Comic creators need to lighten up.
Posted 01/25/01
In crossover comics, a lot of creators follow
the lead of Gilgamesh when making their own comics. Some gags they've adopted
themselves, such as personal appearances, Charlie deaths, creating a list
of friends of their adopted hero, and so on. None of these are really all
that bad if done in moderation. But there has been one detail that has been
bothering me as of late, and that's other creators adopting Gil's dislike
of hentai.
Now Gil has some good reason to feel that way. After all, he's
ran one of the bigger Chun-Li webshrines for several years now, and he's
received more then his fair share of e-mail from hornball 14-year olds asking
for dirty pictures. And let's not forget the whole mess when Nori stole some
of his pics. Gil's got some understandable reasons for his feelings over
the years. But at times he's gone too far with it, such as his dislike of
other game babes on the sole grounds that they were designed to be overly
attractive. For as long as I've know him, I've always bugged Gil about it.
In my eyes, it at times has come extremely close to an overbearing `Holier
the Thou' attitude in the past. Thankfully, he's lighted up over the years,
but really, such an attitude can get to me. Nobody likes arrogance.
In reference to his critics,
Wendy creator Josh Lesnick once said "...[they] prove how "mature" they
are by demonstrating a total lack of a libido." He has a point. There
are better reasons to dislike a character then just simply on the size of
her breasts, or the cut of her clothes. So a game-babe oozes sexuality, so
what? Have we all become puritans? Are we going to start complaining about
male characters with marble-like abs and pecs, and who wear tight shirts
and pants? Is it degrading to women? That I can’t say. There are some
women who find it offensive and unrealistic, there are also women who find
it amusing. In my opinion, if someone is going to be a sexist bastard, it’s
going to be because of his beliefs and upbringing, not because he’s
seen dirty pictures. Hell, some of the more sexist societies in this world
have outlawed pornography. Anyway...
And while Gil really is a great guy, you don't need to follow in all of his footsteps. Make your own opinions, you can fit in fine by being yourself. Use your own jokes, Gil will be much more impressed if you show true originality. There's no need to suck up to him.
Of course, there are other reasons why people don't like hentai. Some don't like it because it may show a favorite character of theirs in an unpleasant, or degrading fashion. Well, let me tell you about something that happened recently.
There's a webcomic called Sexy Losers (don't view it at work, really), it's drawn by a guy named Hard. If you haven't figured it out, it's hentai based. Anyway, he recently bruised his drawing hand on a sliding door, preventing him from drawing a new strip that week. To show his frustration, he posted a really nasty picture of Card Captor Sakura he drew in `99 on his messageboard. He later explained the reason behind the picture with:
Now Gil has some good reason to feel that way. After all, he's
ran one of the bigger Chun-Li webshrines for several years now, and he's
received more then his fair share of e-mail from hornball 14-year olds asking
for dirty pictures. And let's not forget the whole mess when Nori stole some
of his pics. Gil's got some understandable reasons for his feelings over
the years. But at times he's gone too far with it, such as his dislike of
other game babes on the sole grounds that they were designed to be overly
attractive. For as long as I've know him, I've always bugged Gil about it.
In my eyes, it at times has come extremely close to an overbearing `Holier
the Thou' attitude in the past. Thankfully, he's lighted up over the years,
but really, such an attitude can get to me. Nobody likes arrogance.
In reference to his critics,
Wendy creator Josh Lesnick once said "...[they] prove how "mature" they
are by demonstrating a total lack of a libido." He has a point. There
are better reasons to dislike a character then just simply on the size of
her breasts, or the cut of her clothes. So a game-babe oozes sexuality, so
what? Have we all become puritans? Are we going to start complaining about
male characters with marble-like abs and pecs, and who wear tight shirts
and pants? Is it degrading to women? That I can’t say. There are some
women who find it offensive and unrealistic, there are also women who find
it amusing. In my opinion, if someone is going to be a sexist bastard, it’s
going to be because of his beliefs and upbringing, not because he’s
seen dirty pictures. Hell, some of the more sexist societies in this world
have outlawed pornography. Anyway...And while Gil really is a great guy, you don't need to follow in all of his footsteps. Make your own opinions, you can fit in fine by being yourself. Use your own jokes, Gil will be much more impressed if you show true originality. There's no need to suck up to him.
Of course, there are other reasons why people don't like hentai. Some don't like it because it may show a favorite character of theirs in an unpleasant, or degrading fashion. Well, let me tell you about something that happened recently.
There's a webcomic called Sexy Losers (don't view it at work, really), it's drawn by a guy named Hard. If you haven't figured it out, it's hentai based. Anyway, he recently bruised his drawing hand on a sliding door, preventing him from drawing a new strip that week. To show his frustration, he posted a really nasty picture of Card Captor Sakura he drew in `99 on his messageboard. He later explained the reason behind the picture with:
 |
"One thing I should make clear is that I totally enjoy pissing on the icons of American otakusim. The above picture is a statement to the people who take their icons too seriously... It's because otakus make me sick, so I wanted to draw a picture that on first glance looks OK but a little strange, then the realization pops in to what the picture is REALLY about. Then they understand that what I'm doing is sullying their heroes in a morbid way." |
See what he's trying to say, kids? These
characters are fictional. They don't exist. They don't care that someone
is drawing dirty pictures of them, they're incapable of caring. They don't
need anyone protecting their dignity and good name, since they don't have
any. They can't have any. And really, most of the characters that everyone
gets so passionate about were designed to be attractive. If someone is aroused
by the character, then it means that the design is working. It comes with
the territory, you just need to live with it. I mean hell, there is a TON
of Sephiroth/Cloud yaoi out there, but you don't see me making any fuss about
it. He's a very attractive character, a bishonen. People into yaoi are going
to see him in that light. But I don't mind. That's their take on the character,
and they're entitled to it. People can do what they wish as long as nobody
gets hurt.
I will concede that there is some really nasty hentai out there. Take it from me, thanks to Portal of Evil, I have seen hentai that'll make your eyes bleed. But hey, the people who enjoy that kind of hentai (not all kinds), have issues. And take it from me, a picture of a favorite character of yours in a cheesecake pose or engaged in a sexual act is nothing compared to the knowage that someone is getting off on a picture of a girl being gutted like a pig. When you see stuff like that, you realize that most other hentai is no big deal.
Just remember, these comics are ment to be funny. No one will enjoy a comic that's overly preachy. And the horse is starting to decompose, by the way. I'll bury it, if no one else will...
I will concede that there is some really nasty hentai out there. Take it from me, thanks to Portal of Evil, I have seen hentai that'll make your eyes bleed. But hey, the people who enjoy that kind of hentai (not all kinds), have issues. And take it from me, a picture of a favorite character of yours in a cheesecake pose or engaged in a sexual act is nothing compared to the knowage that someone is getting off on a picture of a girl being gutted like a pig. When you see stuff like that, you realize that most other hentai is no big deal.
Just remember, these comics are ment to be funny. No one will enjoy a comic that's overly preachy. And the horse is starting to decompose, by the way. I'll bury it, if no one else will...