Tony Harris on real geeks.

[mikekerrIII]

Who would want to defend that.

If I was a pro, I'd distance myself from him.

Distance themselves by backing away slowly.

[Deep_Sleeper]

I think it’s far more likely that the lady dressed as Power Girl just wants some attention. Lets face it, that’s what the guy dressed as Deadpool wants too.

I think in a way, Tony Harris is strying to say exactly that. Some people don't do it because they love the medium (whether it be comics, anime or whatever), they are doing it just for the attention.

He singles out women, which is obviously one of the major issues anyone can have with TH's rant, but there are plenty of guys doing the same. There are some who would find that behaviour shameful. To illustrate a point I'm trying to make (once again, it's an extreme example), there was an ad that Spike TV used to air about this guy who loved girls and who loved to score...and you see him join a women's field hockey team, but all he's there to do is to tackle women and raise their skirt using his field hockey stick.

There are guys who pretend to be deep and interesting, when they are just really shallow, who are just around a scene to score. I'm thinking Tony is taking the side of "That's pretty shameful behaviour", especially since he alludes to having little girls who he probably feels are impressionable and he would not like to see them emulate that kind of behaviour. From what I'm hearing from this thread, most are on the other side, where the motto is "Don't hate the player. Hate the game"

[Michael P]

Someone can't like dressing up for attention, and pick a comic book character to dress up as because they like comic books? Someone can't go to see Avengers and come out of it thinking Thor is the shit and wanting to read some Thor comics? We've got to treat our hobbies like the goddamn "We Hate Cordelia" club?

Fucking hell, people, it's not high school anymore. We don't have to hate the pretty, popular kids. Truth be told, we never did.

[pitbull in a skirt]

His beef seems to mainly focus on pretty girls not being open to being with geeks...which is strange because as far as I know, cons are not for dating are they?

[Wjowski]

Crap like that makes me embarrassed to talk about my hobbies with my friends.

[Beacon]

I really think that we need to be sure to separate “booth babes” and “female cosplayers” in this discussion. They’re completely different. The Con booth babe probably knows even less about comics than the model at the Auto Show knows about cars. The cosplayer is probably a “real fan” even if she doesn’t have an encyclopedic knowledge of the X-Men.

I think in a way, Tony Harris is strying to say exactly that. Some people don't do it because they love the medium (whether it be comics, anime or whatever), they are doing it just for the attention.

I could just as easily argue that that kind of attention craving has more to do with insecurities than anything sinister (which seems to be what Harris is implying). If the goal is to get attention from strangers then there are much less geeky ways to do it than painting yourself green and pretending to be She-Hulk. “Nerd” and “exhibitionist” (or however you want to define cosplayers) aren’t mutually exclusive.

Also its worth noting that the world is full of fans that have never touched a comic. They know the characters from movies, cartoons, ect. I guess Harris is calling them out too. Personally I think they’re still real fans.

there was an ad that Spike TV used to air about this guy who loved girls and who loved to score...and you see him join a women's field hockey team, but all he's there to do is to tackle women and raise their skirt using his field hockey stick.

I maintain that that’s the only reason to be a male cheerleader.

[kmeyers]

Someone can't like dressing up for attention, and pick a comic book character to dress up as because they like comic books? Someone can't go to see Avengers and come out of it thinking Thor is the shit and wanting to read some Thor comics? We've got to treat our hobbies like the goddamn "We Hate Cordelia" club?

Fucking hell, people, it's not high school anymore.

You couldn't be more wrong...I would have agreed with you until my girlfriend worked in an office. It's High School times 10.

I've been lucky enough to avoid that working office situation, but it's totally High School. The rest of society is very HS too...

[StoneGold]

Eh, I'm not saying he's right, but I'm not saying he's entirely wrong, either?


But for those saying he's a crappy artist who's worked on nothing, you are in fact the one who sucks. I'm not saying I endorse his views, but Tony Harris draws pretty.

[thehod]

I think he makes a GOOD point. there are those who cosplay and its straight up prostitution. "Tee Hee buy me that or you should buy that and we can hang out--but never do" crowd, and some poor dope buys books that are over priced because some hot and not so hot chick rings a guy's*ahem* bell.

And if any of you heard them talk about the same fans behind closed doors..Harris rant wouldn't seem that out of context, Its akin to working with someone who is in the KLAN but doesnt say how much they hate you, because they are getting paid.

Dont get me wrong there are REAL cosplayer's who do it for love of character or comics. But there are more than a few who take advantage of nerds lack of social skills. HIRED by vendors. And who also laugh when they count their profits.

So dont shoot the messenger. next time you are at a convention and see a comic fan pay 4 times as much for an issue because a woman with big boobs pushes them on his back..dont say you wont warned.

To those who do it for the love, I aint talkin bout you.

You know I'm shocked to find that you're in agreement with him.

SHOCKED, I tell you.

[thehod]

You couldn't be more wrong...I would have agreed with you until my girlfriend worked in an office. It's High School times 10.

I've been lucky enough to avoid that working office situation, but it's totally High School. The rest of society is very HS too...

Yes, there are still people who act like they're still in the playground long after they've joined the real world, but the adults just ignore them and get on with life.

[StoneGold]

Yes, there are still people who act like they're still in the playground long after they've joined the real world, but the adults just ignore them and get on with life.

But in this case, it's the con circuit. Not exactly the real world.

[Pól Rua]

Yeah, sure, he's cranky, but he draws nice, and for the record, he doesn't 'need to swipe photos in order to draw some crappy comic'. He's a photographer who creates his own photoreference and he's fully capable of working without it.
Just for the record.

[thehod]

But in this case, it's the con circuit. Not exactly the real world.

I was replying specifically to kmeyers point.

[Brian Cronin]

Yeah, I really love the attempt to somehow work Harris' artistic technique into a discussion about how he said some stupid stuff.

Him saying something stupid/offensive =/= His artistic technique.

Tony Harris takes photographs and then draws from his own photographs. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that from an artistic standpoint.

Give him crap for his views, but his art is fine.

-Brian

[Dizzy D]

On the Penny-Arcade forums, I saw Justin Jordan's response to this:

(posted by SirEtchwarts over there)