A mildly whiny post
I need comfort food.
Used to be an industry activist, which is basically someone who draws comic books who, for whatever reason, got tagged as a magical fixer person. Spent years under extreme stress being expected to cut the Gordian knots in other people’s careers, expected to fix things I often wasn’t qualified to fix.
Every mistake was magnified, every success brought more demands.
I finally quit.
Announced that well over a decade ago. Told people to go to a lawyer or counselor - not to me - when they had issues, and the backlash was incredible.
How dare I not drop everything to fix other people’s problems? Problems I can’t repair. Again and again - “See a counselor. See a lawyer.” Didn’t matter if I was sick, Didn’t matter if I was broke. Didn’t matter if I was simply unqualified to handle what I was being expected to handle.
Also maybe airing every problem on the net isn’t for the best when you need to talk things out with a trained, unbiased third party.
The internet is not there for your best interests. It never was. You’re the product it sells, and so are your problems.
Entertainment.
In case anyone wonders…I talk things out with a lawyer or a counselor. In private.
Privacy is an underrated commodity these days.
The internet abhors the vacuum of privacy.
Some things need air.
Some things need quiet and reflection.
It’s up to you to decide which works for you.
I have a lot to do, and I am very tired.
The "we're all looking out for each other" culture in comics always struck me as a bit of a monkey's paw.
It's been great to connect with artists I admire and get tidbits of advice here and there, but, I've also seen a lot of cases where people act like they are entitled to your attention and guidance because you "made it" (??? whatever that means) and you are therefore obligated to support up-and-comers in whatever length and form *they* determine.
God forbid when a creator puts up a boundary and the person seeking the help turns to the people's court to rip them to shreds.
How many posts have I seen that start something like "Oh, so and so, they're an asshole, I asked for help and they blew me off" and make other implications about some kind of prejudice, and then there's a chorus of people underneath that saying "really? wtf? garbage human!" etc etc.
Yeah, I don't blame any artist for retreating to their monastery in the mountains and sending illustrations down via courier, never to be seen again.
Privacy is a wonderful thing. Of course, in regards to an artist's visibility, I often wonder if I'm doing myself a disservice by extracting myself from most social media and the false sense of "brand" that they bring? I mean, Is it wrong to want to focus on one's work instead of the endless prattle of an app's feed? I think not. And in regards to whining, I only see your posts as the really helpful advice that they are.