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I used to belong to a group of comic book creators called the Southwest Society of Comic Book Creators.<\/p>\nI used to belong to a group of comic book creators called the Southwest Society of Comic Book Creators.<\/p>\n
It was a cool thing while it lasted, with a large group of creators sharing tips, tricks, and just hanging out.<\/p>\n
Sometime in the early 90s, there was a meeting of Southwest comic book creators–mainly Texas comic book creators.<\/p>\n
We met in Pflugerville<\/a>, at Bill Willingham’s<\/a> studio at the time.<\/p>\n Bill was kind enough to open a warehouse where he and a partner worked to a packed house of comic book creators.<\/p>\n Later, my wife and I sat beside Bill at a small comic book convention in Cleburne, Texas; we bumped into him at other conventions. Every time we chatted with him, he was more than cordial–supportive of those around him without any pretension.<\/p>\n In short, from everything I’ve seen, Bill’s a very cool guy.<\/p>\n Recently, in reply to the killing of Osama bin Laden, Bill said some things on Twitter that caused a loyal reader to stop following him<\/a> and buying his stuff.<\/p>\n It got me thinking: how much does a writer’s political leanings matter to you as a reader?<\/p>\n Because Bill leans right, should those on the left refuse to support him? (Even if he’s worked on a comic book with uber-liberal retired Marine, Brian Denham<\/a>?)<\/p>\n After John Cheever, the first serious fiction I read was John Irving.<\/p>\n Anybody who knows anything about me knows I love <\/em>John Irving’s writing.<\/p>\n Anybody who knows anything about Irving knows he’s very <\/em>liberal.<\/p>\n Hear this: I’m also an unabashed liberal. By that, I mean I’m an old-school liberal.<\/p>\n I don’t own a gun, but I don’t care if you do. I grew up reading Mike Royko<\/a>, a through-and-through Chicago liberal who was quite a curmudgeon and didn’t give a shit if he offended anybody with his views.<\/p>\n I don’t care what people do in their bedrooms; I don’t care what you smoke, inject, or swallow. I don’t eat animals, but I don’t care if you do. I’m a life-long atheist, but most of my friends are Christians and I’m cool with that.<\/p>\n I think if multiple divorcees like Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich can have the right to marry again<\/em>, gay people should have the same rights afforded to me and the only woman I’ve ever been with. (My wife<\/a> and I are coming up on 19 years together…much better than the marriages of Rush and Newt.)<\/p>\n Don’t buy into the neocon’s branding of liberal.<\/p>\n In general, I’ll leave you the hell alone if you afford me the same courtesy.<\/p>\n Next to Robert Olmstead’s<\/a> A Trail of Heart’s Blood Wherever We Go<\/em>, Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany<\/em> is one of my favorite books.<\/p>\n It might be my favorite <\/em>book were it not for his blatant injection of politics.<\/p>\n If you’re not familiar with the book, it’s written by a narrator who occasionally leaps from the story to\u00a0 criticisms about Ronald Reagan’s politics.<\/p>\n While I was no fan of Reagan and even agree with Irving’s points, the political commentary served no point in the story.<\/p>\n It detracted from the story, even though I agreed with the sentiment.<\/p>\n Do I care that Bill is conservative?<\/p>\n Not really.<\/p>\n A mutual friend<\/a>, Mark Finn<\/a>,\u00a0 is close friends with Bill, and if the mighty Mark Finn is friends with Bill, that’s good enough for me.<\/p>\n I grew up playing Dungeons and Dragons–I ran plenty modules supported by Willingham’s art.<\/p>\n Some of my favorite comic books when I really got into comic books? Willingham’s The Elementals<\/a>.<\/p>\nEnter Politics<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The New England Liberal<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Back to Irving<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Back to Bill Willingham<\/strong><\/h2>\n