Nay nay, Cory! Nay nay!

Nay nay, Cory! Nay nay!

Jan 16

I’ve taken heat from a couple of friends before, regarding my dislike of Cory Doctorow. Partly it’s a misconception that I loathe him, because the only time I talk about Cory is when he’s really pissed me off. In fact, most of the time I have no opinion of Cory, and on occasion, judging by some of his posts on BoingBoing, I’m certain he and I could have a good conversation over a beer. But then, every once and awhile, he says something so utterly stupid. Mostly about comic books, which make me doubley mad, as Doctorow and cohorts are regarded as pop culture know-it-alls, and the go-to kids for all things kitch. And it is very apparent that they are not champions of comic culture, but rather making it hip by presenting it as something it’s not.

My, “Whoa, wait, what?” streak with Cory and Co. started with thier love of the term “underwear pervert” – suggesting that classic heroes are rooted in something perverted. Actually, that was the bulk of it – I don’t care if they don’t push superhero books, or the classics. If they don’t get it, they don’t get it. And all was quiet for months… until today, when Cory was talking about the new Hannibal Lecter book.

Hannibal Rising is the origin story of Hannibal Lecter, his childhood in war-torn Lithuania his life in a Soviet orphanage, his rescue to rural France, his move to Paris, and finally, his internship at Johns Hopkins in the USA. Hannibal is basically a superhero — possessed of superhuman strength and intellect — and so this is the equivalent of the radio-active spider bite and robbery-gone-bad that turns Peter Parker into Spiderman.

Yes. Yes, Hannibal Lecter is just like Spider-man… if Spider-man was a sociopathic cannibal. Seriously. I…

Dude, “super” yes. The guy is Moriarty and Michael Myers incarnate. He is more than the average man. But he is not a hero. At all. Monster works. Villian isn’t bad either. One might liken him to a Green Goblin maybe – super smart, super insane. But Spider-man?

For fuck’s sake. I hope someone in your circle of comic writing friends gives you shit for that post.