possibly the saddest thing about ASM 700

[Sailor Moon]

I sincerely hope you never have to live through the heartache of a sick/terminal child if you think "a bad joke involving a kid with a serious disease" isnt going to have reactions that are instantly "overblown" or that the joke wont/shouldnt become instantly "offensive". As I said above, somethings people hold sacred and they put a firm line down on, children dieing is not something to make a joke about. Doing so often lands the joke teller in some hot water. Rich tried to create a story out of nothing and ultimately he insulted a situation he should have left alone.

Oh, you've fallen into the assuming trap. I actually lost my great-grandmother to cancer, as well as a very good friend. Neither child age, but my friend was young (28), and we were pretty close, childhood friend basically. Neither really child aged, but yeah, I am not totally unfamiliar with serious disease in this manner.

But I also highlighted a part of your post that has become a giant misconception in all of this nonsense. Rich was not joking about the child's illness. It was all about the Spidey/Ock thing, and the kid mentioned had leukemia. It's like someone slipping on a banana, people laughing, and then someone saying that person had cancer. So what? It's not like there is any kind of joke directed at the fact that the person has cancer. And that's pretty much the same situation here. Had the kid not had leukemia, I guarantee no one would have thought Rich was poking fun at the kid in the least. It's literally just the presence of the fact that created this silly outrage.

In a way, really, I find it kind of patronizing to the kid. It's like everyone is gushing around and feeling sorry for him because some mean ol' reporter posted a story that was...well, it wasn't even mean-spirited toward him, but involved him in some way, and poor him!

[Beast]

And yet for years, Lying In The Gutters was the most popular thing on this website.

Yes. Just like a car accident turns almost everyone into a rubbernecker to catch a little glimpse at the carnage.

I was juxtaposing one thing with another, no one was being criticised or exploited. The text was approved by Marvel's PR people as well, who complimented me on it.

No. You were using the sickness and possible death of a child as a way of taking a shot at Marvel.

And yes the text was approved, for the 8 month old original story. Don't try to play games and point fingers at others.

You can twist things and try to assign blame to someone else however you want. But it was YOU who thought it was a cute shot to take at Marvel.

[Beast]

That was because it was not awkward. Actually you;re the first person I've read who said I was implying the kid died. So there's that.

Wait... you used "Um..." in a non-awkward way? Would you like a shovel? Your excuses seem to require you to dig a deeper hole.

And of course you were implying that... by the very story. If the kid lost their battle with Leukemia like Spidey lost his battle with Doc Ock, he'd be dead.

[Sailor Moon]

That was because it was not awkward. Actually you;re the first person I've read who said I was implying the kid died. So there's that.

Yeah, that's actually a first for me, too. And I even remember when the article first got posted and the slew of pages on BC's forum afterward.

[Seresecros]

When you remember that Bleeding Cool is owned by Avatar, you realise just how cheap and exploitative this article was. Attempting to use this letter, written months ago, to take a shot at Marvel, your competition? That's gross in the extreme.

[Beast]

When you remember that Bleeding Cool is owned by Avatar, you realise just how cheap and exploitative this article was. Attempting to use this letter, written months ago, to take a shot at Marvel, your competition? That's gross in the extreme.

o/` Who else but Rich Johnston! o/`

[Sailor Moon]

I'm also pretty new to this being a shot at Marvel, too. How is this some type of shot at Marvel? Granted, BC has posted articles that are pretty blatantly shots at the Big 2, but this one I can't see.

[USERNAME TAKEN]

I sincerely hope you never have to live through the heartache of a sick/terminal child if you think "a bad joke involving a kid with a serious disease" isnt going to have reactions that are instantly "overblown" or that the joke wont/shouldnt become instantly "offensive". As I said above, somethings people hold sacred and they put a firm line down on, children dieing is not something to make a joke about. Doing so often lands the joke teller in some hot water. Rich tried to create a story out of nothing and ultimately he insulted a situation he should have left alone.

Quoted in agreement.

[Lady_Alternate]

Tasteless "article" from somebody that seems to like to make themselves the story, rather than just report on them.

Yep. Just this again.

[USERNAME TAKEN]

When you remember that Bleeding Cool is owned by Avatar, you realise just how cheap and exploitative this article was. Attempting to use this letter, written months ago, to take a shot at Marvel, your competition? That's gross in the extreme.

