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The Law Is A Ass

Bob Ingersoll: The Law Is A Ass #399

AS A LAWYER, RALPH BELLAMY WAS INDEFENSIBLE

It’s a good thing this story wasn’t part of the actual series. Otherwise we might not all be here right now.

I’m so old, I watched Perry Mason first run not on the reruns playing on every channel this side of C-SPAN. But it’s not why I became a lawyer. Perry Mason was unrealistic. A murder trial every week where the real murderer was dumb enough to sit in the courtroom and watch. No, Perry Mason didn’t make me want to become a lawyer. The Defenders did.

The Defenders was a show about a middle-aged attorney – played by E.G. Marshall – and his fresh-out-of-law-school son – played by a young, pre-permed Robert Reed. Although the show had some murder mystery episodes, most dealt with some of the complex and serious issues of the time; abortion, religious intolerance, capital punishment, civil rights, conscientious objectors… Come to think of it, those are still some of the complex and serious issues of the time.

I was young. I didn’t always understand The Defenders, but I liked it immensely. See for yourself, a DVD set of the first season is available from Shout! Factory.

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The lawyers from The Defenders first appeared in a two-part episode of the anthology series Studio One in Hollywood called “The Defender.” Walter Preston (Ralph Bellamy) and son Kenneth (a young, and not-yet-needing-the-hell-toupée William Shatner) were defending Joseph Gordon (Steve McQueen), who was on trial for murdering a woman during a robbery. Father and son argued over how best to defend the man.

I knew about “The Defender” but had never seen it. Until I found it as a special feature on the aforementioned Shout! Factory DVD set. Now I have seen it.

And wish I hadn’t. Because it was stupid!

The actual pilot episode for The Defenders used the same basic story. The Prestons were representing a man accused of felony murder. Father thinks he’s guilty. Son doesn’t. They argue over how to defend him best. But The Defenders did the story much better.

How was it better? Well, let’s start with Walter Preston.

Wait! Actually, let’s start with the SPOILER WARNING! I’m about to reveal all the important plot points of “The Defender.” If you don’t want all the important plot points of “The Defender” revealed, you might want to stop reading. END OF SPOILER WARNING

Okay, now let’s start with Walter Preston. Walter was a jaded lawyer who took one look at his client and decided Gordon was guilty. Okay, that part’s not so stupid. Lawyers do that all the time. The stupid part was Walter decided his guilty client only deserved a competent defense but not one good enough that the jury might actually acquit him. Walter even refused to use the “guy” Kenneth found who might have been able to secure an acquittal.

Walter violated every legal ethic there is. And maybe even a few that aren’t but should be. Particularly the one requiring a lawyer to represent his client zealously. Walter was required to do everything he could to obtain a result that was in Gordon’s best interests instead of going through the motions with a defense that was just good enough to lose.

Kenneth, strangely enough, wanted to do the job properly and, you know, get Gordon acquitted. Kenneth was young, idealistic and didn’t understand the concept of being more jaded than a Chinese jewelry store. Kenneth even wanted to use the “guy. Walter didn’t. They argued. A lot!

Then Walter had a conversation with Francis Toohey, the prosecuting attorney played by a still-hirsute Martin Balsam. Toohey never cared whether defendants were guilty or innocent. They’d been indicted and Toohey was paid to get them convicted. So that’s what he did. Not caring whether some of them might actually be innocent was how he slept at night.

Toohey’s attitude angered Walter. It should also anger other prosecutors. See, the first ethical cannon for a prosecutor is that a prosecutor should seek justice, not convictions. If a prosecutor feels a defendant is not guilty, the prosecutor should not prosecute. And he shouldn’t not think about a defendant’s possible innocence, just so he can sleep at night.

Walter was so enraged he decided he should actually do his job and try for an acquittal. Toward that end he used the “guy.”

The state’s key witnesses were two eyewitnesses who testified they saw Gordon coming out of the victim’s apartment at the time of the murder. Nothing else connected Gordon to the crime. Maybe it was my legal training; my plotting experience from being a writer; or my many, many, many years of watching television clichés, but I knew who the “guy” was as soon as Kenneth mentioned him back in the First Act of Part One. I spent two hours waiting for a “surprise” conclusion I knew was coming since the first act. It was kind of like watching an M. Night Shyamalan movie, but with better directing.

You probably know who this “guy” was, too. But let’s play it out anyway. The show did.

