It's not that shocking really. The whole "Anti-CG" faction was bound together in response to gatekeeping, harassment and infighting within Comiscgate (which many of the individual members were on the receiving end of). However once the main proponents of this practice largely burnt themselves out and were themselves purged, along with Frog to start making amends with formerly purged members of CG and declaring a period of
glasnost, many of the rallying cries of the past became obsolete in the absence of a superior alternative. This, combined with (rebuffed) overtures made towards groups like Warcampaign under the logic of "my enemy's enemy is a friend" forced them to look inward, at which point the group imploded immediately into a morass of intrapersonal conflicts.
Without Zombienomicon's vision and force of personality/deception behind the scenes binding the group together, or even vendetta against the actual people who wronged them in SWC and VikkiVerse's case, the only grievance remaining, and I suspect the only real grievance that Preston ever genuinely had as opposed to cladding himself in, was that Frog was the perceived "Caesar" figure with the power to silence, dox and harass his critics and not him.
That Preston quoted Juilius Caesar here in reference to himself was far more revealing than intended.
One person closely related to all involved in the impending controversy but not knowing what to make of the situation, Chris Tamulevich decided to hold a wholesome Christian panel debate on
05/31/2021 - CHRIS T HEROSHACK - GOD CHAT MAY 31,2021
THE CAST:
Christopher Tamulevich - Proud boomer and devout Christian, Chris (also going by HeroShack) was a fairly obscure player in the "Anti-CG" circles, although not entirely uneventful. For one, he was the person who created the official ComicsgateTM logo for use with the trademark. He also created a 66 page graphic novel lampooning Comicsgate figures like Frog last year for sale on Amazon but made the mistake of depicting his parody look more heroic than most tribute art. It seems that Chris T has reached some difficult conclusions over the following year, that the "hating Comicsgate niche" was hardly the path to support and success as some like Zombienomcon promised, and that following Preston may not be in alignment for one seeking to follow the path of Godliness.
The last I saw of Chris was a launch party for his latest comic,
Cluster Fudge, on
the Trash Compactor where the People of Etsy cheered him on $500 in return for shaving off his longhaired mop, much to the delight of Testefy and probably also his wife.
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Diana T - Chris' very supportive Wisconsin church lady wife who is only peripherally aware of all this "Comicsgate thing" but loves the idea of an online pubic access show about Jesus golly-gee doncha know?
Jazz Crab - One of the founding members of the Etsies along with Soy Rage and Testefy, Jazz Crab has had a longstanding reputation as a "good digger" and can usually be founding beefing with someone somewhere, most recently setting off Finatra into a 16-hour livestreamed rage after posting his old soundcloud rapper page after fighting with Finatra in a youtube chat. For whatever reason, Jazz Crab is here to argue on behalf of DA Talks/VikkiVerse/Frog.
Barry L Merritt - Barry is a regular presence among the detractors of Comicsgate, breaking off from the movement during the clash with more Christian members during Mike S Miller's #prideisasin blow up a full year and a day ago. In the past, Barry could usually be seen alongside Zombienomicon, backing up the Australian spacetrip merchant's talk about his connections with Interpol and vast piles of riches to found an anti-CG law enforcement initiative with his own experiences of being a retired FBI agent versed with decades of crimebusting experience, about to bring the hammer down on the anti-Christian forces within Comicsgate. He is here to argue on behalf of Preston and the Preston Knights.
After an initial 10 minutes of the boomer married couple working through technical issues as boomers do, Barry is the first to join sporting Bob, an avatar of Bob from the Church of the Subgenius. Diana approves the 1950s aesthetic and holy smokes it sure is raining this Memorial Day and it's a real dampener on her going out into the yard and contemplating Jesus. Jazz Crab joins the stream and within the first sentence asks Barry to answer for the following screencap of
@Skinny calling for Testefy's dox for purposes of suing him.
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Barry dismisses this as a le epic troll on Skinny's part, one of a series of similar statements from Skinny whenever he's particularly assmad. Chris, acting as arbiter in this debate accepts this explanation, but cautions that the humor of this could be lost as part of a conversation with a vexatious litigant like Preston Poulter. Jazz Crab follows this up with the screenshot of Preston also asking for Testefy's dox in a Warcampaign youtube chat, which Chris agrees is concerning - suing people over internet anger doesn't strike him as a good idea. Diane concurs.
