rapaciousness.
So, who took the deal? Will Caligan.
And, who rejected it? EVS and many of #ComicsGate.
This could have been a test by Vox as well:
(1) See who gets on the ComcicsGate Comics bandwagon, makes great comics, and flips the middle finger to the entire existing Comics Cartel.
(2) See who is playing the pride-based, self-aggrandizement game.
Until the distribution problem is solved, and future comic book readers and comic store owners are factored into the solution, there will be no successful #ComicsGate. It will only be a glitzed-up Vanity Press, benefitting a creator or two here and there for a very limited time after the crowdfunding efforts.
K-selects have to band together and accept that there will be a leader. Not all of us can be that leader. In this case, Vox had the foresight to build the LOGISTICS and thought STRATEGICLY; #ComicsGate has only been TACTICAL.
Vox can win the war where #ComicsGate cannot.
Shorter version: Vox has built the 'Back Catalog' for Comics. The 1970s are back!
Brian,
This whole debacle underscore your acerbic observation there's no deserving but winNing or losing and thwart winners write the narrative.
As I pointed out in other places. I'm stunned at the vitriol. Whatever legitimate differences there are between Vox and the Comic gamers, they need to put them aside to combat the true vile enemy: the social justice fanatics. All else is simply prolonging the violent death throes. There must be no respite to permanently purging those freaks from society.
xavier
Based on the comments left by EVS fan boys, Vox likely noticed that EVS (and D&C) are not really on this side to fight against the SJW, but are just here for personal aggrandizement. They certainly aren't building up a parallel institution, and they quickly disavow when challenged. Cucks and most Gammas, like SJW commies, can't be easily reformed. If Vox is telling the truth, then EVS is not a true man of the right and his allegiance/ally-ship isn't worth a damn as cucks will always crack and betray the second the heat turns up. Moderates, cucks, and the cowardly are worse than enemies, because they end up either abandoning you at the front line or stabbing you in the back right before the charge.
While the Right has its issues with purity spiraling, we need to be wise enough to differentiate when we are in fact purity spiraling rather than clearing our the chaff from the wheat. Like the Catholic Church right now, I wouldn't call the infighting over the sex abuse scandal "purity spiraling" by any means.
Always kill a traitor before an enemy
Been trying to backtrack lots of stuff, even concerning GG and now I understand some of the BasedMama references. Holy Hell in a Hand Grenade. She and that Matt dude fleeced people. The more I dig, the deeper this White Rabbit goes.
https://kiwifarms.net/threads/based-mama.37577/
Maybe its cause I have so much to do beyond internet stuff that I didnt realize the "Skeptic" community was eating itself like a regular Ouroboros. Does everything always end in a Sads vs Rabid breakup?
Do we really learn so little from History? Its really quite disconcerting. I imagine that kiwi thread is just the tip of the Crazy Iceberg. Are all my hobbies in Titanic mode?
At least I know I can give Mr. Brian money and that will translate to fun books. And giant mechs and literal fun things.
The current orgy of blue falconing exemplifies the convulsions you see when an established ideology slips into decline and new ideas start to supplant it. For instance, the whole Galileo affair can be chalked up to Neoplatonists lashing out as their philosophy fell by the wayside.
Today you have a similar changing of the guard in America, but on a much larger scale. From the founding, the US was a Christian nation led by Enlightenment elites. The people's ethnic ties, common cultural understandings, and Christian theology held the country together despite the internal contradictions of its Liberal philosophy.
Now the whole ball of twine is busily unwinding, and the rate of unraveling is rapidly accelerating.
It turns out there's no such thing as equality after all. Liberalism has failed.
Where cucks and moderates enter the picture is the kabuki theater that's masqueraded as a political process for the last century. American politics has been a Globetrotters vs. Generals game between Progressive, i.e. consistent Liberals and Conservative, i.e. inconsistent Liberals for a while now.
Now, what is actually a series of dissident political movements have emerged to upset the apple cart. Their one shared element is a partial to full rejection of Liberal ideas. I'm not talking high taxes or affirmative action. I'm talking egalitarianism and the unrestricted pursuit of personal preferences.
The rub is that the dissidents are going out and winning against the same Lefties whom Conservative Inc. told us were invincible. These wins not only make Conservatives look bad. They expose the long con the Buckleyites have been running for decades. The rubes are in danger of learning that more can be done than managing the decline, and the BuckleyCons can't have that. Their paychecks depend on managed and perpetual Conservative losing.
When a ComicsGate YouTuber burns his pinch of incense to appease trannies, declares diversity to be a universal self-evident good, or urges his followers not to sink to the SJWs' level, you know he's a yesterday man seeking a place on the Washington Generals' bench.
The disavowals and backstabbings are the cucks going into panic mode over their waning influence. Conservatives will have to exit the stage before we can really start winning. Luckily, antics like we've seen recently mean we're in the twilight of Conservatism.
This gives me even more to think about. I'm thinking I should go back and re-read "The Prince". Feels like people plant one kind of flag but try to wave others in its place. Like playing both sides up the middle. I guess what I should really ask myself is "Who has the most to really gain. Who has the most to actually loose."
I have come to despise and hate moderates more than the SJWs. It's not the SJW who keep us from winning but these backstabbing cowardly cucks. What moderates forgot, just like centrist, is that they get the knife from both sides. hope the SJWs and Vox burn and salt the earth with their soy tears.
Hopefully Vox can talk to Alyson Teiman as well. Like HoneyBadgers, Xenospora or not, it's stock she now can't sell in her home country. A nice thumb in the eye of the Mary Sue to offer it as back catalog.
-Meanwhile- in the article, Vox directly mentions Will Caligan, an indie artist who got blacklisted & has been having financial difficulties.
EVS'ego won't allow him to admit Vox is mainly trying to help a guy out.
From my perspective this reflects very, very badly on EVS and perfectly fine on Vox, who did nothing wrong.
Vox took a good bit of money from me for a Will Caligan crowdfund, through Freestartr. That was about 18 months ago, and no book or update. Supposedly Will Caligan's health didn't allow him to make the book, but then he started another crowdfund on Indiegogo for a different book. Vox emailed backers saying they'd still make the book and send it, but that email was about a year ago.
Meanwhile, Ethan Van Sciver has had 3 Indiegogo campaigns for Cyberfrog, still hasn't delivered any of them, and then started a 4th campaign for an "artist's edition" comic. That means he takes somebody else's comic, draws a new cover for it, and sells it to his pathetic fans for $40. The comic he's selling came out last year for $3.99, and it was made by 3 SJWs who hate Comicsgate. They gave him $65,000 for this "crowdfund", and his entire contribution was 1 drawing. He's doing it as a partnership with SJW comic company Dynamite.
If you're gonna crowdfund, you have to ship. I can do it with next to zero resources. The guys with big operations backing them have no excuse.
The whole #ComicsGate scheme was always a grift. Comic books as a viable industry died in the 90s. What we're seeing now is Gen Xers' nostalgia being leveraged.