comics

Here's a roundup of fandom controversy stories that might be of interest to fans:

• Kotaku recently hosted a post questioning common wisdom about why fan fiction gets created. "[A]ccording to Novelist Lev Grossman, Fan Fiction is...a response from an audience eager to engage in some sort of dialogue with the media it adores...But those definitions don’t really apply to ParadiseAvenger. “I started writing Fan Fiction for Kingdom Hearts before I’d even played the game." Instead her "work is ‘Alternate Universe’ — writing that doesn’t expand the original in any canonical, traditional way, but exists in and of itself. Her goal is to raise awareness of issues we usually don’t want to confront: child abuse, drug addiction." While exploring her story's popularity the article quotes Christian McCrea, Games Program Director at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. "'Many people write Fan Fiction because the fandom is for writing itself,' says Christian. 'Writing has a relatively low threshold of entry and we’re all told how to do it at some level in our education. It’s about the power of writing.'"
• Also a focus of debate is whether print or digital is a better comics medium, not for readers but for creators concerned about piracy. An Iowa Press Citizen article reports, "When comic book illustrator Steve Lieber heard that his recently released graphic novel, “Underground,” was being pirated on an online forum, he decided to take action...he got on the forum and talked with them. 'I went from annoyance to fascination to sympathy,' Lieber said. 'I’ve got the fanboy gene like anyone else, and I know what it feels like to love a work so much you just want to evangelize for it.' The forum discussion caused a spike in book sales and Lieber now plans to incorporate free digital downloads into the marketing of his future work."
• Manga reader and fan artist Ryan Matheson detailed his experience of being accused of transporting obscene material into Canada. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund supported him, but he "served jail time, wracked [sic] up $75,000 in legal fees, and finally copped a plea to a “non-regulatory offense” in order to avoid a trial" despite no evidence of any such content on his laptop. The MarySue focused on similar cases in a related article and concluded that fans need to become informed of local laws but also that "more fans need to vocalize that manga and queer-themed fiction are valid forms of literature."

If you have opinions on the print versus digital debate, the motivations behind writing fanfic, or censorship of manga, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories on fan activities that might be of interest to fans:

• K-pop fandom made the pages of the Wall Street Journal which wrote about how the "true measure of a fan's devotion is sending lunch to the stars." "The trend, which has spawned a little industry of specialist lunch providers, reflects the desire of many South Korean fans to nourish their idols rather than just shower them with gifts they probably don't want." The trend has profited the providers of the lunches, although the needs are quite specific. "Food should be low-fat because most of the recipients are weight-conscious pop stars, and it should taste good even when served cold. She also varies her charges to reduce the burden on younger fans." There is also a concern for security. "Applicants are usually asked to fill out an online order form, including the proposed menu, delivery date and the name of a catering service, which is sent to the management agency of the artists for review and approval."
• While K-pop fans treat their idols' tastebuds, one man has found a way to satisfy his own fannish desires. "Popping up in nearly 30 comic books, he has become the industry’s Waldo—a lurking stowaway who has managed to hijack the unlikeliest panels. 'It's the ultimate bragging right to go into a comic store and pick up a book you're in,' says [Jeff] Johnson, a 30-year-old Kmart electronics clerk from Leavenworth, Kansas."
• Both fans and companies do look beyond themselves, however. As part of a Make-A-Wish effort one company created an oversized R2-D2 for a boy to drive and presented it to him at a school assembly that also featured a lightsaber battle.
• PC World recently featured a live-action Minecraft fan film and noted "At this point, there must be more live-action fan films for Minecraft--a bit of a blank slate, from a fiction point of view--than there are for franchises with rich settings like Half-Life. It's surprisingly genre-flexible, isn't it? I suppose that's the kind of creative adaptability that comes from material that literally has been designed to be taken apart so you can invent something new."

