North Carolina Comic Shop To Boycott Action Comics

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North Carolina Comic Shop To Boycott Action Comics

Post by greg »

Pretend you're a member of ANY group and check out websites supporting that group. It will be filled with haters. There's nothing to conclude from any of it, except that the internet is full of people either actually in or just mentally equal to junior high school.

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Re: North Carolina Comic Shop To Boycott Action Comics

Post by IMJ »

Tim wrote:Good for him. Probably not the decision I'd make personally, but I would much rather see someone sacrifice business for the sake of their values than sacrifice their values for the sake of their business.
Well said man. Without going too deep into conservatism, I'd just say that the final choice in word use was unnecessary.
Last edited by IMJ on Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:50:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: North Carolina Comic Shop To Boycott Action Comics

Post by steverino »

greg wrote:Pretend you're a member of ANY group and check out websites supporting that group. It will be filled with haters. There's nothing to conclude from any of it, except that the internet is full of people either actually in or just mentally equal to junior high school.

I wish it was that easy. It seems to me like it's growing in intensity and becoming more and more frequent. I can't say that the guy made a wise call with the boycott, but I can say he had every right. I don't know what kind of sound effect 'GD' is, but it does seem more like an edit than anything else. If that's the case, Morrison is taking the character far, far away from his roots. I guess that's what happens when you have a foreign writer writing an all American superhero. I'm sure not going to read it now.

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Re: North Carolina Comic Shop To Boycott Action Comics

Post by leonmallett »

steverino wrote:Well, if GD was exactly what the owner thought it was, I'd say his reaction was just fine. I completely agree that Superman saying 'God D#$m' would've been totally out of character and inflammatory. Superman was raised by good, farm folk that are mostly Christian. If nothing else, he'd have respect for the religion and never utter God's name in vain.

I easily can see why he'd take offence to this considering one other book called The Boys, that openly mock Christianity. Garth Ennis literally goes out of his way to ridicule anyone with Christian beliefs should they have the misfortune reading that series. Yeah, I used to read it, but I dropped it like a bad habit when it kept offended me. There are probably other examples, but that's the only one I'm sure of.

And I'm not sure if there is a thing such as overreacting for a Christian anymore. I've been doing a very small amount of research and found a whole lot of disturbing things from Christian haters. Go to any YouTube video that is Christian related, whether it be Christian bashing gays, or Christians being persecuted in India and you'll find the most hateful and vile comments towards Christians I've ever read. It seems as if the intensity is increasing too. The department of homeland security even profiles a homeland terrorist as 'Christian'.

At 1st, I was wondering if it was in my head, Christians and their beliefs being mocked and persecuted. Now I know it isn't and I need to be very wary. :(
Steverino, you question whether a Christian can be cited to over-react, yet plainly this store-owner did over-react. He acknowledged (after the fact) "apologies to Grant for the unwarranted name calling" - basically he began his boycott, created a mini-storm, all based on two letters he mistook for meaning/intent. Yes, an over-reaction no matter how you look at it. A measured response from said store-owner would have been to check whether his (mis) interpretation was correct/incorrect and not begin the mini-storm in the first place.

In turn, there is no justification fro any insults or attacks levelled at the store-owner simply on the basis of faith, yet it has to be said that the store-owner did appeared to start the whole situation with his proclamation based on his erroneous interpretation.

No faith (or lack of faith for that matter) is a 'pass' to justify over-reaction in my view. :?
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Re: North Carolina Comic Shop To Boycott Action Comics

Post by BruceReville »

leonmallett wrote:
steverino wrote:Well, if GD was exactly what the owner thought it was, I'd say his reaction was just fine. I completely agree that Superman saying 'God D#$m' would've been totally out of character and inflammatory. Superman was raised by good, farm folk that are mostly Christian. If nothing else, he'd have respect for the religion and never utter God's name in vain.

