There's a Monster In My House
I had thoughts on the debacle.
When I lived in Tucson I worked across the street from a comic shop. Awfully convenient while it lasted, but I'm not entirely sure of the name nor do I remember very much about it, but I do recall some specific purchases.
In the late '80s, unlike today, collected trade editions of comic book storylines were still relatively uncommon and often beset by printing errors (color plates swapped on some pages, pages out of order, using a reprint edition with editorial changes instead of the original), but increasingly popular were collections of recent best-sellers such as The Dark Knight Returns.
Anyway, DC Comics came to the brilliant (and absolutely correct) conclusion that a collection of a current hot seller would be a great jumping-on point for new readers, so they decided to publish a storyline concurrently with the arrival of the last issue in the collection so that readers could follow through the next month with the next regular issue.
Having heard good things from friends, I purchased the volume and became an instant fan, buying each issue thereafter.
The book was The Sandman: The Doll's House.
With that I became I fan of Neil Gaiman's work. I got all the comics I could written by him thereafter (Black Orchid, Secret Origins Special, etc.), and pounced on the novel Good Omens, a collaboration with the great Terry Pratchett.
I bought his short stories. I bought CDs of his readings. I collected his chapbooks. When my local PBS station broadcast the BBC series Neverwhere, I quite literally watched it again at least once every single weekend for the next seven or eight months.
I bought the Sandman hardcovers and every comics collection of his work thereafter. I bought his novels and more short story collections. I bought the audiobooks that he read (I find I'm unable to follow most audiobooks because my mind wanders, but his voice was captivating and held my attention). Radio shows, video adaptations of his works in film and TV, all made their way into my collections.
Last summer all that came to an end with the terrible revelations from Tortoise Media, which were all too credible and heartbreaking.
In January, as the news finally hit mainstream media, the allegations became even more horrifying. Every new bit of information was worse. What's next, discovering he was a frequent flyer on Epstein Airways?
From the start I saw Amanda Palmer just as culpable as NG since their marriage, and again, each page turned further cemented that view, culminating in the lawsuit against the two of them by one of the victims/survivors.
My heart goes out to those who fell under his grasp.
Many are denigrating his work itself, calling much of it derivative or flat out plagiarized. This seems unlikely, but possible. However, there's no denying the man's skill at creating moving fictions, perhaps enhanced by his skill at manipulation.
Though they meant so much to me in the past, I don't really want my collection of NG books. (I even have most of his children's books!) As publishers and media turn their backs on this monster, more foul than any creature depicted in his stories, his income is rightfully cut off, but what little remains to be seen will not gain any profit from me; I've certainly contributed far too much to his wealth already.
As far as my collection, to the extent that comics are a collaborative medium, some things I suppose I can continue to appreciate for the artwork. The collector in me balks at dismantling the collection, but I will definitely get over that - I don't want them.
Film is another collaborative medium, and Neverwhere had such a powerful effect on me at the time that I may be able to watch it again. I won't be rereading the novel, though.
Fortunately, I did not become a fan of AP, so I only have one album that I sampled and didn't care for.
Over two decades ago I longed for a box set of Bill Cosby's original comedy albums, to go with my George Carlin and Richard Pryor sets. To this day that still hasn't appeared and of course I would never buy it even second hand - but BC was such a part of my formative years, I still find myself starting to quote one of his routines and stop. Fortunately I never had a huge BC collection. But the emotional damage is the same.
How we feel as fans of creators who have been revealed to be monsters pales in comparison to the abuse perpetrated on their victims. Period. But we can acknowledge that fans have been affected in small ways.
All power to the plaintiff in the lawsuit, and if more are coming, more power to them as well. Best thing to happen is in 10 years' time when NG or AP are mentioned, people say "Who?"
https://open.substack.com/pub/geezergeek/p/theres-a-monster-in-my-house
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