Walter called the two eyewitnesses back to the stand and had them look at trial table. He asked them, “Are you sure this is the man you saw coming out of the apartment?” Both answered yes. Then Walter revealed the big Gotcha. The witnesses didn’t identify the defendant. Gordon was in the back of the courtroom. They identified this “guy” that Kenneth found who looked like Gordon and who they put at the defense table during some courtroom confusion to fool the eyewitnesses.

I had a few problems with this resolution. First the actor playing the “guy” looked nothing like Steve McQueen. When this episode aired, I was only 4 and I looked more like Steve McQueen. Neither witness should have been fooled into identifying the “guy” by mistake.

Second, Gordon never made bail. He was still in jail and was brought into the courtroom by guards and bailiffs. How did Walter and Kenneth swap Gordon out for the “guy” without any of the bailiffs or guards, who were supposed to be watching Gordon at all times, seeing what they did?

Third, what Walter was doing was so freakin’ obvious, both eyewitnesses should have seen through it and answered, “No that’s not the man I saw coming from the apartment. He’s in the back of the courtroom, where you tried to hide him.”

The case ended when the judge directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty, because he found the eyewitness testimony to be unreliable. That probably wouldn’t happen in real life.

In real life, a judge would let the trial go to the jury first and see what it did with the case. If it came back not guilty, all was well. The judge wouldn’t have to look soft on crime by acquitting the defendant. If the jury returned a guilty verdict, then the judge could grant a motion for acquittal non obstante veredicto; a fancy Latin way of saying, I find the defendant not guilty notwithstanding the verdict, because the evidence wasn’t sufficient to support a conviction.

That’s the way it would probably have happened it real life. But I can’t blame the show for not going that route. This two-part drama that was full of legal inaccuracies and some outright silliness had already gone on long enough. This quick end to the story was its way of putting it out of our misery. Consider it mercy killing.

Come to think of it, mercy killing was another complex topic handled much better on The Defenders.

Martha Thomases: The Superhero Lesson

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Everything I need to know, I learned from superhero comics. Not just how to infer the meaning of words I don’t know from context (seeing bullets bounce off Superman while someone said he was “invulnerable”), but also how to be a citizen.

The superheroes I loved were, in large part, immigrants and refugees. Superman and Supergirl (refugees from Krypton), Wonder Woman (immigrant, at least in her initial stories), Martian Manhunter (immigrant, or maybe kidnapped slave), Adam Strange (immigrant to Rann), lots and lots of X-Men and Legion of Super-Hero members.

Immigrants and refugees were characters I admired. When I got old enough to study history, I learned that real-life immigrants and refugees were among the most admirable people ever to live in this country. I also learned that not everyone shared my perspective.

There is a long history of demonizing immigrants here. Over the centuries, people have whipped up hysteria over Italians, Irish, Greeks, Chinese, Jews from anywhere, Catholics from anywhere, even Native Americans – who aren’t even immigrants. We fear those who are different from us, and it prevents us from seeing what we have in common.

Many of the people who created my favorite characters were themselves immigrants or the children of immigrants, people who grew up in neighborhoods filled with people who identified themselves as hyphen-Americans. It’s not a surprise that these men (for the most part) created heroes who were outsiders.

Now our so-called “president” wants to restrict immigrants’ access to the American dream, to shut out refugees who face persecution and, sometimes, death if they return to their country of origin. This isn’t only immoral and un-American. It’s also bad for business.

And it’s bad for those of us who love to read, which I assume includes you, Constant Reader, if you’ve made it this far. Immigrants and refugees write some of our most important (and delightful!) books. We need more people with talent in this country whether they are LGBTQ or non-white or non-Christian or foreign-born or whatever.

And, by the way, my family has been in this country longer than our so-called “president’s” family, so if we’re sending anybody back somewhere, he has to go before I do.

Another thing I learned from comics is that change starts with me. No matter how super-powered a character might be, nothing would happen until he or she got involved. I’m delighted to say that comic book creators and cartoonists are putting this plot into our reality and standing up for immigrants and refugees, and those who protect them. According to this, several cartoonists are sending original artwork to people who donate to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Think about doing so, too, even if you don’t get any artwork. You might just get an artist.

See Sunday’s Ghost in the Shell Ad Now

Paramount Pictures has released the new Ghost in the Shell ad to air Sunday during the Super Bowl. The film opens March 31 and was directed by Rupert Sanders. It stars Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbæk, Takeshi Kitano, Michael Pitt and Juliette Binoche and adapts the popular Manga and Anime series as a live-action adventure.

