My Second Best rant… Cause my first rate one is too good for you
So, I wrote this huge huge rant and then I scrapped it. It was fun. =/ I do that all the time. It must be strange to talk to me at cons and get an earful of “shit, fuck, Diana has opinions!” No wonder I like making My Muse, it let me express myself a little better.
Well, sod that, you’re getting my second best version of this rant… a shorter harsher version, oddly relevant to the content.
Okay, Tokyopop got in hot water for their recent chatty poorly phrased contract and I don’t care about that because it’s been talked about all over. My rant is for a phrase that pops up just about any time bad contracts are discussed.
“Well, I don’t plan to give them my best idea anyway.”
“I’ll just give them something I don’t care about.”
“Ect ect ect.”
Don’t YOU just love it when people tell you they want you to pay out good cash for their “Second best idea that they don’t give two shits about”? Dude, I’m right there! Shovel that pile of crap right in my mouth. Oh wait, let me pay you for it before you start.
How about NO. You will receive my second best for your soulless abortion of a book… in that it will remain sad and unloved and unbought. I will also think some bad things about your mother and generally wish you ill will for the few seconds your book impacts my life. Maybe I’ll rant about it to my friends and they will roll their ideas and tell me to get a life.
Still, I do love collecting horrible comics now and then. Maybe I’ll pick it up at Half Price Books when it hits a dollar… or maybe I’ll wait for it to bottom out at a quarter. Or maybe I won’t buy it even second hand. So, good luck Mr. I’mnotgoingtotryveryhardbutIwantacareer. Someone will love your book but it’s not going to be me.
See, everyone talks about how good this is for the artist and the company! Yay, books. Yay, money Yay career built on sub par brain poop. But please, consider the audience, we’re the ones who truly suffer from your soulsavingcostcutting idea. Maybe those kids that sit in the book stores reading manga and never buying it don’t JUST want to freeload, maybe they’re also saying “Hey! Stop shitting in my mouth!” and no one’s listening. I find it’s really hard to voice your totally dislike of something by deciding NOT to spend your money on it.
At least lie to me if you plan to do this… here I’ll do it for you. “Ohhh, I want to work for “shittycompanyX” but I’ll need to make something SPECIAL just for them. Oh, I’ve got to think of something.” Beams!!! Look at that, doesn’t that sound better?
Yay, there’s my rant… feel free to heap scorn on me.
SCORN! SCORN!……mmm….corn….wait, what’re we talking about?
Anyways, I gotta say I agree with you. I had never put too much thought into the kinds of stuff coming out of Tokyopop (TokyoPOOP, more like it;p) but now that you mention it, that is what I’ve been seeing in my trips to the local manga shop. The only thing that called out to me was King City but that was a Brandon Graham book and I guess I’m just a sucker for his work, whatever it might be. I vaguely remember hearing something about Tokyopop and bad contracts for the artist/writers but I do not recall what was so wrong with it. Guess I will be hitting up Google after this little comment. But, yeah, it does seem like the books being put out by the new artists are not the best fish in the sea. Sometimes they look pretty at first but then as you flip through you start seeing all of the corners being cut and the “eh, it’s good enough” attitude about half way through.
Well, enough random ramblings from me, take care and get plenty of internet hugs from your peeps to keep you sane. Or just go watch BBC America, Coupling is on ^_^
~Ciao!~
Good point… somehow, such controversy and statements usually pass right over my head, and I am blissfully unaware that they exist, unless someone I know mentions them in a way that puts them into my realm of existence. Like this XD
I agree, I have NO interest in someone’s 2nd rate work. High-quality, best-you-got FTW, yo!
Glad YOU don’t go that route, ????!
-Anthony
I am going to have to agree with you on the whole “Please pay money for my second-rate-shit-ideas” thing, but what really drives your point home is the one panel that accompanies it. I made all of my room mates read it. Laughter ensued.
-Halo
>^.^<
(A.K.A. The pink-haired Saiko and Lavendar fan from AKon and Animefest.)