That criticism Is always funny to me - If you have a favorite artist, singer, actor, author and you join their social content why would you go on there to bash them?
Different artists/creators handle the criticism/"bashing" in different ways. There is one that I belong to that I found interesting because the artist is clearly reading the criticism and praise from his subsequent output but never directly intervenes in the discussions for fear (presumably) of disrupting them and inhibiting their candor.
Different approaches yield different results in the character and the content of the sites and the relationship between the host and the followers, so I just enjoy each for what they have to offer, vive la difference!
I prefer to called a "sicko-FAN-t", thank you very much.
There's plenty of examples of differing opinions and even out-and-out disagreements on this site with nary a repercussion. Some people are just mad that they can't come on the John Byrne Forum and tell John Byrne the top 15 ways that they think he's an asshole while he has to grit his teeth and smile. Why they want to waste their time doing so is beyond me. But I'll bet that they've read every page of ELSEWHEN, complaining the whole way. Weird way to live.
I’m not inclined to visit other forums, so I sometimes wonder why the JBF is singled out as so utterly vile. Are there no rules elsewhere? Is it all chaos unbound?
Go to the comments section on this. See how many mistakes and even outright falsehoods you can spot (Clue: there are A LOT!)
What’s frustrating, of course, is that virtually NONE of these misstatements would happen if people would just come HERE for the truth. (Not that there would be much impact on the Crusaders. They’ll alway choose the lies.)
I come to this Forum because I'm a John Byrne fan.
John Byrne doesn't (as far as I know) participate in other social media; if I want to hear from JB directly, this is the ONLY place to do that. It's the only place to interact with him, to see ELSEWHEN as its happening, and more.
It's a treat to be here. I don't understand why anyone who thinks they are a JB fan would go to some other site which cannot help but offer so much less than this one.
It’s so complicated. When I want to tell John Byrne something, I have to go to a website and type it into a post. Then, usually within minutes, I get a reply.
Remember, there are lots of sad people with empty lives, and they seek to fill that emptiness with crusades against imagined evils—such as me.
Try to imagine them invading websites controlled by some of the real evils in this country. Websites where they might do some good, but where there might be real world repercussions.
A particularly keen irony is that these type of pathetic people make a point of attacking John Byrne as if to deflate his massive ego when, as he demonstrates all the time on this website, he doesn't seem to have any perceptible self-importance at all. Just last week, he referred to the profession of acting, thus:
<< Silliest job on the planet, really. (Yes, even sillier than mine!) >>
Lookit, most of us are here because we're fans, we love JB's work (and maybe even presume to like the man, as far as this internet medium could allow us to "know" him). But, seriously, for those inveterate Byrne-bashers out there, what's so all-fired momentous about what one old cartoonist says or does, anyway?
The bashing goes back a long way. When I left UNCANNY X-MEN—already a “cult book”—there were many fans who took it as a personal offense. It ties in with what a friend said years ago, that for many readers the monthly experience takes on attributes of a conversation, a dialog between themselves and the writers/artists. But it’s not a dialog for the talent. It’s a monolog.
When I left UNCANNY to take on FANTASTIC FOUR in the eyes of many I went from doing no wrong to doing no right. It took a while to climb out of that hole. And for some I never will.
The anonymity of the internet certainly makes commentators quick to voice their opinions. There are things I like and love about Elsewhen and things I don't care for, but that holds for everything in my life. Substitute the word "Elsewhen" with just about anything else and the statement is still true. Ice cream, books, television shows and everything else under the sun will have aspects you like and dislike. There is no point of constant attack so they are definitely unhappy people.
"LIfe's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets..." you know the rest.