(Fanboy) Masturbation Can Be Fun
(Fanboy) Masturbation Can Be Fun
Jul 21(Isn’t that a lyric from Hair or something? Why do I remember lyrics from Hair? I saw it once in college. That’s it.)
So Valerie D’Orazio brought up an interesting point in her review of Blackest Night #1 (which, OMG NAME DROP, quoted me in its opening lines):
But the oft-tossed phrase "fanboy masturbation" seems to imply that masturbation is somehow bad. That fanboys should not be engaged in the act of masturbation. What would be the opposite of "fanboy masturbation?" Resisting the urge to buy that copy of Blackest Night and instead take a chance on a graphic novel like Alex Robinson’s Too Cool To Be Forgotten?
That’s a fair point. It would be highly cool if we all bought more Alex Robinson graphic novels, and there really isn’t anything wrong with fanboy masturbation. In fact, I indulge in it frequently. Then I write about it here. (EWW)
I think where I was going in my original convo with Pal Jeff was that if you decide to judge something like Blackest Night (or any mainstream superhero comic) based on its ability to engage/attract/make any fucking sense at all to “new readers,” you’re fooling yourself. Which is where my brain latched onto the “fanboy masturbation” concept.
To paraphrase Woody Allen, I don’t knock fanboy masturbation; it’s sex with someone we love. Namely, the shared superhero universe. We just can’t pretend anymore that what we lustily consume in the dim dark of our Wednesday nights is in any way translatable to a “new” audience.* That’s one of two big reasons that it’s masturbation; it’s completely insular and “inside.” (I guess techincally it might be something like mutual masturbation, but Jesus Q. Christ, I have already taken this self-love analogy WAY too far for my own comfort.)
I’ve thought about it long and hard, and I don’t believe the audience for superhero periodicals will grow substantially ever again. That’s a bold statement, and I realize it. But really, where can they go, and how can they get there? Anyone with a moderate interest in popular culture realizes they exist, and probably knows where to get them; they just choose not to.
There may be some opportunity with trade collections in bookstores and digital comics to reach around (EWW AGAIN) the masturbation and gain some converts, but it’s not going to happen thanks to any single-issue event comic at this point. Hell, I’d argue it never was going to happen via event comics; stunts and milestones may draw in the normals who are hoping to snag a “collectible,” but since the dawn of Secret Wars, events have ALWAYS been fanboy masturbation. It’s by fans, for fans.
The other sense in which Blackest Night is hardcore fanboy masturbation is in its modest aspiration to be nothing more than a really awesome modern superhero comic. Things change, and there are variances, but all this shit we’re lapping up is essentially different computations of the same gigantic formula. It’s a specific genre of entertainment, superheroes. You can apply high levels of craft to a superhero comic, but I’d argue at this point, it ain’t never gonna be “art.” There’s nothing new under this sun; it’s not going to destroy any boundaries or push into any new territories. (Which assumes that to create “art,” one must create something significant and/or “new,” and I’m not 100% sure about that, but I’m gonna spit it out there and see what happens.)
Again, NOT A BAD THING. Just the way things are from where I sit; in other words, making superhero comics at this point is by its very nature a highly masturbatory activity.
I like pop culture masturbation in general. I had a great conversation with a friend once that I still think about daily; he was constantly trying to push new bands on me, and I asked him why. What we realized is that he loved things that expanded the boundaries of what already existed, and for the most part, I like stuff that fits comfortably within existing boundaries. Give me a good set of Beatle-esque pop tunes and I will love it unconditionally; I don’t care that the Beatles already did it, and did it better. I just like pop songs.
The same is true of superhero comics; I don’t care that I’ve seen it all before. Do it again, and do it well, and I will be there. Let’s just not pretend it’s going to bring in new bodies or create exciting new art. It is what it is. It’s fanboy masturbation.
Anyway. Just wanted to use Val’s comments as an excuse to wring another post out of Blackest Night. Done and done!
*I don’t think Val was saying anything like that, just to be clear; I’m going off on my own personal tangent now.
(Green Lantern panel courtesy Silver Age Comics)
I totally agree with most of this, but something bugs me about the paragraph about ‘art.’ I understand the desire to provide some separation between comics designed to entertain and comics designed to inform, but isn’t entertainment an art in and of itself? And even if it’s a hamfisted one, isn’t Blackest Night attempting to make some kind of statement about the ephemerality of superhero deaths its own form of art? And what about Final Crisis – I’d definitely classify that as art; hell, the whole book was a metaphor for the artistic process in superhero comics! Artistry comes in tons of forms, and declaring Alex Robinson ‘art’ and Geoff Johns not – although I get what you’re trying to say – seems unnecessarily reductive.
I think you’re probably right, David–I wanted to chop things up too much, when it probably makes more sense to call it ALL “art” of a sort that either succeeds or fails to varying degrees…
I won’t change the essay, but I’m more wrong here than a sock full of cat shit. I still feel pretty strongly about all the genre/nothing new/craftsmanship stuff, though.
The enduring lesson I’ve learned from the foolish years I spent studying comparative lit is that it’s all art. Except for R. Buckminster Fuller. The stuff that doesn’t work is just bad art.
The delineation between art and craft is an incredibly false one. One requires the other to be successful.
I think it’s more a question of pop vs. literary.
I see David & Jeff’s point about how “it’s all art” but on the other hand I think there has to be some language for the distinction that Matt is making, and pop vs. literary doesn’t quite do it for me — I’d say a comic book using established superhero characters is pop by its nature. And if it’s all art, why isn’t it all literature, you know?
I just came by to quibble, not to say anything substantive about an even I’m not reading (which might change today, goddamn it).