Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Take it from a guy who hasn't had to do any real math in well over a decade

-That poll from yesterday: Meltzer beat Bendis 73% to 11% (with about 16% unable to choose which writer's work they disliked more). I'm totally shocked, really; I thought Meltzer would win, but I didn't expect such a blowout. I don't know if this means Meltzer is at the zenith of his unpopularity (perhaps exacerbated by news of Dwayne McDuffie's impending run) or if readers of this blog don't think Bendis is so bad. Or maybe they're just indifferent to him.

In any event, I think this illustrates the difference between hating and not liking something. Clearly a lot of people like Meltzer on some level, or else his books wouldn't be bestsellers.* Popularity is obviously not a zero sum game. In fact, it sometimes seems that intensity of hatred is directly proportionate to intensity of popularity. If we were to plot it on a graph, it would resemble a parabola: the peaks are on the extremes, with a deep trough in the middle of the spectrum (which represents the feeling of indifference towards Meltzer's work). It's probably safe to say Meltzer would prefer this scenario to the inverse, where indifference dominates.

Of course, the parabola isn't the only possible representation. Let's assume that the x-axis runs from intense like to intense dislike. Chuck Austen's popularity would clearly be represented by a slowly rising line with a massive spike at the end (not the best illustration, but it's close). Grant Morrison would probably be more like a sine wave--rising towards mild like, peaking at indifference, bottoming out at mild dislike, and reaching another peak at strong dislike (this is the best representation I could find).

I'm sure there's some sort of pseudo-mathematical formula that I could derive to make some case about the relation between sales and apparent favoribility based on internet discussion (assuming that the latter could be quantified). Unfortunately, my background is in the humanities, so any mathematical formula I produce would be the equivalent of a four year old child's attempt to make a balloon animal. But still, I think I've got a couple of preliminary conclusions to make:

1. Popular writers spur a lot of heated discussion on the internet. This might seem like a "duh" sort of point, until we start considering those writers whose internet favoribility clearly trends high. Take Gail Simone, for example. Discussion of her on the internet is generally favorable; she seems to lack the vocal critics who hound Bendis, Meltzer, et. al. Yet sales figures indicate that her name is not a selling point for most fans. Peter David, Sean McKeever, Jeff Parker, and countless others seem to follow this same trend.

I think the conclusion we can draw here is less about writers' popularity and more about how internet fans respond to popular writers. I suspect that popular writers get extra flack because their detractors see them as taking sales away from their favorites--in other words, "Why are you buying Superman/Batman when Manhunter is on the verge of cancellation?" This might seem like another "duh" type of moment, but I bet most message board types are not as self-conscious of this phenomenon as you might think.

2. I don't think this formula will apply to artists. I don't read Wizard, so I have no idea who comprises their current 10 Hottest Artists. But I'll pick a few artists who I think are pretty popular: Jim Lee, Alex Ross, Bryan Hitch, and John Romita Jr. None of these artists have the same parabola graph as Meltzer or Bendis, with the possible exception of Ross (and even then, I think the "hate" end would be considerably lower than the "love" end). Lee would probably have a flat line, dipping down somewhat on the "hate" end (like this, but with a milder decline at the end). Hitch would be more like a gradually rising line. Romita would peak at indifference, then decline towards "hate".

So there isn't really as well-defined a pattern, but I think most most artists would peak in the area of indifference then trail off considerably towards "hate." This reflects the general lack of interest in art on the internet, coupled with a fairly widespread fear of critiquing art. I've bemoaned these tendencies at considerable length, so I won't do so again here. In general, it seems that those who do comment on art tend to like it, or else claim a neutral reaction to it. One exception to this rule is for artists who are often late, such as Hitch; my impression is that they receive special criticism (along the lines of "I've been waiting five months for this?"). Lee, however, seems immune to this criticism for whatever reason; there's more of a sentiment of "let him take his time but don't solicit until he's finished." On the other end, artists with a reputation for timeliness (like Romita) seem to get an extra bonus, often expressed as "he's just as good as _______, but his books are never late."

If anyone can think of any useful application for this data conjecture, please let me know.

*Of course, the relaunch of Justice League and the Big Fucking Mystery You Can't Afford To Miss of Identity Crisis probably have a lot to do with Meltzer's impressive sales figures.

