#Comicsgate - The Culture Wars Hit The Funny Books!

[Yosha]

Just this morning UPS delivered my Akira 35th anniversary boxed set with 6 hardcover manga volumes, a beautiful hardcover art book, and a cool patch inside an awesome looking box with magnetic closures.

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I paid $114 for it and I consider it one of the best values I've ever gotten in comics. Certainly better than a paying $25-$50 for a floppy.

thats a great price for this. I can't find any under $150 here. I did manage to buy the Death Note box with all the 12 volumes + 2 additional books, like 2 years ago and i payed like 50€ for that, which was nothing, compared to these guys, selling meh product for this much money.

 

[Miniluv]

thats a great price for this. I can't find any under $150 here. I did manage to buy the Death Note box with all the 12 volumes + 2 additional books, like 2 years ago and i payed like 50€ for that, which was nothing, compared to these guys, selling meh product for this much money.

The day after I got this the Amazon seller was out of stock, so I'm glad I pulled the trigger when I did. I'm seeing a few online retailers selling it in the $130 range, which is still quite a good price for a set that retails at $200. If you're outside the US, I'm not sure what price would constitute a really good deal for this set with shipping rates and all.

As a bonus, Otomo's art book has a lot to say about his artistic process and absolutely nothing about his political beliefs.

 

[The Holmes]

...You don't have to buy it. He's putting it out there for people to buy if they want. If you want to buy comics that aren't 'typical superhero crap' from 'other companies' you're free to. None of this is being forced on you. This is all a voluntary transaction only.

You're always free to like or dislike what you want. I didn't buy it either. But your complaints are stupider than his comic book.

This has got to be one of the dumbest posts from you. This is Kiwi Farms. Being critical of shit on the internet is the nature of this site. He doesn't have to buy it, but he's still free to call a possible pile of shit what it may very well be. If it turns out to be great? You can gloat and rip on everyone that presumed Rippa's books were going to be awful.

Until then, may I suggest removing Rippa's cock from your mouth, because it's getting embarrassing.

 

[A Meme to Power]

This has got to be one of the dumbest posts from you. This is Kiwi Farms. Being critical of shit on the internet is the nature of this site. He doesn't have to buy it, but he's still free to call a possible pile of shit what it may very well be. If it turns out to be great? You can gloat and rip on everyone that presumed Rippa's books were going to be awful.

Until then, may I suggest removing Rippa's cock from your mouth, because it's getting embarrassing.

Being critical is fine, but the complaints they made were stupid. He's free to call it a possible piece of shit and I'm free to criticize him for his stupid posts like you're free to criticize mine.

PS not even a fan of rippa - don't watch him, didn't buy his crap because the pitch sounds dumb to me. But not because it's some kind of comic I don't like ('stereotypical hero shit') that I'd prefer to buy from 'some other company'.

In this thread - people comparing mass produced mass market comics to indie comics and wondering why unit costs are higher for lower production runs, and imagining themselves very smart for it.

 

[SaidNoOneEver]

Being critical is fine, but the complaints they made were stupid. He's free to call it a possible piece of shit and I'm free to criticize him for his stupid posts like you're free to criticize mine.

PS not even a fan of rippa - don't watch him, didn't buy his crap because the pitch sounds dumb to me. But not because it's some kind of comic I don't like ('stereotypical hero shit') that I'd prefer to buy from 'some other company'.

In this thread - people comparing mass produced mass market comics to indie comics and wondering why unit costs are higher for lower production runs, and imagining themselves very smart for it.

If he didn't want to be compared to mass market comics then he shouldn't have presented it as a direct competitor to mass market comics.

 

[Gar For Archer]

Being critical is fine, but the complaints they made were stupid. He's free to call it a possible piece of shit and I'm free to criticize him for his stupid posts like you're free to criticize mine.

PS not even a fan of rippa - don't watch him, didn't buy his crap because the pitch sounds dumb to me. But not because it's some kind of comic I don't like ('stereotypical hero shit') that I'd prefer to buy from 'some other company'.

In this thread - people comparing mass produced mass market comics to indie comics and wondering why unit costs are higher for lower production runs, and imagining themselves very smart for it.

Well, it circles back to the same issue - this is not a comic book, it’s YouTuber merch. Nobody who is interested in comics primarily as a medium for consooming entertainment will spend $50 on one issue of a comic book. Indie or not, that is simply not a price point that comic books can be sustainably sold at.

