[Gail Simone]

I'm sad because it means at least the temporary loss of a vibrant community.

We're never going to be able to control every website and every poster and we shouldn't even really be trying. If a particular set of scans is troublesome, I believe asking the SD mods would have solved the problem.

If we're GOING to have communities like this, and we are, how much better is it to have one like scans-daily, where both the mods and posters are aware of the concerns of creators and publishers and make a genuine effort to accommodate them? Where they not only established strict posting guidelines to prevent whole issues from being posted but also enforced them quite diligently?

The truth is, there are only a handful of comics websites that aren't run (and sometimes very heavily edited) by vested interests, like a publisher, where a sizable number of comics readers can go and share their enthusiasm about a title with a large enough audience to actually make a difference. There was a lot of dedication there, a lot of fascinating material. Yes, there was snark. Yes, some issues were panned. Who cares? The site was very heavily weighted towards books the posters really enjoyed, and served as a sample taste for many new readers. I myself have ended up buying several Marvel books in particular that I otherwise wouldn't have even stopped to look at.

I sympathize with any creators who felt their work was spoiled. I JUST this week had the ending of my latest issue of Wonder Woman spoiled. But I don't believe there was any malice. Quite the opposite, I believe that the poster intended only positive things and meant only to spread the word. I find that to be the motive there again and again. "Hey, I liked this book...take a look at this cool stuff in it!"

Do we really want to try to stop that instinct?

I propose a potential solution. I think, if S-D rebuilds, and I hope they do, I suggest that they make it part of the rules that if a creator or publisher objects to a particular post as being too spoiler-y, that the poster be given the choice to either modify or delete the offending posts. I would be very surprised if more than a tiny handful of creators took advantage of such a resource, but it would certainly show goodwill and I'm sure many skeptical creators would appreciate it. They might be brought more into the process. It's not Draconian, it's merely good faith cooperation. A creator might ask for a page to be removed. Surely that's better than having the site nuked over a single post?

I have spoken with some S-D mods and the thing that I felt is undeniable is that they DO respect the creators and sincerely believe that what they are doing isn't hurtful. That they self-imposed their own ethical guidelines and rigorously enforce them speaks volumes.

These people are not the enemy. They're the good guys, and the alternative is SO much worse. You think what S-D is bad?

Watch and see what pops up in its place.


I hope that S-D regroups and continues to promote good comics. They will have my support, such as it is, when they do so.