Here is a random quote from Frederic Wertham’s infamous Seduction of the Innocent. It’s from chapter one, titled: “Such Trivia as Comic Books”.
“As our work went on we established the basic ingredients of the most numerous and widely read comics books: violence; sadism; and cruelty; the superman philosophy, an offshoot of Nietzsche’s superman who said, ‘When you go to women, don’t forget the whip.’ We also found that what seemed at first a problem in child psychology had much wider implications. Why does our civilization give to the child not its best but its worst in, in paper, in language, in art, in ideas? What is the social meaning of these supermen, superwomen, super-lovers, superboys, supergirls, super-ducks, super-mice, super-magicians, super-safecrackers? How did Nietzsche get into the nursery?”
I suppose I must be the last person to learn about the latest insult in the ongoing culture war with Marcus Bachmann’s (therapist husband to Republican/ Tea Party Senator and Presidential wannabe Michel Bachmann) blunt comments about gays being barbarians who need discipline. And you’ve probably read the reactions that erupted all over the Internet. But in case you haven’t, go here, here, here, here, and, oh, here for a sampling or pick from a Google search . And there’s the video clip below too. Now what I want to know is since Michele is all about limiting federal spending and cutting earmarks, when will Mr. Bachmann return the federal funds his clinic received?
Sigh! Debasing and dehumanizing other people, individually or as groups, is such a typical tactic. Unfortunately, it isn’t limited to people who hate the gays, but that’s another matter. After I got past my initial reactions ( “WTF?” and “girl, you did not go there!”) I realized that there was a a small connection in my own life. Now, I think I’m at least as civilized as Mr. Bachmann is. Back in the early 1970s, the days of my youth and the onset of puberty, Marvel published a Conan comic adapted and written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith. Superhero books were my mainstay since my intro to comics a few years before, but Conan was something very different. No capes, no powers, no satellite headquarters or butlers and sidekicks. Just a man, his wits, whatever weapon he could get his hands on, and a loin cloth. Well, there was a little more. Nipples! Smith was the first artist my young eyes had encountered who drew bare chested men with nipples! This simple artistic act, which in light of the Comics Code probably wasn’t so easy to do, flipped a switch in my interior world where I’d been having crushes on several Legion lads, Bruce Lee’s Kato in Green Hornet, and Sulu and Chekov, and took it to another level. I still hadn’t reached the point of sexual fantasies, but in my mind I’d made the leap from school boy crush to a little more understanding of the depth of my attraction to males. My interest in Conan wavered after Smith’s departure, but the impression Smith made on me still lasts.
No where’s a barbarian strutting around in a loin cloth when you want one?
“We have to understand: Barbarians need to be educated,” Bachmann says in the clip. “They need to be disciplined. Just because someone feels it or thinks it doesn’t mean that we are supposed to go down that road. That’s what is called the sinful nature. We have a responsibility as parents and as authority figures not to encourage such thoughts and feelings from moving into the action steps. …
“And let’s face it: what is our culture, what is our public education system doing today? They are giving full, wide-open doors to children, not only giving encouragement to think it but to encourage action steps. That’s why when we understand what truly is the percentage of homosexuals in this country, it is small. But by these open doors, I can see and we are experiencing, that it is starting to increase.”
Now let me be clear, mister! If you try to discipline me, it’ll be you who gets turned over my knee and your ass spanked.
First, thanks to all who were at the Albuquerque Comic Expo last weekend and stopped by the table to say hi! especially big thanks to those who picked up a copy of Bludgeon #0 (or any of the stuff we had for sale for that matter)! Thanks to you guys I did better than I had expected to do, and had a blast meeting all kinds of new folks.
I’ve been getting some great response about Bludgeon #0, which is very encouraging, and makes me wanna work that much harder to get out the next issue. Look for it around October. And should have another issue of Burly out by the end of the year as well.
Now for the aforementioned freebies… I figure what better excuse to give stuff away than a holiday! (Yes it’s a USA holiday, I know. No offense to my international customers. But hey… free stuff! )
The next 10 orders will recieve a FREE 8.5″ x 11″ full color print of Andrew Mark’s pinup image Colored by Tyler Cheeseman (the b/w version can be found in the back of Bludgeon #0). These were made exclusively for ACE 2011 and we only have 10 left after the convention. Also, I made a bunch of bookmarks for the con from various Burly pinups and Bludgeon images. Will be randomly packing these in with orders til they are gone. So if you’ve been waffling about an order now’s the time to do it! Visit the Burly Press Store to make your order.
And if you haven’t seen it yet, the first review of Bludgeon #1 has hit the interwebz: check it out at Ryan’s Reviews.
Hey, do you know about Ray Randell’s Super Underwear Perverts blog? You should head over if you don’t know about it! Ray posts pics of a wide range of men and he’s got a great eye. This pic here is one he posted yesterday and I thought it was too appropriate to pass up mentioning here.