If you are a Star Wars, Comics, K-pop fan or are a gamer, why not write about it in Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories on music fandom that might be of interest to fans:

• Beatles fan Scott Freiman created several presentations on the band, and the latest "Looking Through a Glass Onion: Deconstructing The Beatles' White Album" was recently shown in Schenectady, NY. Looking "is a multimedia exploration of the influential band's eponymous 1968 album" and the presentations began "for my friends, but I've since discovered there's a huge audience hungry to know about this stuff, from 5-year-old kids to 80-year-old grandparents."
• While Freiman's work focused on the band, Do It Again is a film about the fandom of the Beatles' contemporaries, The Kinks. The fan documentary explores the journey of Geoff Edgers, a major Kinks fan and the film’s screenwriter, and what fandom is about. Edgers funded the film from various sources including fans. David Plunkert, an award-winning illustrator and graphic designer, volunteered his services for the “Do It Again” poster wholly because he wanted to draw The Kinks. The film's focus was originally the band, but after the frontman, Ray Davies, avoided participation, the focus shifted to the band's fandom. "In the end, it became the great Kinks fan movie. Here’s my approach — Michael Moore might attack a resistant subject. I stepped away and have respect," Plunkert said. "Ambush Ray? No way. I’m a fan, not a stalker or Mike Wallace."
• The Korea Herald focused on fans as well, in this case classical music fandom. "Such fandom is changing the country’s classical music scene, creating a new audience base and also boosting CD sales" making Korea a draw for international artists. Classical music sales are largely in trouble "not only because of falling interests in the genre but also the rapidly growing online music market." Yet the reception in Korea is different. "This kind of fandom culture does not exist in other countries. And this is why they want to come back to Korea to feel the energy from the Korean audience."
• Lastly, crossover fans of comics and musicals have something to look forward to: Holy Musical Batman!, "a fan-made musical featuring everyone’s favorite Dark Knight".

If you are a music or comics fan, why not write about it in Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories on fan fiction that might be of interest to fans:

• One of the most common forms of creative expression by fans has been the written word, and an increasing number of creators are either being asked about it, are writing about it due to the influence of other creators or are even offering fans tips on how to improve their work. This last step may be a lose/lose situation. "I don't want break the heart of a fan by judging it like I would if they were a writer on the show but that's the only way I CAN judge it. I might consider giving notes if they were looking for constructive criticism but only if I knew them really well. Many people who SAY they want criticism don't. They just want me to be thrilled with their work. That's an emotional land mine I'd rather step around."
• Certainly fans don't need encouragement to write fan-fiction although they are increasingly being given incentives to do so. But the impulse has sometimes begun whole new genres of work. In an interview, comics scholar Jared Gardner claimed "the earliest comics creators began their careers imitating their favorite cartoonists and came to New York or San Francisco with a portfolio in hand of their best examples--and often made their first sales peddling some of this fan work...on the streets." Unlike costly formats such as films, "Comics...have always invited audiences to pick up a pencil and try it themselves: from the earliest days of the form creators and publishers have encouraged readers to send in their stories, their sketches--even offering how-to guides for drawing favorite characters," he said, concluding "In a way, the history of comics is the history of fan art and the fanzine."
• In recent years the general fandom audience, if not the general public, has become more familiar with fan fiction as part of the remix impulse at work in both high and low culture or as a core expression of fandom longevity. Certainly fans are not terribly accepting when the creators themselves turn out sloppy tie-in work, so perhaps this is one explanation for why many general fandom sites are beginning to do regular recommendation postings for fanfic, or even issuring writing challenges.

If you write fan fiction, or fan comics, or have something to contribute about creator involvement, why not write about it in Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories on commodification of fandom that might be of interest to fans:

• AdWeek wrote about a new branding service called "FanDNA, and it’s pitching itself as an alternative to the established Marketing Evaluations’ Q ratings by matching brands with celebrities." The survey is intended to find out what the fans of a given celebrity like as a way of better utilizing celebrities to market products.
• Ad Age utilized online conversation to determine who were the NFL teams' truest fans. "To find where the true fans lie, back in August we took a look at the volume of team conversations coming from true fans during the off-season. We re-ran the date to see how this played out during the season." The ultimate purpose, of course, was to determine how best to utilize fans for marketing. "Brands outside the NFL can learn from all of this. There are true fans and bandwagon fans. In a brands case, true fans are often referred to as advocates or champions. A social campaign should start from the point of view of the true fans."
• Perhaps spurred by the success of Big Bang Theory as one of the most popular shows on U.S. television, several more series are airing around the globe that focus on fans. One of these is Kevin Smith's Comic Book Men, an unscripted series focusing on a New Jersey comic book shop. Australian TV's Outland just began airing as well, which is about a fan club who are "openly gay but closeted sci-fi fans." One of Outland's creators' "research included sporadic attendances at science-fiction conventions (he admits to being a fan of Doctor Who and Star Trek), but despite the fanatical devotees, it was always the gay fans he remembered. “I don’t know what it is, but I think they’re always a little ‘extra-obsessive.’ They have to collect the full set of Doctor Who dollies. The gays, we get a little bit too excited about things sometimes, I think."

