I Get Letters

Wow. I just received a rather irate e-mail from someone who claims to be a "loyal reader" of my blog. With permission, as given in the note itself, I'm going to post some excerpts from it and answer them publicly. What I don't answer here I've answered privately.

First up:

You claim to be a comics blog and you post about all kinds of other stupid stuff and you don't post about the big comic book stories.

Whew. There's a powerful little rant. I'll try to answer all the bits there.

One: I've never claimed this is a comics blog, at least not exclusively. I've accepted the title when it's been given to my blog. But I blog about a bunch of stuff, from Flying Spaghetti Monsters to Politics. It's just that my main interest in life is comic books, so that's where most of my writing attention is. And it's true, I've moved most of my political rants to another blog, where I could shout more freely, but I honestly don't feel compelled to hold back if I don't want to. This blog is about me, a truly egotistical creation, so it will reflect my interests.

Two: I admit to blogging about some stupid things. I like some really stupid things. Like certain comic books. But, again, that's all part of my interests.

Three: "Big comic book stories"? Like what? Again, I post about my own interests. If some story in the comic book world doesn't interest me, why should I force myself to post something about it, especially when dozens of other fans are already filling that need? I don't read every comic book (I probably would if someone sent them all to me, but they don't and therefore I don't). I didn't read Civil War, so I hardly feel right in commenting about it.

And if you are talking about stories about comic book professionals... again, I cover the ones that interest me. I've been interested in, say, the Unscrewed Saga, and reported on it. But just because I don't report on, say, the Friends of Lulu Empowerment Fund fiasco doesn't mean I'm not paying attention. It just means I felt I had nothing to add on the subject.

Moving on:

You are a girl blogger why don't you report about girls in comics?

Excuse me? Just what is that supposed to mean? Because of my gender, I'm supposed to focus on females? Or are you upset that I'm not a feminist blogger who complains constantly about the portrayal of women in comics? I really don't understand this complaint.

Look, this is a touchy subject with me. I care about the portrayal of women in comic books. I care deeply about the treatment of women in the comic book field. But I don't feel I need to spend all my time crusading about it. It often feels like I'm beating a dying horse when I join the chorus of cries about women in comics. It feels, to me, like the right path should be obvious. It pains me to point out the obvious. I know I shouldn't shirk the burden, but I can't help but feel it's sexist for people to expect me to fight that fight just because I'm a woman.

And, frankly, I don't feel like I'm a terribly eloquent person, so I'd rather link to those that are and give a little "me too" than put up inadequate words. I like to think that if there weren't already so many excellent female bloggers arguing those points that I would step into the void. I like to think that if there was no one else, I would take up the torch. I don't know if I would, but thank goodness there are a lot of great feminist bloggers out there in the comic book world already and the point is moot. So, just because I'm a "girl" doesn't mean I'm going to be girly. I'm going to be myself.

I'm going to skip a couple of other somewhat legit complaints to focus on one last part of the note:

Why are you posting Aquaman reviews on the Aquaman site and on your blog?

I consider this a completely legitimate complaint for the handful of unfortunate people who check both this blog and my Aquaman site daily. There are a few solutions to this, and I'm going to ask anyone who has bothered to read this far for your opinions. I'll abide by the majority opinion as posted in comments to this blog entry (in other words, no e-mail on this one).

Should I:

• (Option 1) Continue to post my Ripples Through Time on both my Aquaman site and here, as I've been doing for the last few months.
• (Option 2) Post my Ripples Through Time posts ONLY on my Aquaman site, and post a daily link to that post here on this blog.
• (Option 3) Post my Ripples Through Time posts ONLY on my Aquaman site, and nothing about them here on this blog.

Vote now! Option 1, 2, or 3. After a few days, I'll look at the tally and make a decision based on the votes.