YouTuber merch that just so happens to be a comic book on the other hand? Simps who buy YouTuber merch already know they’re getting terrible value for their money, because ultimately when they buy a hat or T-shirt (…or comic book) from their favorite Internet daddies they’re going in with the mindset that it’s primarily a donation to support the creator that comes with some perks, rather than a transaction where they are paying the fair monetary value for a physical good. After all, we’re talking about the same tards who will throw $50 just to have their comment read on a livestream.

I can only imagine that the $50 is just the introductory “help me recoup my costs” donation fee, and that once his system is up and running, future books will be released at a more reasonable cost.

 

[6MillionCoofs]

My issue is that this was marketed as a universe. And therefore for 50, even at a starting pledge, I expect something more than just the book. Not because mainstream manga can sell 10 volumes + extras for around that price and I expect an indie to do the same but because I know Rippa will make all the money he ever needs and could get away with throwing in extras - music, animations, audio, whathaveyou, at no extra cost and then by the time his run is down people would have something unique and a good foundation for a universe

 

[Miniluv]

In this thread - people comparing mass produced mass market comics to indie comics and wondering why unit costs are higher for lower production runs, and imagining themselves very smart for it.

I think it's more a question of value. If you're interested in reading comics, spending $50 for a single issue of a comic from a first-time creator with very little promotion so you aren't really even sure what you're getting (other than a comic by a YouTuber you may have heard of) vs spending that $50 on probably a very nice collected volume (or several) of manga or comics by a proven creator on a property you know you like seems like a lopsided value proposition.

The economy is circling the drain right now and it's going to get worse before it gets better. $50 comics aren't going to be at the top of a lot of shopping lists in the near future.

Well, it circles back to the same issue - this is not a comic book, it’s YouTuber merch. Nobody who is interested in comics primarily as a medium for consooming entertainment will spend $50 on one issue of a comic book. Indie or not, that is simply not a price point that comic books can be sustainably sold at.

YouTuber merch that just so happens to be a comic book on the other hand? Simps who buy YouTuber merch already know they’re getting terrible value for their money, because ultimately when they buy a hat or T-shirt (…or comic book) from their favorite Internet daddies they’re going in with the mindset that it’s primarily a donation to support the creator that comes with some perks, rather than a transaction where they are paying the fair monetary value for a physical good. After all, we’re talking about the same tards who will throw $50 just to have their comment read on a livestream.

And there it is. The Rippaverse was marketed as "It's by Eric July" and that's it. People bought this book because they wanted to support the Based Black Man who talks about comics on the internet while sitting in front of his posters of Batman and Milton Friedman. They certainly aren't buying it because they're expecting a good comic story because they have no reason at all to expect that.

I can only imagine that the $50 is just the introductory “help me recoup my costs” donation fee, and that once his system is up and running, future books will be released at a more reasonable cost.

Part of me wants to believe they'll not come back if the content isn't good enough to justify the price, but Zacktards have proven to me that paypigs will absolutely buy anything their internet daddies make at the price they set and they'll do it repeatedly.

 

[6MillionCoofs]

and that once his system is up and running, future books will be released at a more reasonable cost.

You know they won't be.

 

[God of Nothing]

>7 million
oh dear god
yo, rippa, my nigga, can you give me one mil?

Seriously, what the fuck?

 

[Captain Manning]

@FROG You're going to Anime Matsuri, right?
Is it true @PocketJacks is going to be there this year, too?

I don't think he reads this thread much, but @I'm not a Robot had an interesting theory, over in the lawsuit thread, that Preston might be looking to serve Ethan with the New Jersey state lawsuit at Anime Matsuri, and then be there in the flesh to gloat about it and/or capture Ethan's live reaction.

There's a couple a hangups with that though:

1. A litigant can't personally serve a lawsuit.
2. Some basic bitch research suggests he can't pull a Matt Vickers and convince some rando 18+ con attendee to serve FROG like Vickers did to the other Ethan in Vegas. Texas is a bit more picky about Service of Process than Nevada (I checked). That said, he could conceivably pay a licensed private process server extra to specifically serve him at the con. There's no rule against that. Preston is certainly slimy enough to go that extra mile if he thinks it would unnerve FROG.

It's interesting to me that despite refiling the thing in NJ a while back, FROG has yet to be served with papers. Despite the fact that he clearly has FROG's New Jersey address. It's got the noggin' joggin' as to whether Preston is planning some super gay alog move here. The delay otherwise makes little sense under the circumstances.