If you are a sports fan, part of a fan club or love comics, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories on fannish histories in the news that might be of interest to fans:

• CNN's Geek Out blog hosted a post by Colette Bennett about how she became a J-Pop fangirl. "In 2008, a friend of mine mentioned that he enjoyed Japanese television dramas - known fondly as J-dramas to the fan community. I had no idea what the J-drama scene was about, but it wasn't long before I sat down to watch one. The opening scene was accompanied by a Japanese pop song from outrageously popular boy band Arashi. Within five minutes, I had two new realizations: I was madly in love with J-dramas, and I was madly in love with Arashi." The Korea Herald recently hosted a similar article by Elizabeth Gwee about her love of K-Pop fandom. "I don’t fit the stereotype of a K-pop fan. I like to think of myself as a mature, normal-functioning, happily married adult. I try not to brainwash my friends into liking it, unless they ask me about it. K-pop happens to be something that my husband, who introduced me to it, and I enjoy indulging in when we need an escape from mundane adult life."
• Romance novel review site Smart Bitches, Trashy Books hosted a discussion about paranormal vs. contemporary romance fans that tried to define how each group participated in their fandom. "[T]he paranormal fans are more likely to click links, rate books, review books and spread the word about a series they love - and connect with other readers. That's not to say that the contemporary fanbase can't be built among readers; I think the limitation is that the contemporary world building is reality-based, and ultimately the connected activities are both based in the real world (knitting, cooking, etc.) and focused on real-world promotion instead of online."
• Today in Comics History posted about the origins of comic book fandom, citing the practice of allowing fans to network among themselves as a turning point. "Now letters pages were not rare before the 1960s, and even letters pages with full addresses (name, street, city, state) were published in comic books back in the 1930s. And there were fans clubs, even if they were mostly company run. But something changed with comic book fans in the early 1960s. There were many factors, but one key was the older, activist fan like Jerry Bails, Roy Thomas, and Don & Maggie Thompson. They enjoyed comic books and wanted to tell others about it. And they had the life experience and knowledge to act on that desire."
• Lastly, The Literary Omnivore had some book recommendations about fandoms highlighting "three works dealing with pre-Internet fans."

If you've read zines or are part of the comics, J-pop, K-Pop, or romance book fandoms, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories on collaborative fan activity that might be of interest to fans:

• Comic Book Movie announced that ""The Batman" will be a FANMADE series released on the internet" and asked for suggestions from fans as to the animated movie's content.
• Soaps.com asks for contributions for fan fiction citing the many stalled storylines of cancelled soap series. "We’ve lost so many of our soap operas in the past few years. Fans are missing the soap characters they’ve grown accustomed to seeing each day over the years. With that in mind, Soaps.com decided to bring your beloved characters, and not so beloved characters back to life via Fan Fiction."
• Unleash the Fanboy announced that a new Star Wars fan film was "groundbreaking" because "a group of Spanish-speaking fanboys made a Star Wars themed flick about two lovers…who happen to be stormtroopers."
• The MarySue posted about how a fan film had topped the annual recommendations made by those in the entertainment industry. "Much like The Black List, the Viewfinder List recognizes short form video content and the up and coming helmers responsible for it.”" The live-action short film, Portal: No Escape, got the most recommendations. "Even if you don’t play the video game it’s based on, it’s a really spectacular thing to watch."
• Lastly, Think Progress took note of collaborative fan action on a different front, that of speaking out against SOPA. "I suspect that as fandom becomes an increasingly important basis for identity or community, we’ll see more work and organizations along these lines where the values that motivate service are drawn less explicitly from political parties or religious faith and more from powerful fictional texts."
  