The plot features Cyborg counter-cyberterrorist field commander The Major (Johansson), and her task force Section 9 thwart cyber criminals and hackers. Now, they must face a new enemy who will stop at nothing to sabotage Hanka Robotics’ artificial intelligence technology.

Dennis O’Neil: Teen Angst

I must have encountered Archie Comics while I was still young and innocent before the brassy hell we knew as high school — and military high school at that – before I began my ten-year abstinence from reading comic books. I can’t remember a time when Archie and his pals and gals weren’t on my radar somewhere (though the blip was probably dim and small. One of those deals where I knew something but didn’t know I knew it.)

The Archie posse was one of a bunch of similar groups that were sprinkled throughout the media in the years immediately before and after the Second World War. But the genre was born decades earlier, in the 1920s when the younger set began to be identified as a consumer group with few bucks in their pockets. The fictional teens got a boost from a series of movies starring Mickey Rooney as the lovable Andy Hardy, and then came the comics featuring guys and gals with names like Candy, Binky, Corliss Archer, Henry Aldrich, Patsy Walker. True confession: I once, briefly contributed to the Patsy scene. Way more fun than high school.

These stories, which might have been mistaken for sitcoms on a dark night, featured slightly cartoonish but attractive adolescents romping their way through high school and related activities – dances, games – and having disagreements with both peer groups and authority figures These squabbles weren’t serious and did not seem likely to put the teens on the path to juvie. Detention was all they had to worry about.

They were no respecters of media boundaries, these scamps. Some had radio shows back when network broadcasts were major sources of light entertainment. and young master Aldrich appeared in a series of movies. Most perished when comics were attacked by the political and muckraking witch hunters of the 50s and early 60s.

But not Archie. He continued to appear wherever there was a decent comic book store from his war-era debut straight on through to the present. Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that he and his crew are on the tv. Yep, there they are in a weekly show titled Riverdale, Thursday evenings on the CW.

I could never identify with the comics’ Archie, who seem to have his friends, male and female alike, grafted to his hip. I was a loner (with a uniform). But Marifran was pretty much a typical teen who hung out with kids I didn’t know and did teenage things. (She also went on dates with me. I don’t think I wore my uniform.) The CW Archie doesn’t reflect my adolescence, which was to be expected, but it’s nothing like Marifran’, either.

This Riverdale is a series saturated in angst and gloom and the video Archie is involved in stuff the comics Archie would never have heard of, including an improper relationship with a teacher. Tch! So Riverdale’s world mirrors ours. It ain’t a barrel of laughs, but It’s well-enough done to merit another look. Maybe.

Box Office Democracy: Split

Split is over a week old and that’s usually enough to disqualify a movie from coverage here.  (This is the policy that keeps me from reviewing Blade 2 every six months in a vain attempt to force it in to the conversation for best superhero movie of all time.)  But Split had a secret, and that secret didn’t get out until the movie had released and I had already watched the movie for last week.  I’m going to talk about this secret right off the bat so if you have somehow avoided this piece of information I will tell you that Split is an excellent horror movie that might be a bit tame in the sheer terror aspects but is totally worth watching especially if you’ve liked M. Night Shyamalan’s works in the past.  From here on it’s spoilers on; stop reading if you want that undisturbed experience.

We’ll wait for you below.

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Emily S. Whitten: Fan2Sea, the Floating Comic-Con! (Part I)

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Before this January, I’d been to many comic cons but I’d never been on a cruise. I loved the idea of going on one, though; as well as the concept and aim of the first Fan2Sea comic con cruise: which was to give fans the best experiences of comic cons – good seats at panels, VIP parties, getting to meet the guests, getting sketches from artists, and all of that – but without the crowds and lines and hassle. In essence, the goal was for everyone’s experience to be an extra-special experience; and on top of that, to have it in a super-cool, chill venue with other fun activities in between all the fan goodness, and with opportunities to actually get out and see the sights as well.

Well: Mission. Accomplished. In a way that was even better than I’d imagined… and I have a pretty good imagination.

