Understanding!

I've made no secret of my admiration for John Byrne. I personally think the man is a genius in the field of comics. I don't mislead myself into thinking that the man can do no wrong but only that any wrongs he commits in his job appears to be far less than "The next man/woman". It's not always his comic book work that pulls him into the public eye.

Recently he passed a comment relating to the recently departed Christopher Reeve. This comment kicked up a lot of silt. So much so that seeing through the quagmire of bleating sheep has become nigh on an impossible task.

I'm not here to defend JB or his stand point, he's old enough and ugly enough to stand and fall by his own comments without people rushing to his defence. Rather I'm here to say that perhaps WE should be a little more respectful...to ourselves!

Let's take the once fan favourite artist and story teller Fabric Atedname III who came out with the statement, "Actually I consider Hitler as one of the good guys!"

This statement is clearly the polar opposite from the way that most people think. Rather than having the reaction "How could he!?" perhaps the reaction should be, "I wonder why he'd say that?"

Too many people online seem to fall in the Nodding Dog category, where their comments are tantamount to "Yeah, what they said!" This reflects badly on us as individuals. It shows us as 'reactionary', like a knee-jerk when the doctor tests your reflexes. We are displaying no 'control'. Are we that easily lead that like a yawn, we can't help but mimic the knee-jerk-reaction as it spreads throughout the internet without trying to question "why?"

Please note that nowhere in this text have I quoted John Byrne, Paraphrased him or attempted to explain his 'true' meaning in making the comment. This is because I've never read the -actual- comment. I have read a number of things that have been presented in quotation marks "pretending" to be the words that JB has said. There are enough arms and legs on this beast without adding any more.