If you write fan fiction are part of Batman, gaming, or soap opera fandom, or have taken a stand against SOPA, why not contribute your fandom experience to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories on female fandom that might be of interest to fans:

• FemPop claimed that Women Geeks Rule. "Male geeks are the “real geeks” right? The rare female geek who share [sic] the same interest is a girl geek first and a geek second. But according to this infographic male geeks and the fandoms they are most commonly associated with are in the minority. Between them Harry Potter and Twilight fandoms have more than 51 million fans on Facebook. That’s six times as many fans as Doctor Who, Pokemon, Star Wars and Star Trek combined. By sheer numbers female dominated fandoms rule the earth." The MarySue also pulled out some evidence when pointing out that men and women were equally interested in genre films. "Perhaps Hollywood will see this and realize they don’t need to subscribe to the school of thought that men and women like opposite things."
• FemPop was certainly right in suggesting that men are the ones thought of when it comes to fandom, by both the media and the men themselves. In his first column for NextMovie.com the author of "Planet Fanboy" wrote "And lest you think you lack the cred to attain true geek glory, I'm here to inform you that all are welcome. Seriously, the more we let in the club, the more likely someone is to introduce us to their sister." Apparently sisters themselves could not possibly be part of the audience. Similarly, while Unleash the Fanboy (as opposed to just Fan) hosted a column about girl geek myths they also managed to be derogatory about older women in a column about fandom knitting. "At one time in our lives, knitters were the most despised people in the world. Mostly comprised of grandmothers and other matronly figures, they would force us to adorn ourselves in ridiculously embarrassing attire that their hands had diabolically fashioned."
• By contrast, The Fangirl Next Door created a podcast on women who are part of the Star Wars franchise adding, "I must make a point to mention that you do not have to be a Star Wars fan for this podcast to hit home. This particular episode is all about empowerment."

If you take part in Star Wars or any other fandom, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories about fan creations that might be of interest to fans:

• The Daily Dot recently featured an interview with the creators of the Rap Industry Fan Fiction Tumblr blog. "“Why rappers? Because no one writes about rappers,” Jones told the Daily Dot. There’s something “endearing to read about rappers that feel vulnerable. And I mean vulnerable in a stupid, relatable way, like saying ‘duvet’ instead of ‘bidet,’ not grand lost-love vulnerability,”" Asked about any response from the subjects of their blogs, one replied "Upon two occasions rappers have asked us to post their music videos. I do not think they understand that our site is about made up stuff." Their future plans include podfic, and hopes for a book deal.
• One of the exhibits by a performance art group in Japan "taxidermied...rats, painted them yellow, and stuck wires in their tails." The artists explained that the exhibit was inspired by the endurance of female Pikachu cosplayers. "These super rats have developed into what they are because of human activities. Even though humans are trying to exterminate the rats, they have become an eradicable [sic] part of society. I also thought that the type of girls that hang around Center-gai are a bit similar."
• Wizard World recently featured what they called The Best Fan Fiction on Video, a collection of fan films that somehow failed to include last year's Emmy winning Star Wars fan film, "Star Wars Uncut" which was creatively crowdsourced. Crowdsourcing has enabled the production of an increasing variety of fan films for properties such as ElfQuest and Riverdale, an Archie comics fanfilm that "was produced with the help of almost 100 Craigslist volunteers from the Vancouver film industry."

If you create fan videos or fan films or are part of rap music or Pokemon fandom, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories providing a closer look at comics fans that might be of interest to fans:

• Newsarama has begun a series of articles on comics fandom that focuses on what fans are expressing now that their voices can be so publicly visible. They began by looking at fans' sense of "ownership" over characters and storylines, the conclusion of which was that "what the fans do matters more than what they say", specifically, when what they do affects the finances of the producers. This point of view was repeated in Part II which went so far as to speak to psychologists about why fans "don't know what they actually want."
• A more sociological look at comics fans is discussed by the University of Cambridge's Casey Brienza who asks "Why are superhero comics so masculine? After all, other comic book-loving countries such as Japan and France do not manifest the same trends, and the self-same superhero characters, when presented in another medium such as Hollywood film, have truly mass appeal." She concludes that the cause was "1) the institution of the Comics Code in the 1950s and 2) the rise of the direct market in the 1980s."
• Online magazine Slate offered some numbers on the sex breakdown of Comic Con attendees by looking at a speed dating event held there, and note "New York Comic Con (NYCC) and other fan specific spaces also do a tremendous job of inverting many carefully crafted social norms." For one, "normally, gay men are the largest queer demographic at Speed Dating events, but at Comic Con, "girl-on-girl" action is taking precedence."

If you are part of a comics or manga fandom, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.