As I and another longtime comics and con reporter were discussing, at what other comic con could you go from a VIP party chatting with actors from The Walking Dead, Guardians of the Galaxy, or Stranger Things to your room to pick up your bathing suit, and out into the starry night sky for some relaxing nightswimming in the pool deck hot tub, simply by taking the elevator? And at what other con would Day 1 not end with tired arms and feet from carrying a bunch of stuff around and walking miles of unforgiving concrete floors? And at what other con could you always easily find some good food that’s already included in your room cost (so you don’t have to worry about nickel-and-diming yourself if you get a craving for, I don’t know, soft-serve ice cream at odd hours). Or go sit down for a fancy meal with no reservation just by walking up with your party? Or schedule a spa treatment that’s right upstairs? Oh, and at what other con would you also, if you didn’t feel like going to a panel or meeting guests or getting your cosplay makeup professionally done or attending a comics Master Class or vying for geek pub quiz prizes, be able to just go play some pool or basketball or mini-golf or air hockey or arcade games or watch a slew of themed movies in a real cinema by, again, just taking the elevator? What about rock-climbing? Swimming? Gambling, if that is your wont? Or just exploring the vast space and opportunities for fun of the venue itself. In other words, at what other con would your overall vacation experience be this awesome?

I know, I know, I’m over-enthusing. But the answer is: none. No other con. There is no other con like this one, and I’m in love. Because yes, the best part of cons is the con guests and programming; but having all of the other features available, and still giving a con the convenience and intimate feel of a smaller hotel-based type of con without losing the star and program quality, ups the ante in a way I’ve not experienced at a comic-con before. I’m sold, you guys. Totally sold. If this con happens again (and it should, because for a first year con they did pretty much everything right, and every single guest or attendee I asked was having a fantastic time) it will be going in my con calendar as a can’t-miss. And trust me, you’ll want to follow my lead on this one.

But now, on to some more specifics! It was great to be on board (literally! I love that) for the inaugural outing of Fan2Sea. First off, the accommodations were very nice. Sure, the standard rooms aren’t huge – but they definitely comfortably fit at least two people, and wow, do they ever have a ton of storage space tucked away in odd corners. Roomie Adriane Nash (and ComicMix assistant editor) and I quickly unpacked our things into the many cabinets and drawers on the first day and were able to easily store our (giant!) empty suitcases out of the way in the closet for the rest of the trip, which gave us a nice settled feeling. We also really loved our balcony, on which we watched the ocean go by (very soothing!), ate breakfast, chilled, drank wine, and marveled at the amazingly clear stars.  And the housekeeping folks were great, and kept our little room tidy and comfy for us (and even made us little origami animals out of clean towels!).

fan2sea-2-9009951Next, From Day 1 I loved seeing the thought the Fan2Sea team had put into theming the whole ship so that it really felt like the con had the run of the place. From life-sized Batman and Spider-Man decals on the glass elevators to giant “Fan2Sea” floor and flag decor, to a fully Sin City-themed casino and bar list, to even the bar napkins sporting the Fan2Sea logo, it felt like the team behind this con really knew how to welcome the fans and was as excited as we were to be on board.

And that was completely true, from the staff members I met. Every Fan2Sea staff person I talked with was excited, enthused, and accommodating – there to ensure that everyone had the best time possible. My special shout-outs to those who made my personal experience on board top-notch would include Stefan Lawrence (who was literally everywhere making sure nothing went “sproing,” as every good con-runner should be), Michael D’Alessio (who provided a consistent and upbeat voice and mood for daily announcements and hosting of a number of events), Mary McDonnell (whose help from the minute I walked into the port Terminal was awesome, and whose enthusiasm and happy spirits were infectious), Jenny Weinbloom and Kevin Kalbfeld (who were super nice and fun to talk with), and Constance Eza (about whom every artist she worked with for Artist Alley, etc. said good things).

I also appreciated the wisdom of the organizers seeking out beforehand panel moderators who had been to many comic cons before and really knew their stuff. I was super happy to moderate the Deadpool panel (which was awesome!), but also really glad to meet the other moderators at our prep meeting before the schedule got underway. Not only did I make some new friends, but also it’s just nice to have a little time to sit down with others who do what I do (or similar) and chat. Fan2Sea provided us with that opportunity and relaxed setting; and picking outside moderators who knew what they were doing really helped make the panels fun, too!

Of course, new friends are fun but old friends are always awesome, and I was pleased as punch to be in a chill con environment with a number of my con friends. At regular cons, and especially the big, spread-out cons with several hotels, venues, conflicting parties, and the like, if you’re a reporter it can be hard to actually just find time to hang out with others in the industry, or with other con-goers.  There’s always a ton of texting and, “Where are you now?” “Is the panel full? Are there seats?” “Is that bar all the way across town??” and “Oh, can I go to that party with you, or is there a list I didn’t know about in time?” type of communications. But the cruise ship venue made it super easy to meet up or run into friends and decide to do something together without it being a big production or hassle. And while the program options certainly weren’t limited, the way the schedule didn’t pit too many big items against each other at a time pretty much guaranteed that if there was a big event going on, at least one of your friends was going to be there.