I easily can see why he'd take offence to this considering one other book called The Boys, that openly mock Christianity. Garth Ennis literally goes out of his way to ridicule anyone with Christian beliefs should they have the misfortune reading that series. Yeah, I used to read it, but I dropped it like a bad habit when it kept offended me. There are probably other examples, but that's the only one I'm sure of.

And I'm not sure if there is a thing such as overreacting for a Christian anymore. I've been doing a very small amount of research and found a whole lot of disturbing things from Christian haters. Go to any YouTube video that is Christian related, whether it be Christian bashing gays, or Christians being persecuted in India and you'll find the most hateful and vile comments towards Christians I've ever read. It seems as if the intensity is increasing too. The department of homeland security even profiles a homeland terrorist as 'Christian'.

At 1st, I was wondering if it was in my head, Christians and their beliefs being mocked and persecuted. Now I know it isn't and I need to be very wary. :(
Steverino, you question whether a Christian can be cited to over-react, yet plainly this store-owner did over-react. He acknowledged (after the fact) "apologies to Grant for the unwarranted name calling" - basically he began his boycott, created a mini-storm, all based on two letters he mistook for meaning/intent. Yes, an over-reaction no matter how you look at it. A measured response from said store-owner would have been to check whether his (mis) interpretation was correct/incorrect and not begin the mini-storm in the first place.

In turn, there is no justification fro any insults or attacks levelled at the store-owner simply on the basis of faith, yet it has to be said that the store-owner did appeared to start the whole situation with his proclamation based on his erroneous interpretation.

No faith (or lack of faith for that matter) is a 'pass' to justify over-reaction in my view. :?
Or to say it is ok for one to say the supposedly offensive phrase and not ok for another. Either it is wrong or it is not - not when it is convenient.
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Re: North Carolina Comic Shop To Boycott Action Comics

Post by steverino »

leonmallett wrote:
steverino wrote:Well, if GD was exactly what the owner thought it was, I'd say his reaction was just fine. I completely agree that Superman saying 'God D#$m' would've been totally out of character and inflammatory. Superman was raised by good, farm folk that are mostly Christian. If nothing else, he'd have respect for the religion and never utter God's name in vain.

I easily can see why he'd take offence to this considering one other book called The Boys, that openly mock Christianity. Garth Ennis literally goes out of his way to ridicule anyone with Christian beliefs should they have the misfortune reading that series. Yeah, I used to read it, but I dropped it like a bad habit when it kept offended me. There are probably other examples, but that's the only one I'm sure of.

And I'm not sure if there is a thing such as overreacting for a Christian anymore. I've been doing a very small amount of research and found a whole lot of disturbing things from Christian haters. Go to any YouTube video that is Christian related, whether it be Christian bashing gays, or Christians being persecuted in India and you'll find the most hateful and vile comments towards Christians I've ever read. It seems as if the intensity is increasing too. The department of homeland security even profiles a homeland terrorist as 'Christian'.

At 1st, I was wondering if it was in my head, Christians and their beliefs being mocked and persecuted. Now I know it isn't and I need to be very wary. :(
Steverino, you question whether a Christian can be cited to over-react, yet plainly this store-owner did over-react. He acknowledged (after the fact) "apologies to Grant for the unwarranted name calling" - basically he began his boycott, created a mini-storm, all based on two letters he mistook for meaning/intent. Yes, an over-reaction no matter how you look at it. A measured response from said store-owner would have been to check whether his (mis) interpretation was correct/incorrect and not begin the mini-storm in the first place.

In turn, there is no justification fro any insults or attacks levelled at the store-owner simply on the basis of faith, yet it has to be said that the store-owner did appeared to start the whole situation with his proclamation based on his erroneous interpretation.
When you put it like that, I can see your point. The owner does believe that he was wrong or at least, is pretending to be cool with it to get out of the line of fire. Still, Grant's explanation seems lacking:

“It should go without saying that the offending panel and caption, a mere ‘GD’, is a sound effect grunt – to suggest Superman’s breath being forced through gritted teeth – much like ‘DHH’, ‘GNUHH’ or the many others used throughout this book and in general in the comics business. It’s not in any way representative of God or a curse.”

What about an apology for the misunderstanding? It was his fault. Heck, I still think it was intentional. With that in mind, I still believe the boycott was a rational decision and not an overreaction. Besides, the owner still says that "That's not Superman." Whatever character Morrison is writing, it's not the one we grew up with.

leonmallett wrote:No faith (or lack of faith for that matter) is a 'pass' to justify over-reaction in my view. :?
Let me say this: There is no blueprint for a Christian. We do not, nor are we supposed to behave exactly alike. Yes, we should strive to be more like Jesus, but even Jesus took a whip to those who sold cheap sacrifices in God's temple. I agree that there are good Christians and bad Christians, but we are just people who have free will to do as we choose.

And I think that the owner's response wasn't so much about faith as it was a growing frustration with the comic and entertainment industry as a whole, which I can easily relate to. He's no longer selling comics like The Boys on the pubic shelves. They're to be ordered only, from what I understand. That suggests to me that the root cause of the boycott has still not been addressed.

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Re: North Carolina Comic Shop To Boycott Action Comics

Post by leonmallett »

steverino wrote:Whatever character Morrison is writing, it's not the one we grew up with.
Not ignoring the faith debate, just mindful that may lead to TO - potentially.

On this point about it not being the Superman we grew up with. Neither was Byrne's to those who read the character before that. Neither was the 50's-60's Superman to readers of the late 1930's. The character has always changed with its writers.
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Re: North Carolina Comic Shop To Boycott Action Comics

Post by steverino »

leonmallett wrote:
steverino wrote:Whatever character Morrison is writing, it's not the one we grew up with.
Not ignoring the faith debate, just mindful that may lead to TO - potentially.

On this point about it not being the Superman we grew up with. Neither was Byrne's to those who read the character before that. Neither was the 50's-60's Superman to readers of the late 1930's. The character has always changed with its writers.

True, but my feelings are that this drastic change isn't an evolution of the character but the evidence of a bad writer.

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Re: North Carolina Comic Shop To Boycott Action Comics

Post by steverino »

Okay, got a chance to read the issue today and I realize it's just like Marvels Ultimates line, a revamp of the characters. Of course, I kinda knew that already, but I wasn't ready for that much of a drastic change. As for the panel in question, all I can say is 'huh'?

I don't know what kind of sound effect 'GD' is, but the offending phrase that the store owner thought it meant doesn't seem to fit, if you know what I mean. So I don't think Grant Morrison intended for it to be mis-represented at all, and I think the misunderstanding probably took him by surprise.

I just hope that better sound effects are used in the future since some people seem to assume the worst.

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Re: North Carolina Comic Shop To Boycott Action Comics

Post by Dr. Solar »

Wow.

I heard about this before I read the book. I thought it was stupid then, and I think it is stupid now.

Not because it is stupid to boycott due to what is perceived as a blasphemy, but that it is stupid to interpret this the way it was.

This was obviously a sound effect. It was pretty clear given the context of the story, and they way that word balloons and text were used, both here and in the rest of the book, that this was a "GHD!" type of sound of somebody being hit by a freakin ammunition shell. This text/word balloon effect is used elsewhere in the same book for the same type of sound effect (though not the same choice of letters).

It seems like it took a lot of work to misinterpret this as something offensive. It required ignoring the style and context of the entire rest of the book. As a result, more negativity has been added to the world, including in this post I'm writing now.

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Re: North Carolina Comic Shop To Boycott Action Comics

Post by Dr. Solar »

Also, I think it is interesting that people are responding/reacting to how different this Superman is from previous versions.

This Superman is the closest I have read to how Superman originally was back in the 1930s. That's pretty cool!
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Re: North Carolina Comic Shop To Boycott Action Comics

Post by Cyberstrike »

edit: nevermind
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