-I can't tell if the first item is funny, or just reflect my own prejudices. Actually, the last two items are pretty good too. Maybe I'm just in sync with Kevin Church today.

-Holy shit:

Online Dating

This is apparently due to the use of the words dick (can't be helped), porn, shit, zombie (?), death (??), and hell (???). Seems like there should be a "fuck" in there as well. (Via Comics Comics, who got a G--ahahahahaha.)

-Pro wrestling sure is fucked up, isn't it?

16 comments:

T. Hodler said...

We at Comics Comics are proud of our long tradition of providing entertainment and pseudo-intellectual comics analysis that can be safely enjoyed by the entire family.

Seriously, I think we got some kind of crazy pass from that blog-rating site, because we've used the words "death", "porn", "hell", "damn", and "raped"—not as often as a rebel-type like you, maybe, but we've used them. I sure wouldn't want my kids reading Comics Comics!

This isn't the first time I've been unfairly pegged as a square, either. When will people finally realize how punk rock I am? It's pretty obvious to me.

James Meeley said...

If it makes you feel any better, Dick, MY blog got "Rated G". And as we all know, despite how folks claim to want more of that, they always seem to gravitate more towards you "NC-17ers". ;)

Chris Mautner said...

This has nothing to do with the current discussion. I just wanted to let you know I caught Richard Thompson in concert last night and it was a really good show.

Um, yeah, that's all.

Dick Hyacinth's Ghost said...

I'm really at a point in my life where the only bands I want to see play live are ones that probably peaked before I was conceived, so it's good to know Richard Thompson is still worth seeing. How big a venue did he play?

I passed up seeing Ray Davies (probably my favorite songwriter of all time) a few years ago because I thought the song selection would lean towards shit I don't want to hear. This might have been a mistake. I do know this--if Dave Davies ever plays at a conveniently located venue, I'm there. His voice is still pretty good and there's a lot of Kinks in his set (but no "Mindless Child of Motherhood," sadly).

MarkAndrew said...

Maybe it's just the blogsphere.

I see plenty of polarizing artists on the CBR Boards where I hang out.

Not Ross, Turner or Romita so much, but Michael Turner or *anyone* who works in a more abstract style.

Jim Lee and John Romita are the Roger Stern or Gail Simone of artists. Frank Miller is the Brad Metzler. (Although he's also the Brad Metzler or writers.)

Thom said...

Yeah, I am not sure that the artist view holds up. Turner and Land have become almost profanities in some corners of the comic web.

Jaap said...

Mark Andrew, let me make sure you are not calling Micheal Turner abstract, and it was just a poor choice of words.

Surely you don't count Turner in the same league as a Sam Keith or a Bill Sienkiewicz?

Chris Mautner said...

Dick,

It was a mid-sized venue (the Harrisburg Whitaker Center to be exact) and though not sold out, it was pretty packed and full of what were obviously hardcore RT fans.

It was an interesting set. About half was devoted to the new album (Sweet Warrior, which, by the way, is also very good) and the other half devoted to fan favorites with a few forgotten album cuts thrown in ("King of Bohemia," "Gypsy Love Songs").

RT comes to Harrisburg every couple of years and this may be the best I've seen him play yet (though that may have to do with the fact he had a full, incredibly tight band behind him). I'd definitely try to go see him if you can.

Anonymous said...

I got a PG-13 at NMH and Blog@ got an R rating.

Unknown said...

I only got an R on my blog. It only found one instance of "fuck", so I guess I'll have to work on increasing the profanity level.

Anonymous said...

"I don't know if this means Meltzer is at the zenith of his unpopularity (perhaps exacerbated by news of Dwayne McDuffie's impending run) or if readers of this blog don't think Bendis is so bad."

Personally, I fall in the "I think Bendis isn't so bad" category. I greatly enjoyed his run of "Daredevil," as well as "Powers" and, to the lesser extent, "Ultimate Spider Man." I don't really have much of a problem with his writing, even if some of his latest work left me cold.

Harvey Jerkwater said...

Hey...my (retired) blog earned an NC-17 too. Without a single instance of full frontal or a disembowling, even.

I don't know if I should be honored or peeved.

Felicity Walker said...

Bendis's halting, prosaic writing style irritates me, but not enough to stop buying comics that have good art, like /Avengers/ with John Romita Jr.

Louis Vuitton Outlet said...

This topic was really educational and nicely written.

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