Thread by @NotLasers

HEY, TWITTER! Let's talk about appropriate ways to talk to artists about their work; and also where to complain productively when you find aspects of that work unacceptable!

FIRST: Access does not translate to lack of boundaries. Your favorite comics writer is on Twitter? GREAT! That does not mean that they are your BFF, or make this the appropriate platform to approach them about anything and everything!

SECOND: Don't be shitty! This is not terribly difficult! Don't assign intent; don't call people names or swear at them! Writers and artists are people, too! (Note: There are times when getting aggressive is fine and right. But in this specific context? Civility is called for.)

THIRD: Don't assign intent. This is one that drives me goddamn BATTY, because work-for-hire creators get no end of shit for decisions they had no hand in and often directly pushed back against; which, in turn, puts them in a fucking awful and impossible situation.

THIRD, cont'd: And in the situation I described above? THEY CAN'T EXPLAIN THAT TO YOU, at least not if they want to keep their jobs. I know SO MANY WRITERS who have gotten SO MUCH ABUSE while fighting incredibly hard for the very things "fans" accuse them of abandoning.

FOURTH: Know that you are accosting someone at work. Personal and professional lines blur on Twitter; but if you tweet about how people who tip servers are scum in the same breath as berating an artist who *is working unpaid*--b/c that's what answering fan Qs here is--fuck you.

FIFTH: Know how the sausage is made. Don't lambaste journalists for headlines. Don't abuse work-for-hire comics creators for failing to cater to your priorities (or failing to, say, make characters queer). Those respectively belong to editors and publishers.

SIXTH: Actually, no. Don't lambaste and abuse people because they made comics you didn't like. Just don't fucking do that. It's not okay. It's not okay when editors do it; it's not okay when fans do it.

SEVENTH: Learn the difference between criticism and abuse.

EIGHTH: Understand that you are entitled to NOTHING in this exchange. Not creators' time. Not comics that reflect your values. That you think something is the right thing matters; and by all means talk about it; but ultimately, nobody owes you, personally, jack shit.

EIGHTH, cont'd: By the same token, understand that personal investment does not create reciprocal obligation. Comics, especially company-owned comics, will not love you back (which doesn't mean that the people who make them don't care; but that's whole other conversation).

NINTH: This is gonna sound like it contradicts the preceding, but: It is perfectly possible to believe that art and stories matter, and that making them carries concurrent social responsibility, and to criticize what you see as failures, without being abusive.

TENTH: If you are frustrated with chronic lack of representation, -ist narratives, etc.--which is totally justified, btw--I HIGHLY encourage you to write often and vehemently to the following: Publishers, editors-in-chief, CCOs, presidents, and VPs.

ELEVENTH, AND FINAL: There's a whole separate conversation about appropriate ways for pros to treat fans. But "they were mean first" is a shitty excuse, especially in the context I'm talking about above.

CODA, WITH A BIT OF CONTEXT: I'm a comics editor and writer, a fan, a professional critic, and a lifelong activist and advocate. I've been part of this conversation--and seen it play out--from every side, for a looooong time.

ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD: If you want to see how I try to make this stuff work in action, I podcast about comics at xplainthexmen.com (@XPlaintheXmen on Twitter).