New Brevoort Formspring

I think it’s two things. First off, rape and the possibility of rape is an omnipresent danger for at least half of the population, and one that many people are extremely sensitive about. It’s a serious issue, and should never be taken lightly. But secondly, there are a few readers who are upset with Rick for slights real or imagined who have no compunction about misrepresenting the work he’s done in order to stir up anger among people, in the hopes of getting him fired.

This is very much like the situation early on in the run of SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN, where a few fans outraged at the fact that Peter Parker had been killed spent months telling anybody who would listen that Doc Ock in Spidey’s body had raped Mary Jane, even though nothing remotely resembling that had happened in the comic–AND THEY KNEW IT. It was more important to those people to try to get Dan Slott fired and Peter Parker restored by any means necessary than it was for them to be truthful about the content of the work in question.

I think readers are allowed to feel however they want to about a particular title and a particular creator, and to follow or not follow that title/creator as they see fit–and even to rail against it or campaign against them if they so desire. But this sort of behavior crosses a line for me, it is a disgusting use of the very real and very emotional concerns of a great deal of the population to further an agenda that has nothing to do with the issue in question–and those doing the campaigning know it. Just leaves a bad taste around our entire community.