"I’ve never regretted taking a stand over the last thirteen years.  On the contrary, knowing that I will be seen by history as one of the few willing to stand up for reality and that I was doing so for a good decade before anyone else, well it’s very satisfying. That and not having to pretend that I agree with Marxist-feminist b.s. on a daily basis.  I wouldn’t trade that for the world."    -- Dave Sim  12/10/07

ABOUT LAST COLUMN

No kid gloves for Dave:

"Well, you know, if you’ll forgive me for saying so, at least so far with your columns you’re really not much different from anyone else who has written about ‘foolish Dave Sim the evil misogynist’ since 1994.

"You’re documenting READS (sort of) – but you’re also carefully pulling out the most provocative quotes which is pretty much guaranteed to get everyone riled up again (the opposite of getting them to think about what is being said) and you’re also, so far, being scrupulously careful not to offer your own opinions on whether you agree with anything that you’re quoting.  So the net effect tends to be an appearance of not only not defending Dave Sim and his opinions but with the added detriment that you’re quoting me out of context for no good purpose.

" I mean, you deplore that no Comics Name has stood up and defended me publicly.  Well, what would you think if some Comics Name suddenly started doing a bi-weekly column where they quoted all of the most provocative parts of READS but without actually saying, ‘This  I agree with, this I disagree with.’?

"Particularly the really tough stuff where it takes the guts to say , ‘I’ll probably get everyone furious with me for saying this, but I think this stuff is self-evidently true and we’ve just blinded ourselves to it because our society, far from being misogynistic, is actually misandrist.  Our society hates men. Just ask any Dad who has had to go through the family law courts.’  If you really want to help the situation, I’d suggest that you cite some of your own examples and experiences instead of just quoting mine."   --  Dave Sim

Dave is correct (sort of) that I have yet to officially declare a side on this issue (here)…I have been slowly building up to it for this very column, although truthfully, I have been less than subtle about it by the remarkable fact that I never once joined the "Dave Hate club" with any "Dave Sim is an Evil Misogynist" innuendos or name-calling.  But yes indeed, the time has come to go public.

Dave Sim is absolutely Right.

Ever since CEREBUS issue #186 hit the comics stores, I have been defending Dave on every cyber spot I could get my talons on.  The reason?  It was especially frustrating (to me) to see such a revelation of self-evident truths be so overwhelmingly rejected by what I previously thought were hardcore Cerebus fans, and I felt the need to stand up for him every chance I got, no matter how many "friends" turned on me.  And did they ever!

Comics journalists, internet pundits, Marxist-feminists, and even fans of the comic began relentlessly attacking Dave’s character while merely paying lip service to the Ideas he had revealed…and I met each one head on, day after day, for years.  The one thing they all had in common was a seemingly urgent desperation to quiet and deep-six any discussion about Dave’s views on feminism.  For example, on Warren Ellis’ Delphi site, I was banned and my account deleted after one calm, rational post that corrected a blatant lie which Colleen Doran had posted about Dave. It was ridiculous the length that the supposed "champions of free speech" went to in order to silence Sim (and his defenders).

As an aside…I had seen such treachery before at my university, where a female professor pulled a similar stunt after I had written a paper on "Feminism: The Big Lie" back in 1978.  It wasn’t enough for her to give me a failing grade on the paper, but she submitted, to the Dean, a charge of plagiarism against me that took two years of fighting red tape to have dismissed, long after she was gone.  She had to make sure to attack me, rather than the Ideas I presented.  For the record, after transferring to a different college later, and on a lark, I resubmitted the same paper in a similar class and received an A-.

BANG!

186…The final issue of READS appeared.  Cerebus and Cirin are trapped together, standing on the base of the throne, hurdling through space, the earth fading in the background as they silently and unexpectedly sail past the moon.

An innocent enough beginning…a beginning, in more ways than one, to the end.

All You Need is Love. ‘Yeah?’ snarled Keith Richards.  ‘Try payin’ the fuckin’ rent with it.’  Viktor Davis smiled to himself.   --  CEREBUS 186

Most of the provocative passages that I quoted in previous columns came from this issue…Dave unloaded his arsenal here, courtesy of the stoic Viktor Davis character.  The mostly text passages took shot after shot at feminist failings and well, impossible things to believe; impossible, yet somehow our society had become gullible enough to swallow each and every one of them.  With each shocking revelation, Marxist-feminists wailed and gnashed teeth, while a few readers (like me) were cheering in amazement (and agreement) at the man who was doing what few had the courage to do at that time: speak out against societal misandrist injustices.  And most people were indeed afraid to publicly voice any opposition, due to years and years of being browbeaten into submission.