I could probably go on about all the great general setting and vibe things that made this con amazing, but I think you get the idea. The setting and accomodations were great, the vibe was great (a con that feels relaxing to attend! Who knew it was possible!?), the activities were great, and the people were great. And at the risk of using “great” too much, I had a great time!

But speaking of time, that’s all I have time for this column! So stay tuned for my next recap, which will include the details of my daily adventures with guests, panels, pub quizzes, master classes, Artist Alley, and outings, along with a slew of fun pics! And until then, Servo Lectio!

Molly Jackson: Arts of War

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Wow, the past 12 days have been a whirlwind of change, and I am not talking about comics. It’s incredibly hard to write about anything but the ever-changing world that we live in. It affects the very fabric of reality, and it ripples through space and time. But as in any and every art form, the impact of the current political and social climate is already being seen.

Over the past few months we have seen the influx of protest pieces on social media, from art to music to videos to memes and more. Yes, I know that memes as art is a stretch but they are created as form of expression, which is what art really represents. As artists continue to create political pieces, the fans who rally around them need to how to respond.

One such piece is this essay by Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. SMBC isn’t normally a political comic but creator Zach Weinersmith hit his limit and felt the need to write down his thoughts. He spoke about his family’s immigrant past, and expressed his disdain for the current hate against other countries. He also writes that he is ready to use his voice, writing letters to politicians.

Angela Webber of the geek music duo The Doubleclicks wrote an article for The Mary Sue about her difficulty with creating in this turmoil. She poses the question about why should she create art when all of this is happening? Ultimately, she vows to continue on with creating art, and not just because she can. She reminds us that through art, hope can spring up. That when art is created, it can be a powerful force to sway hearts and minds.

Another is the art piece above that has gone viral. It’s by artist Yusef Abonamah, and it illustrates two people who we consider American heroes, but are the very types of people that our current government has been vilifying these past two weeks. It is a powerful message to all comic fans – especially if you think about all the times they tried to kick Superman off the planet and how that turned out.

The truth is, our superheroes embody all the traits that we all hope to emulate. We want to be able to make the sacrifices that Wonder Woman and Superman make to protect others and do the right thing. We may be mere mortals, but ascribing to more makes us better.

As we look at the art born of this current unrest, I hope that you find something that speaks to you. Something that grabs you and compels you to think, feel, act in the best interest of yourself, the country, and the world. And if you feel so inspired, perhaps you will create some art yourself.

 

Mike Gold: Archie Gets Laid!

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FIRST SPOILER ALERT: This week’s column is going to reveal all sorts of dark, nasty, sinister and provocative stuff about the new Riverdale series on The CW. If you haven’t seen the show and you intend to do so and you’re not going to be illegally downloading it, you might want to avoid the considerable amount of wit and wisdom that follows.

SECOND SPOILER ALERT: The aforementioned wit and wisdom will implant an image in your brain that you may never be able to get rid of. You have been warned!

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Archie Andrews has sex with Miss Grundy in the back seat of a Volkswagen.

I guess I should applaud any 75-year old dude who gets to have sex with his high school teacher. And maybe I do, except that Geraldine Grundy did commit statutory rape. Then again, Archie’s probably tired of being harassed by Waldo Weatherbee and if he knew Waldo has the hots for Geraldine, he might have been indulging in an act of revenge.

archie-typical-teen-ager-5710760Also then again… in the Riverdale television series Archie has been established as a sophomore. That puts him at the age of 15 or 16, and if Archie really is your “typical teen-ager” if given the opportunity he’d have sex with a plot of warm mud. And a tip of Waldo’s toupee to Lenny Bruce for providing me with that lovely illusion.

I’ll assume they’re setting up a storyline wherein Miss Grundy gets busted for statutory rape and Archie is left trying to explain the situation to his sundry objets d’ amour. And he’s got a lot of them: Veronica Lodge, Cheryl Blossom, Betty Cooper (in fact, she’s the one in love with Archie, a love that has been unrequited since before the attack on Pearl Harbor), and – I’m guessing here –Josie McCoy of Pussycats fame.

And, since I have your attention, shouldn’t the Pussycats trade-in their little kitty-ears for pink knit caps? C’mon, get on the bandwagon, ladies!

