I have been having an interesting day. I'm writing three columns
today - and, yes, I sometimes do go back and forth between then - while
checking in on Facebook and Twitter occasionally. I don't think I've ever
blocked so many people in one day. But it's reminded me of this:
The ONLY thing I owe you is to give you my best work on every article
or book or comic I write. That's it. That's what I think you're entitled
to.
Anything else...that's a bonus.
If I answer your questions, that's a bonus.
If I discuss something with you, that's a bonus.
If I try to help you out with something, that's a bonus.
I try to be generous with others because so many comics creators have been generous with me. I think I do a lot for the comics community in general. Heck, just my listing comics birthdays, remembrances and historical notes every day on Facebook is evidence of that.
And not a day goes by without someone thanking for something I did for them. When I look in the mirror I see a good man and wonder where the heck that double-chin came from. My best guess is Kit Kit bars and potato chips.
I'm not required to debate you endlessly. I'm not required to continue reading your insulting comments. Your purchase of my books or comics doesn't include my putting up with you when I find you annoying.
You get my best work. Every time out. My work will not be tailored to what does or doesn't offend you. My work will be what it is and it will always be created honestly.
You buy my books and comics. You can't buy my integrity.
Tony Isabella
If I discuss something with you, that's a bonus.
If I try to help you out with something, that's a bonus.
I try to be generous with others because so many comics creators have been generous with me. I think I do a lot for the comics community in general. Heck, just my listing comics birthdays, remembrances and historical notes every day on Facebook is evidence of that.
And not a day goes by without someone thanking for something I did for them. When I look in the mirror I see a good man and wonder where the heck that double-chin came from. My best guess is Kit Kit bars and potato chips.
I'm not required to debate you endlessly. I'm not required to continue reading your insulting comments. Your purchase of my books or comics doesn't include my putting up with you when I find you annoying.
You get my best work. Every time out. My work will not be tailored to what does or doesn't offend you. My work will be what it is and it will always be created honestly.
You buy my books and comics. You can't buy my integrity.
Tony Isabella
"Bring your dog around and I'll throw him a bonus, too!"
ReplyDelete(Just saw Horsefeathers today.)
Good post, Tony. You couldn't be more right about this.
ReplyDeleteSo many fans feel like a writer/artist/creator owe them something, because in the ass-backwards logic they display, they "put" the creator in their lofty position by virtue of their fan worship. Absolutely nothing could be further from the truth. The only thing a creator owes is to produce the best work they possibly can, and they owe that debt only to themselves, NOT the fans. There's no quid pro quo relationship between fans and a creator. The creator creates; whether a fan likes it or not isn't relevant to the act of creation (unless the creator is a hack whose sole motivation is to pander to his fans in exchange for money). If anything, the internet has exacerbated that sense of fan entitlement, because it strengthens the illusion of a personal relationship between the creator and the fan, especially when a fan can post something on a creator's Twitter feed and actually get a response. It makes the fans feel far too much like they're an actual component of the act of creation, when they truly aren't.
ReplyDeleteCreators don't owe fans anything. Fans don't owe creators anything. If a writer is writing things I enjoy, then I keep following their work. If they start writing things I don't like, then I stop. They don't have an obligation to keep writing the same old stuff because that's what I like, and I don't have an obligation to keep reading them if they start down a path that I don't enjoy. That's the only compact (if you could call it that) between creator and fan.