Daily Comics Digression #8: SJWs Hate Him!

Daily Comics Digression #8: SJWs Hate Him!

humor.exe has crashed.

Anyone who follows the Nerd-O'-Sphere will have heard of #gamergate, a countercultural consumer movement.While some people on the left have classified gamergate as a harassment campaign, proponents believe it was/is the voice of the common people staking their position against journalists and a culture that pushes progressivism in pop-culture. Similar rumblings have coalesced into something called #comicsgate.

At the center of #comicsgate is an enclave of youtube comic book critics who lampoon the amount of political correctness, identity politics, and just plain weirdness that makes up modern comics. Although not expressly interested in a particular political movement, the voice that has risen above all the others, becoming a herald of dissatisfied customers everywhere, is an unassuming man named Richard C. Meyer, better known by his handle Diversity & Comics. A progressive's worst nightmare, D&C is a perfect storm of normalcy, an everyman who calls it like it is, unafraid to voice opinions and criticisms that many silence within themselves for fear of being labelled a Nazi by twitter mobs.

One can only chuckle when the brilliance of Meyer's chosen handle is realized. Ostensibly, he chose the name because he felt that the forced push for diversity in comics was unnecessary: comics have had diverse creators and characters for years. Upon closer inspection, Diversity & Comics serves two other purposes. Firstly, it has created a hilarious conundrum for his detractors. D&C often wonders why his critics insist on angrily referring to him by his full given name,
but the truth, I think, is straightforward. Haters of Diversity & Comics cannot let loose the vitriol they wish upon him without denigrating the very thing they supposedly espouse. Can't really say "I hate Diversity & Comics" without sounding like a bigot, can you? This subtle move is so genius that it could have only happened by accident.

Secondly, D&C's own personal history and background is so diverse that it makes attacking him virtually impossible. During #gamergate, opponents could pat themselves on the back, imagining that their enemies were basement dwelling misogynists, ugly troll people who never contribute in any meaningful way to society. Contrast that image with Meyer, a military veteran who has an admittedly mixed ethnic family. He's basically middle America incarnate; hating him equates to hating everyone. Confronted with D&C's image of an everyday father who pretty much just says what everyone thinks when they see a silly comic book page, and it's easy to see why his enemies are stymied.

But things don't have to be this way. Instead of the comic book industry trying to fight D&C and the customers he represents, they should just hire him as quality control. Like a taste tester, if you hand Meyer a comic and it doesn't get ripped, it gets shipped (If you use that slogan, Zack, you owe me).