Barry explains that this goes beyond anger; that Dean (DA Talks) is angry that Preston has secured the Comicsgate trademark (?), that Preston intends to strike people that are "misusing the brand" (ie: not using it for underage erotica) and that Dean's smears are hurting his business. Diane says using dox information is a misuse of trust; Diane for example places a lot of trust in Jesus and trust that He is watching over her and had a plan for her.
Jazz Crab responds by questioning how drawing attention to a product described as "a typical 17 year old growing up possessed by a sex crazed demon Lolita embarking on a sex crazed trip throughout a modern metropolis" is damaging a brand. "....what?" answers Diana. Chris clarifies that this is what set off a bunch of problems for Preston and John Lamont and that this, as a Christian, set off all kind of red flags for him personally. Diane replies that reading this sort of thing wouldn't interest her because there's enough of that kind of stuff in the real world (?). Jazz Crab asks where is the line of Christian virtue of acceptance be drawn to where it is accepting of evil. Diane agrees on how we rise up against evil.
Barry, sensing that he's losing his fellow Christians here to the rhetorical skill of Jazz Crab, shifts tacts here saying that from his personal perspective John Lamont's book is in "very poor taste", but that Preston's interest was in his "art style", the use of Daz3d models moreso than his "over the top" works. But he contends that John Lamont or his works constitute nothing illegal. And he would like to point out that there was were sexually charged scenes involving a demon-possessed child in
The Exorcist. Really these issues have nothing to do with the content of the film and are more about pursuing a grudge with Preston.
Chris interjects by saying that Preston could be described as an instigator himself given his
Last Week in Comicsgate program and that from his perspective, Preston likes to dish it out but sure can't take it. When you run a drama show, don't act shocked when you're mired in drama. Barry disagrees that what Vikki and Dean are doing as the same was what Preston was doing, that Preston was merely pointing out absurdities. Jazz Crab calls out for those to reject the calls of the silver tongued demon that speaks calmly. Preston never went after anyone, Barry argues, to which the crustacian Etsy asks what about Frog? Chris says that, given his own experiences, he wouldn't elevate anyone above the status of fallible human being and would like to leave it at that. Diana says something about how people need to stop being so offended. On a roll, Jazz Crab makes another Bible-sounding quote about how how the wise walk with the wise and the fools walk with the fools.
HeroShack calls upon God and says that he will pray for His will to be done over Comicsgate, whatever happens, so that comic creators can stop being distracted with youtube and getting back to making comic books. Barry agrees, advising that people do what they love and market their books without negativity followed by a sucker punch from Jazz Crab as he adds "And don't listen to people who say they're just joking but is filing a federal lawsuit and involving the federal government".
"That's different because he's been collecting evidence on Ethan van Sciver for two years"
"Oh really, but you say he's not going after anyone?"
"See you need to ask Preston these issues"
"But you're contradicting yourself"
"No"
"Yes"
Chris breaks up this stalemate in the dialog by agreeing that you can't say you're joking and trolling all the time while planning federal lawsuits. Barry says Preston has exhausted every option he can. Jazz Crab suggests Preston try leaving everyone alone. Barry argues he has, but that Jazz Crab has been listening to the hate mob AKA Dean and Vikki. Those two have been afflicted by a disease of evil where they went from commenting on drama to involving themselves in the drama and been consumed by it. At loggerheads again, Chris again breaks the ice f by stating that, corny as it may sound, his passion is for making comics and while Preston was capable of being a very kind person, he could not follow in the direction he was heading in and "
John Lamont" was the perfect example, but not the only one, of why he couldn't follow.
Barry says as an experienced marketer finds youtubing harmful to the indie comics scene and that copying Frog's youtube show, founded on gossiping about his former peers in DC and Marvel, only led to copycat channels that gossiped about each other on a smaller scale. While he thinks Frog is an excellent inker, youtube has ended his passion for the medium and his creative output. Chris relates his own personal experience again, about how he got busy in his own work for a while and forgot to hate Frog for an extended period of time. Then when he heard
Rekt Planet was late, he shrugged and realized that this didn't effect him or even the backers in any way. If he was in Frog's shoes he'd like to make more comics but he isn't, so whatever. Jazz Crab says at the end of the day, you can go around doing what you want, or go around suing people who have a bad opinion of your work. Chris expresses confusion on how any damages could go beyond small claims court.
Relieved at letting this all out, Chris cheerily wishes Jazz Crab and Barry Merritt a good day and that he can't go around carrying this resentment around anymore and cautions against vanity; that people should go with God and act with decency. Amen..
