Fans at Fault For Not Buying Comic Art

I wish I was kidding, but that is the summary behind two articles that have been posted on Denise Dorman’s blog site here on wordpress.

Dave Dorman

I found this article through The Mary Sue. I read the whole article before commenting by the way. Yes I commented; for I prefer to tell a person my opinions about them before writing about them (if I have the opportunity).

Comment on her first post in regard to this matter.

She responded to my comment and I responded back.

Response to 2nd post

She is the wife of Dave Dorman, apparently a famed Star War artist (I have seen his Star Wars art before by the way, I didn’t realize it was him , but I have seen it before and I always thought it was cool) that hasn’t been doing so well when it comes to his sales. As a result which is why the wife wrote this first blog post in anger, irritation? You decide.  Either way, it came across as immature.

In her first article it really does come across as she is blaming cosplayers and those that spend so much time seeing cosplayers. I can understand her frustration and appreciate it. For people are sometimes cosplaying as characters that artists have come up with and people are paying mroe attention to the cosplayers than the artists who came up with the character in the first place.

“I have slowly come realize that in this selfie-obsessed, Instagram Era, COSPLAY is the new focus of these conventions–seeing andbeing seen, like some giant masquerade party. Conventions are no longer shows about commerce, product launches, and celebrating the people who created this genre in the first place. I’ve seen it first-hand–the uber-famous artist who traveled all of the way from Japan, sitting at Comic-Con, drawing as no one even paid attention to him, while the cosplayers held up floor traffic and fans surroundthe cosplayers–rather than the famed industry household name–to pose for selfies.“

However In Dave Dorman’ & Denise Dorman’s case I am having some issues:

#1.) He did not create the characters in Star Wars, yes he did a great job drawing them, but he didn’t create the character from scratch. The characters existed before he drew them, he did his interpretation on the characters, that is the only thing he can own.

#2.) Artists of all kinds borrow from each other all the time. He did some batman art and you can say he was probably inspired and probably borrowed from other artists, nothing wrong from that. All artists inspire and borrow from each other.

#3.) If your point Denise is being misinterpreted, it is not the readers fault, it is how you wrote and presented the issue.  This came off as a rant and blaming the people that attend, which leads to my next point.

#4.) She isn’t owning up to what she did. And neither is her husband saying to her “Hey Denise, I’m glad you love me and you are protective of me, but that wasn’t cool.” If I did something like this (which I wouldn’t) my love would tell me that I reacted wrong and I would tell him the same if he reacted that way (which he wouldn’t).

However she writes another article saying that she doesn’t blame cosplayers. She says she wanted to have this as a avenue for discussion and it blew out of control.

“What I had hoped for, igniting an HONEST discussion about what we, as exhibitors (and they the convention owners) could be doingdifferently and how to give the fans what they want and still be able toafford to exhibit, turned into something ugly. Online harassment. Threats. Hate.“

Whether or not we agree with someone, sending threats to an individual is wrong.

I have to call her out though, the first post, did not sound like someone wanting to have a discussion, she just honestly sounds pissed off. Which is not a bad thing, but if you are going to rant, own up to the fact that you had a moment you lost your cool, apologize and move on.

Don’t backpeddle, which is what she did not surprisingly with the amount of backlash she received.

In her Second post about this topic she talks about how she blames fans and those that attend:

 “It’s the new breed of attendees who are there because someone said it’s cool to be there; they are the onescompletely unfamiliar with the comics industry. They are the ones who attend any hard-to-get-tickets event just to boast online. They are the people I take issue with.NOTthe Cosplayers. Those are the people who care only about their selfies on their Instagram profiles.Those are the people who hijack events like #Burning Man,#Coachella and #SDCC with no understanding of why these events exist, or their raison d’être. Once they show up to the party, the event jumps the shark. “

While I understand she is blaming a certain type of fan, she is still blaming fans and attendes. She is still acting in an exclusive manner which, silly me, I thought was against geek culture.  Yes, it can be annoying when people who have no idea what Star Wars is about are taking pictures with Slave Leia because she looks hot. At the same time though these individuals could become potential fans.

Denise Dorman herself

It is because of Social Media that I have Heard of Burning Man, Coachella and other venues where people come together to have a great time. Yes,it may be annoying that people are going there just to be seen, but they are the reason why I have heard of some of these great events!

Social Media is a wonderful thing. It can make or break you. Unfortunately between; her husbands site which is under construction and not user friendly, the fact he doesn’t market himself to a younger generation but seems to be expecting his fans (which seem to range from 40s-50s) to carry him through) and this bad publicity he just got due to the fact that his wife went on a rant, he may have a harder time appealing to the younger generations now.

My Overall Critiques on Their Social Media Presence: