Comic book professionals Mark Waid and Larry Hama went out of their way to attack Mark Millar for highlighting how the comic book industry is on the rocks.
Chrononauts Vol. 1 (2015), Image Comics
Millar has made headlines recently by defending comic book shop owner Glenn O’Leary who criticized Marvel and DC writers in a now-viral video.
O’Leary said, “Most of these new writers don’t have the love of comics that these older writers had. And all they care about is, ‘How can I put myself into the book?’ No, we don’t what you would do if you were Iron Man. We don’t care who you are. You’re writing Tony Stark. You’re not writing yourself in a book. If that’s the case write your own comic with you in it and no one will read it because nobody cares.”
30 year comic shop owner.@BleedingFool @Marvel @DCOfficial @JimLee @Todd_McFarlane @CBCebulski @chrisbraly @CriticalBlast pic.twitter.com/7ySjFEYGp9
— Ty (@DefNotTy) December 3, 2023
Millar would host O’Leary on his Millar Time show as well as a number of other retailers including John Robinson, Phil Seymour, and Ryan Seymour.
Not only did he discuss the various problems with these retailers, Millar made a point to call out what he describes as “Cancel Pigs” who “hunt creators under the guise of virtue a) because many of them are sociopaths who take pleasure in hurting others and b) they really want their jobs. See the current situation at the Big 2 for how THAT worked out! :)”
We know, of course, what’s really going on here. Cancel Pigs hunt creators under the guise of virtue a) because many of them are sociopaths who take pleasure in hurting others and b) they really want their jobs. See the current situation at the Big 2 for how THAT worked out! :)
— Millarworld (@mrmarkmillar) December 10, 2023
He added in a separate post, “A Cancel Pig is someone who hunts pros for sport or that retailer Glenn O’Leary last week. They’re beneath our contempt and it’s been happening too long.”
It’s not people who disagree with me. That’s absolutely fair enough. A Cancel Pig is someone who hunts pros for sport or that retailer Glenn O’Leary last week. They’re beneath our contempt and it’s been happening too long.
— Millarworld (@mrmarkmillar) December 11, 2023
Millar drew the ire of Waid, Hama, and others after he made reference to a book titled The Strange Death of American Comics that according to Millar is “about an obnoxious UK comic-book blogger and his inner circle and how they destroyed the thing they loved by spending 20 years chipping away at everyone they could working in the industry.”
The book is apparently going to get adapted into a documentary as well.
…destroyed the thing they loved by spending 20 years chipping away at everyone they could working in the industry. His partner is a film-maker and she is going to make a documentary about the irony of people who professed to love something ultimate destroying it.
— Millarworld (@mrmarkmillar) December 14, 2023
First, Waid targeted Millar passive aggressively alluding to him without mentioning his name. He posted to Facebook, “And like a falling star rocketing across the sky, another former comics superstar whose heat is fading chooses to cry for attention by blaming the industry, his peers, and the audience rather than taking stock of his own professional progress, admitting that we are often the authors of our own fate, and finding the courage to reinvent himself and stay relevant.”
Waid continued, “It’s really Not. That. Hard. My star’s not gonna burn forever, either. No one’s does, and accepting that fact gracefully is a sign of emotional maturity. But if I ever, ever become That Guy, every single one of you has permission to slap me upside the head and force me to re-read the above paragraph as many times as it takes to sink in.”
Mark Waid Facebook
In the comments he dismissed the complaints from the retailers that comics are dying due to characters being written “out of character” or being taken over by “self-inserts.”
Waid wrote, “All this complaint about how ‘comics are dying’ because familiar characters are being written “out of character” by people who want to ‘self-insert’ their own political causes or turn them into ‘SJW mouthpieces’…but not one single legitimate example given. Not *one.* Who? Superman? Batman? Green Lantern? Flash? Wonder Woman? Spider-Man? Captain America? Daredevil? Iron Man? Nightwing? Harley Quinn? Damian Wayne? Seriously, what am I missing here? Have these complainers read a single Marvel or DC comic in the 2020s?
Mark Waid Facebook
Unsurprisingly, when given a number of examples, he moved the goal posts, ” Cap hasn’t been written by Coates for some time now. The Punisher book that’s being published today isn’t reflective of your complaint. Isn’t that what you wanted? Why are you arguing so hard for something you already have? As regards the current X-books, I need you to be more specific about your complaints. In what way are they any more SJW then they have been for decades?”
He continued, “I’m not ‘benevolent’; I simply acknowledge that not all of these comics are written to my specific taste, any more than the war and romance books were when I was a kid. Or any more than half the DC and Marvel superhero line when I was a teenager. And that’s perfectly fine. Just because I don’t like something doesn’t automatically make it bad. I’m not trying to minimize the fact that there are real problems in the industry right now. But strawman complaints about comics that simply don’t exist aren’t helping.”
Mark Waid Facebook
Waid would go on to reveal, he has no intentions of trying to save the dying industry, but would rather have it burn to the ground.
He wrote, “I think a lot of us would just rather see the industry burn down than ‘get together’ with the alt-right. I know I would. Sorry.”
In another expected move, he then positioned himself as a victim, “And I call bullshit on ‘anyone who tries to highlight the issues gets piled on.’ I think it’s far more accurate to say ‘anyone who wants to blame everything on SJWs gets piled on’ or ‘anyone who wants to complain that their favorite characters are being written as political mouthpieces but can’t provide any examples of this is being piled on.'”
Mark Waid Facebook
As for Hama, he went with ad hominems right out of the gate, “Did a Google dive on this wahoo, and it confirmed my suspicions. All it takes for a self-involved asshole to reveal their true colors is the smugness that comes from making big media money. Turning on Gail is utterly reprehensible. I need to wash my eyes…”
Larry Hama Facebook
What do you make Waid and Hama’s attacks on Mark Millar?