The Riverdale teevee series has been well received by critics and either loved or hated by Archie comics fans. It’s not your father’s Archie. It’s not your grandfather’s Archie. But it absolutely is Archie if said universe were to have been created today – and if it were not done as a comedy.

As every critic has pointed out, Riverdale is very much in the vein of The CW’s stereotypical programming. It’s a romantic thriller with all sorts of dark nooks and crannies. Archie Comics have done these types of stories before, particularly in the recent Life With Archie and Afterlife With Archie series. In fact, the latter was (or is, depending on if they’ll ever continue the series) written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the creative director for Archie Comics and the writer/executive producer of Riverdale. There’s nothing wrong with that, and the sundry Archie characters have been so well established that they make the transition from comedy to melodrama with ease.

I enjoyed the Riverdale pilot, which is noteworthy in that I am far, far removed from The CW’s target audience. Of course there is a lot of set-up in that first episode, and Jughead was barely in it outside of his role as narrator. Much of the comic relief falls to Kevin Keller, which works nicely. As for Hiram Lodge being the show’s Gordon Gekko, leaving his wife Hermione to try to renew her relationship with a now-divorced Fred Andrews and thereby complicating the Veronica/Archie side of the romantic polygon, then Riverdale might not be your cup of tea.

Actually, reread that last sentence and remember my opening bit about the Volkswagen. If you can’t handle those truths, then Riverdale certainly is not for you. But I’ll be watching it, at least until I walk away muttering about what’s wrong with these kids today.

Joe Corallo: The End of an Era

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persepolis-150x222-2910900Last week it was revealed that at least a couple of eras were at an end: one, America’s new immigration policies diminishing our reputation here and around the globe, and the New York Times no longer including a list of best selling graphic novels. As much as I would love to discuss the former, this is a site about comics and pop culture, so I’ll focus on the latter.

After eight years of having best seller lists featured weekly at the New York Times, it was announced with little warning that this week would be the last featuring such a list. This information was confirmed with little to no logical reason by NYT editor Pamela Paul via Twitter. Graphic novels will be folded back into fiction, making it more difficult to make the list and preventing many graphic novels from ever being able to obtain status.

Many creators, including Neil Gaiman, questioned this decision and aired their frustrations with odd, confusing, and seemingly ill-informed responses from Pamela Paul. One thing she did promise, however, was expanded coverage in terms of reviews and discussion on comics and graphic novels.

Here’s where I tell you that’s a bad deal.

white-donkey-145x225-7354177While, yes, I absolutely support expanded coverage of comics and graphic novels, that in no way should ever be an either/or situation. Also, ask a comic company what it can do marketing wise with more write ups. It may be positive, but doesn’t even come close to being able to slap the very coveted “New York Times Best Seller” label on your graphic novel. No press can replicate that. None.

Graphic novels have benefited greatly from being able to have their own lists. Combining them with other lists only hurts them. There’s very literally no positive to this. None. Even if they got nine slots on a combined list, that’s still less than the ten they had before.

One of the graphic novels that made the bestseller list in the past is Persepolis, the story of a young woman growing up in Iran and watching the country and the world change. Getting on the bestseller list helped the book. More people heard about it and looked into it. It’s exactly the kind of graphic novel we need to be reading today. If more stories like Persepolis came out after they remove the lists, large swaths of people may never hear of it and we’ll be denied important reading material being elevated where it needs to be to better serve society. A society that’s far too ignorant of the lives of those from the countries our President has banned, and from a country that has banned us right back.

neil-gaiman-batman-146x225-5644037Another graphic novel about a country we’ve banned that made the bestseller list in the past is The White Donkey. It’s the first graphic novel about the Iraq War created by an actual veteran detailing a lot of the tedium as well as the mental health issues brought on through war. It’s an important story and something people here should read to understand what our own citizens went through for a war that at one time had majority support. Again, this is a graphic novel that got legitimacy, praise and sales by making it on the bestseller list. Another story like it may not now.

Look, I understand that the New York Times is a privately owned company. They have absolutely no obligation to anyone to create bestsellers lists. However, these sort of moves have helped to keep the New York Times in high regard amongst many communities including the comics community. While I acknowledge that this is a private company’s decision, I’m also going to acknowledge that the decision is needlessly hurtful to a segment of publishing that’s been expanding by double digits and is now a billion dollar industry.

I hope it’s not too late to change course. I hope someone from the New York Times reads this. I hope Pamela Paul in particular reads this. And I hope that they all consider the inherently negative consequences of their actions to large and growing community.

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