Suffice it to say, if I were Anime Matsuri, I'd simply refuse Preston's business and tell him to fuck off. He contributes nothing of value to anything, and such a move borders on harassment of another con attendee, IMO. What would AM be out? A few bucks in artist alley registration? For a guy who does western-style comic books about Soviet lesbian fighter pilots? It makes more sense to give the space to a fujoshi landwhale. At least their cringe bishonen crap is sorta-kinda anime-related (may God help us all).

 

[A Meme to Power]

Well, it circles back to the same issue - this is not a comic book, it’s YouTuber merch. Nobody who is interested in comics primarily as a medium for consooming entertainment will spend $50 on one issue of a comic book. Indie or not, that is simply not a price point that comic books can be sustainably sold at.

It's a ~100 page book, not one issue. Technically the comic word for it would be 'graphic novel'. Personally I think its expensive and it wasn't enticing enough to order, but it's also not 'one issue' in comic book terms - its the equivelant of ~4 floppies. The cost of 4 floppies today is like what, $20-25 without shipping? So its at a premium but not that crazy.

I agree it counts youtuber merch for sure, but Rippa seems to be serious enough about making a real go of it. Personally I wouldn't pay what he's asking, but I also know it's not 'one issue'. of a comic book by comic book terms - its a graphic novel. Whether its sustainable or not is something kiwi tards have been arguing with frog about for a while he ships orders and merch, so I suspect you're kind of wrong.

 

[Mister Dongs]

Since CG loves to shit on western comics so much, how about a taste of your own medicine?

There is no reason to spend nearly $50 on this uninspired crap when you can buy several manga for the same amount of money. Plus the creator isn't screaming about how anti woke his or her work is.

Oh yeah? If I defraud Simple Zack I could get a dozen $1 copies of Jawbreakers: Forever for the cost of a single manga. Your move, weeb.

It's called Rippaverse because it's a ripoff of the normie capeshit . When Eric meant "parallel universe" he really mean parallel, a mirror image of what exists but anti-sjw/woke/etc and is therefore incapable of breaking the mold.

In contrast, Raging Golden Eagle has a somewhat novel fantasy story who always updated his audience on new artwork, plot updates, and release of ancillary merchandise like that titty mousepad.

Hate to break it to you but "waifu with the hand-thing from Parasyte killing Final Fantasy monsters" aint exactly breaking the mold either bud.

Anyway, in July's defense, he never promised anything close to "breaking the mold"; he's very explicit in what he's promising - a return to form with identity politics-free adventure and fantasy with a strict emphasis on respecting established canon, like how he felt the superhero genre was at its peak - something like mid-1980s era Marvel by what I'm guessing and just following his tastes expressed on his show.

I realized that too and was about to add to my earlier comment that the plot and character is most likely a self insert simply because of the Texas ranch detail. Self inserts and stories derived from personal experience can certainly be good. Just look at Edmund from Count of Monte Cristo. However, if Isom really is a self insert, I think that's kind of ironic because a lot of what the anti Marvel comics people have been criticizing is the tranny and fag self inserts in the new Marvel comics. It's just funny someone who markets as being the anti Marvel does the same thing in his stories.

On second thought, while buying 2 hardcovers still in their packaging for eight bucks total, I realized that really the outline of the plot for Isom is suspiciously similar to the original Luke Cage origin story for Heroes for Hire #1 (1972), except set in rural Texas instead of Harlem. Both are based around a hero that "obtains powers" but decides to pursue their own self-interest (truly an ancap mindset if ever there was one) only to get pulled into a rivalry between a childhood friend who becomes a powerful crimelord in the hero's absence. Since Rippa is a such a huge fan of the original Luke Cage before Bendis fucked him up, this isn't terribly suprising.

 

[TheMadAutist]

It's a ~100 page book, not one issue. Technically the comic word for it would be 'graphic novel'. Personally I think its expensive and it wasn't enticing enough to order, but it's also not 'one issue' in comic book terms - its the equivelant of ~4 floppies. The cost of 4 floppies today is like what, $20-25 without shipping? So its at a premium but not that crazy.

I agree it counts youtuber merch for sure, but Rippa seems to be serious enough about making a real go of it. Personally I wouldn't pay what he's asking, but I also know it's not 'one issue'. of a comic book by comic book terms - its a graphic novel. Whether its sustainable or not is something kiwi tards have been arguing with frog about for a while he ships orders and merch, so I suspect you're kind of wrong.

You have no idea what is in that ONE 90 page issue. For all you know it could be 30 splash pages and 60 Rippaverse ads.

 

[6MillionCoofs]

You have no idea what is in that ONE 90 page issue. For all you know it could be 30 splash pages and 60 Rippaverse ads.