Really?

I never knew BC was owned by Avatar....

That really, really explains a lot...

[ShaggyB]

Oh, you've fallen into the assuming trap. I actually lost my great-grandmother to cancer, as well as a very good friend. Neither child age, but my friend was young (28), and we were pretty close, childhood friend basically. Neither really child aged, but yeah, I am not totally unfamiliar with serious disease in this manner.

so how did i fall in the assuming trap if you havent lost a child to a terminal illness or a disease? And I really hope you dont. Weve all lost loved ones, many of us have experienced what thats like, be it cancer... old age or even accidents, that doesnt mean one wants to have that used as a "juxtaposition" in a story to make a joke about something else that normally wouldnt be related.

But I also highlighted a part of your post that has become a giant misconception in all of this nonsense. Rich was not joking about the child's illness. It was all about the Spidey/Ock thing, and the kid mentioned had leukemia. It's like someone slipping on a banana, people laughing, and then someone saying that person had cancer. So what? It's not like there is any kind of joke directed at the fact that the person has cancer. And that's pretty much the same situation here. Had the kid not had leukemia, I guarantee no one would have thought Rich was poking fun at the kid in the least. It's literally just the presence of the fact that created this silly outrage.

the difference is Rich knew going in that the kid had leukemia. So to use your example, its more like going to the cancer ward at a hospital and laughing at the cancer patient when they slip on the banana. You know going in that its not something you should laugh at regardless of whether the scenario would be funny minus the cancer ward.

[The Superior Michael Deery]

Oh, you've fallen into the assuming trap. I actually lost my great-grandmother to cancer, as well as a very good friend. Neither child age, but my friend was young (28), and we were pretty close, childhood friend basically. Neither really child aged, but yeah, I am not totally unfamiliar with serious disease in this manner.

But I also highlighted a part of your post that has become a giant misconception in all of this nonsense. Rich was not joking about the child's illness. It was all about the Spidey/Ock thing, and the kid mentioned had leukemia. It's like someone slipping on a banana, people laughing, and then someone saying that person had cancer. So what? It's not like there is any kind of joke directed at the fact that the person has cancer. And that's pretty much the same situation here. Had the kid not had leukemia, I guarantee no one would have thought Rich was poking fun at the kid in the least. It's literally just the presence of the fact that created this silly outrage.

In a way, really, I find it kind of patronizing to the kid. It's like everyone is gushing around and feeling sorry for him because some mean ol' reporter posted a story that was...well, it wasn't even mean-spirited toward him, but involved him in some way, and poor him!

He posted this story because the kid had cancer. He finished the letter saying 'Just like Spidey beats Doc Ock I'll beat my Leukemia,' and Johnston was basically saying 'hard luck kid.'

I don't know the guy personally or really follow the website so I'm going to assume this was just a misjudged attempt at humour rather anything mean spirited.

[RichJohnston]

Yes. Just like a car accident turns almost everyone into a rubbernecker to catch a little glimpse at the carnage.

No. You were using the sickness and possible death of a child as a way of taking a shot at Marvel.

And yes the text was approved, for the 8 month old original story. Don't try to play games and point fingers at others.

You can twist things and try to assign blame to someone else however you want. But it was YOU who thought it was a cute shot to take at Marvel.

No, I mean the text I write was approved for the final version of the story I posted by Marvel PR. It was not a shot at Marvel and the text I wrote certainly tried to make that clear,.

[RichJohnston]

Wait... you used "Um..." in a non-awkward way? Would you like a shovel? Your excuses seem to require you to dig a deeper hole.

And of course you were implying that... by the very story. If the kid lost their battle with Leukemia like Spidey lost his battle with Doc Ock, he'd be dead.

Sorry, I managed to delete some words there. It was meant to imply that this *was* awkward., But not a giggle riot at anyone, nor a cheap shot.

[RichJohnston]

When you remember that Bleeding Cool is owned by Avatar, you realise just how cheap and exploitative this article was. Attempting to use this letter, written months ago, to take a shot at Marvel, your competition? That's gross in the extreme.

It was not a shot at anyone. And it was certainly not a shot from Avatar. No more than a tweet from Gail Simone is a shot from DC.