I didn't say it was mature discussion, Nick. I said it was free discussion. You take the good with the bad, that's the price you pay.

That 'murder' comment was a joke, by the way. I don't really think you guys were laughing at the murders, from what I read on that thread. I should've put one of those 'winking smiley' things at the end, but I'm just not a 'winking smiley' type of guy.

And now I have the "Facts of Life" theme song stuck in my head. Thanks, Eel.

Where's the damn "snicker" button on this UBB Code thingee?

Don't listen to Nick. NinthArt is a swirling cesspool of steaming desires, packed to the rafters with rough trade, unbridled carnality, and innocence defiled. (Good bits may only be available by subscription.)



Ellis and the sharper folks on the forum always argued that they were against the massive dominance of the superhero genre, not against the genre per se.

Ellis' view of the time is best summed up by [a href="http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=cia&article=331"]The Old Bastard's Manifesto,[/a] though even he admits it's now well past its sell-by date. In sum, it argues for finite works in book form rather than serial periodicals, for primacy of the author, and for targeting adults now and going back for children later.



It doesn't much, anymore. They started to burn out on activism sometime after year one- there are only so many variations to be had on that theme. Two of the three original editors and most of the original writers aren't there anymore, and there were heated debates earlier this year about whether they ought to shut down before they lost their identity. They've chosen to soldier on instead.

Unemployed homo's hang out here, too. I can't cop to Britishness, though.

Joey
www.moderntales.com

I was a regular on the WEF and I liked it.

Yes there was a bunch of people who worshiped Ellis, this shoudn't surprise people. That pretty much happens with every creator involved message board.

Yes Ellis could be a dick, and yes some people followed him on that.

Yes he banned people for questionable behaviour.

Yes there was people who believed that they were cooler than the other geeks because of the comics they read (this happens on TCJ as well). And yes Ellis cultivated that.

But it was *his* message board. He says straight up front that he runs things his way and called himself "Stalin." You shouldn't be surprised or complain when does does just that.

Despite that, it was a gathering place where you didn't have to put up with a lot of the annoyances on other comic book message boards, in particular Usenet. No "Who'd Win? Thor or Hulk?" No Trolling. No arguements over "correct" comic book continuity. No wailing over how X creator is going to ruin X book with his different ideas. A lot of the stupid shit you saw everywhere else was not done there.

And better yet, if you liked TPB's and GN's and was into more than just superheroes you could go there and chat with like minded people. There was *no* place on the net where that segment of the comic audience could gather and chat. Everywhere else seemed to be utterly dominated by monthly superhero talk (and still is).

The place was also friendly to female readers, which why people defending Sim's anti-women views were quickly dealt with. Lord knows in any large scale comic book message board your always going to have a few idiots that make it unwelcoming for a large chunk of the female readers.

And the place was more than just comics. Nifty stuff about science and current topics were posted. You could spend many hours there at times following links that people would post. This included web-junk like the same "What comic creator are you?" that was posted here.

This very thread does a good job of demonstrating what many wanted to get away from. People who are "dancing on the grave" of the WEF? Especially those who are bitching about it, happy it is dead, but say they never went there or posted. You're displaying like usual eye-rolling, dork behaviour the WEF was a refuge from.

I like to think of my column as the last bastion of moral virtue and clean thought amidst the heaving bosoms and pulsing organs of all the dirtier authors. I think I'm the only columnist who doesn't swear.

Allow me to beat on this "OMAR is a nutjob" thing. I really think he's not a troll anymore. If he is, it's convincing job. His ravings would actually be amusing if they weren't just so damn sad.

Hmmmm.... I've been constantly called a troll who will go away if only everyone would ignore me for a good 5 or 6 years now. I'm actually getting kind of used to it, but it's old.

"Nutjob who would be amusing if he weren't so sad" has kind of a nice ring to it. Thanks Commander - though I wonder if how legit your claim to that rank really is...