Oh yes, I have seen this syndrome in action. Years ago, I worked in the art department of a t-shirt company. One of the other artists there was a talented and ambitious young man who wanted to make comics for a living. He finally took the leap, started his own publishing company, negotiated the rights to a well-known pop culture franchise, and the resulting comics were a big hit.
The remaining artists at the t-shirt mill absolutely seethed with jealousy. They mocked and denigrated his efforts, pointing out how they, of course, could do it better. At one point, several of them were even looking up old cartoons, trying to see which ones might have the rights available so they could steal his thunder. Nothing came of it, of course, because they didn't have one-tenth of his moxie.
This attitude has always baffled me. I was involved in the amateur comics/zine scene for many years, and got to meet many up-and-coming creators who have gone on to great success. I'm happy for them! They deserve it! And I get to be the insufferable hipster who goes around bragging, "Yeah, I knew Raina Telgemeier and Rachel Hartman back when they were schlepping their xeroxed minicomics around Artist Alley..." :D
Once upon a time, in the dim dark nineties and into the early 2000s, I was one of the only openly gay male comedians where I lived, and if I ever did gigs at gay events or spaces, I’d get a lot of “my friend is much funnier than you” and I’d tell the them “he probably is, but I’ve turned up so I’m doing this gig and I’m getting paid - tell your friend to start turning up, I’d love to have company amongst all these straight people.” Making the effort is the hardest part, it’s why mediocre people get work - they turned up, while talented people say at home in obscurity, waiting to be discovered.
Great comments. Talented people are often the laziest. Things came easy to them early and they never learned to work. More importantly, they never learned to push past failure.
Oh yes, I have seen this syndrome in action. Years ago, I worked in the art department of a t-shirt company. One of the other artists there was a talented and ambitious young man who wanted to make comics for a living. He finally took the leap, started his own publishing company, negotiated the rights to a well-known pop culture franchise, and the resulting comics were a big hit.
The remaining artists at the t-shirt mill absolutely seethed with jealousy. They mocked and denigrated his efforts, pointing out how they, of course, could do it better. At one point, several of them were even looking up old cartoons, trying to see which ones might have the rights available so they could steal his thunder. Nothing came of it, of course, because they didn't have one-tenth of his moxie.
This attitude has always baffled me. I was involved in the amateur comics/zine scene for many years, and got to meet many up-and-coming creators who have gone on to great success. I'm happy for them! They deserve it! And I get to be the insufferable hipster who goes around bragging, "Yeah, I knew Raina Telgemeier and Rachel Hartman back when they were schlepping their xeroxed minicomics around Artist Alley..." :D
Yep. It's universal.
Once upon a time, in the dim dark nineties and into the early 2000s, I was one of the only openly gay male comedians where I lived, and if I ever did gigs at gay events or spaces, I’d get a lot of “my friend is much funnier than you” and I’d tell the them “he probably is, but I’ve turned up so I’m doing this gig and I’m getting paid - tell your friend to start turning up, I’d love to have company amongst all these straight people.” Making the effort is the hardest part, it’s why mediocre people get work - they turned up, while talented people say at home in obscurity, waiting to be discovered.
Great comments. Talented people are often the laziest. Things came easy to them early and they never learned to work. More importantly, they never learned to push past failure.