It should come as no surprise to anyone but a complete idiot that I completely reject everything that the so called Comicsgate cabal represents and stands for.
My introduction to comics happened when I was four years old, when I was handed a refrigerator box filled with literally hundreds of comics that covered every genre–and I grew up reading every kind of comic book there was.
I love comics…not superhero comics, not crime comics, not funny animal comics, not war comics…but comics.
The very idea that we are now in a culture in which it’s become necessary to state explicitly that comics are for everybody, that anyone could possibly offer any sort of negative response to this–to what is clearly an inviolable truth–is fucking appalling to me.
The thought that, in this day and age, there would be disagreement about the vital importance…the absolute necessity of cultural, social and sexual diversity in comics…leaves me in complete and utter despair.
To my profound dismay, I gather that there are quite a few people out there in the Twitterverse who, for reasons that sadden me, are under the perverse and ridiculous impression that I am, among other things, a misogynist, a racist, a transphobe.
It would be lovely if those friends of mine who have the ear of such people would hip them to the facts in some way. On as simple a level as outright pragmatism, they’re denying themselves an ally of extraordinary value.
This I do affirm.
And as for those embracing the exclusionary nativist philosophy of Comicsgate, it won’t be necessary to let them know any of the above, since I’ve always regarded being referred to as a “left wing faggot” by some typically anonymous wag of that particular cohort as a badge of genuine honor.
Trust me on this.
As ever, I remain,
Howard Victor Chaykin –– today not merely a prince, but a man among men and a worker among workers.
The first two issues of Howard Chaykin’s latest book,
HEY KIDS! COMICS! is now available in stores and via digital.
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