Just based on what he's said, it's not going to be that. Because that would tank his entire brand forever.

 

[Captain Manning]

It's a ~100 page book, not one issue. Technically the comic word for it would be 'graphic novel'. Personally I think its expensive and it wasn't enticing enough to order, but it's also not 'one issue' in comic book terms - its the equivelant of ~4 floppies. The cost of 4 floppies today is like what, $20-25 without shipping? So its at a premium but not that crazy.

I agree it counts youtuber merch for sure, but Rippa seems to be serious enough about making a real go of it. Personally I wouldn't pay what he's asking, but I also know it's not 'one issue'. of a comic book by comic book terms - its a graphic novel. Whether its sustainable or not is something kiwi tards have been arguing with frog about for a while he ships orders and merch, so I suspect you're kind of wrong.

He should charge whatever the market will bear. I think it's hideously overpriced, but what the hell do I know? I am still frequently gobsmacked at the amount of money people will flush down the toilet on late gay CG crap of extremely questionable quality.

To @The Holmes point, free-market principles don't forestall making fun of people who are retarded in their business dealings. Especially here on KF. It just means nobody should attempt to directly intervene and stop him from implementing whatever (legal) business strategies he wants. Which nobody here seems to be advocating for. He rises or fails on his own merits and decisions. If or when he fails, we laugh.

Since nobody is trying to stop him from doing whatever he wants, and only offering criticism he's perfectly within his right to ignore, your defensiveness seems misplaced.

Part of me wants to believe they'll not come back if the content isn't good enough to justify the price, but Zacktards have proven to me that paypigs will absolutely buy anything their internet daddies make at the price they set and they'll do it repeatedly.

Exactly. The rational part of you wants to say July is dumb, but then you remember that there's a lot of idiots out there with apparently too much disposable income and a penchant for supporting anything that's marketed as the "non-SJW" thing. It's an amazing phenomenon.

Speaking of the "based black man" angle, I bet if you got Thomas Sowell to read from the phonebook for an hour on a livestream, and specifically marketed it as him "owning the libs," there would be an infuriating number of retards who would throw money at him as he does it.

Oh yeah? If I defraud Simple Zack I could get a dozen $1 copies of Jawbreakers: Forever for the cost of a single manga. Your move, weeb.

Oh, we can do illegal shit?

Okay. Fan-translated scalations of manga downloaded from the Internet. Cost: Free.

Checkmate. I mean, at least until somebody scans in Jawbreakers: Forever and puts it up on Bittorrent. Then there's parity.

I kid! I kid!

But seriously, I kinda think that, even with Jawbreakers at $1, the manga might still be the better value than Simple Zack's work.

 

[The Holmes]

there's a lot of idiots out there with apparently too much disposable income. It's an amazing thing.

If Comicsgate gets adapted into a movie this should be the tagline.

 

[6MillionCoofs]

He should charge whatever the market will bear. I think it's hideously overpriced, but what the hell do I know? I am still frequently gobsmacked at the amount of money people will flush down the toilet on late gay CG crap of extremely questionable quality.

Is it a surprise really? It’s the disposable income saved from not buying the comics from the people that hate them. 30 is not that much on hobbies really.

 

[TheMadAutist]

Just based on what he's said, it's not going to be that. Because that would tank his entire brand forever.

Its called hyperbole, putz.

 

[Captain Manning]

If Comicsgate gets adapted into a movie this should be the tagline.

In many respects, I think Comicsgate has become a mirror image of mainstream comics.

Which is disappointing.

Mainstream comics push a progressive message, and rely on the inclusion of that message as the primary selling point.

Comicsgate push a conservative message (or, failing that, make it a huge point to eschew the progressive one entirely), and rely on the inclusion of that messsage as a primary selling point.

What bothers me is that a work could still be crap regardless of the politics of the creator. A completely apolitical work can be utter dogshit. It could have crap artwork, stilted writing, etc.

I know there's no accounting for taste, and reasonable people can disagree on the merit of any artistic work, but I think that's kinda where we're at now. No doubt there are people who genuinely like certain CG-branded works, but there's also a lot of people that buy shit just to make a "social statement." A lot of CG sales feel almost like a form of virtue signaling from the right.

Is it a surprise really? It’s the disposable income saved from not buying the comics from the people that hate them. 30 is not that much on hobbies really.

See above.

Personally, I'd rather spend my money on something I'd enjoy. Even if that means abandoning a hobby. For others, parading their recent purchase list or sales figures around Twitter, to rub in the face of the opposition, is apparently the most important thing in life.