One of the most notable Sim character assassination crusades began to take place with The Comics Journal staff and associates, in both their printed columns and online message boards.  Dave had this to say about it:

"Yes, I think it was certainly true that EVERYONE in the field turned against me after issue 186 (which is a much, much larger group than the ‘mega-load of Marxist-feminists’ of your description in your cover note).  Certainly on the COMICS JOURNAL message boards – as, I am told, it is to this day – I was called every extreme name that they could think of, Gary Groth held his Star Chamber/Stalinist Show Trial of me at San Diego (or was it Wondercon?) without notifying me that he was doing so and got massive ovations assassinating my character in a public venue, presumably, with the wholesale and enthusiastic endorsement of the convention organizers.  Have you ever heard anyone attached to the Con where he did so, speak out against the Con being used as a venue for criminal libel without even offering the subject of that criminal libel a chance to defend himself?

"Bill Willingham finally phoned (the only one who did phone) to ask if I knew just how bad the attacks were getting, that this was completely unprecedented.  Of course he didn’t call until weeks into the cybernetic tarring and feathering and he certainly didn’t ‘stand up’ on the COMICS JOURNAL message boards and say, ‘Listen, I think this is getting a little out of hand, here.  We’re supposed to believe in freedom of speech in the comics field.’

"As Martin Luther King said (I’ll have to paraphrase here, I can’t find the quote) It isn’t the venom of your enemies, it’s the silence of your friends that gets you the most.

"I accepted the inescapable conclusion (at the time and to this day) that I didn’t have any friends – with reluctance but without regret.  If the people I had considered friends to that point could stand by and do absolutely nothing for years on end while this was being done to me, what sort of friends were they?

"The mistake they made and continue to make, of course, is in thinking that if you don’t agree with Dave Sim publicly, if you shun him and damn him with faint praise, that this will somehow appease the misandrist Marxist-feminist juggernaut devouring our society.  It doesn’t.  All it does is show that males will take whatever females dish out no matter how bad it gets because men have chosen to be deathly afraid of women.

"Affirmative action now means that 60% of all college admissions are women, 40% men.  And men don’t say anything about it, but just meekly submit to institutionalized gender imbalance as the "new normal".  What does the ratio have to get to before men say something, or at least start to say something?  80-20?  90-10?  95-5?

 "Kowtowing to a bully is never – and will never be – the way to stop bullying."

                                                                                                                 ---Dave Sim

As I read this final chapter in READS, I was shaken to the core; each passage rang so True, and as my eyes opened, I only wanted more and more.  And all this coupled with the trepidation that Dave's boat-rocking was going to lead to unpleasant confrontations down the road.  It was exhilarating and fresh and empowering.  I felt privileged to go to War.

And make no mistake, War it was, and is.

Yes, there are provocative passages in READS…but Dave included them for a reason.  We needed a good slap in the face to wake us from our zombie-like existence so that we could somehow find a way to put an end to the madness with which Marxist-feminists have been slowly, but effectively and pervasively, poisoning our society.  There is indeed a good reason for revisiting issue 186, as well as for reviewing the Feminists’ Impossible Things to Believe Before Breakfast, as often as possible…we cannot allow the truths Dave revealed to fade away into obscurity.  READS is much more than a comic…it is a horrifying glimpse at the danger we are in if we succumb to the Marxist-feminist agenda.

With issue 186, Dave made a very controversial and brave stand that affected him and his career, for years to come….even to this very day.  He had always been a hero of sorts to me, but with READS, I began to appreciate his courage and convictions in a far more meaningful light.  He is a man who sincerely believes in Reason and Justice and Free Expression and has shown that he is more than willing to put everything on the line in order that these things be better served.  You won’t find many people like that in the world today, so it’s prudent to appreciate them while you can.   Godspeed, Dave, and best of luck in your Good Fight.  Or rather, our Good Fight.

Next: The First Impossible Thing to Believe, and Why People Do

THUMBS UP!

Can it be true?  Is Dave Sim really working on a new comic?  Almost four years after the end of the 300 issue epic CEREBUS, Dave hints of a "secret project" that may be appearing in comic shops in the first quarter of 2008.

"I’ll be visiting www.comicsvillage.com to promote my new title."  -- Dave Sim

That’s awesome news!  I’m sure it goes without saying that I can’t wait to grab a few (dozen) copies myself!  J

(FORM & VOID is a bi-weekly column...next installment arrives on December 31st)

Rick Sharer