By David Futrelle
Like the titular character in The Princess and the Pea, the members of the Great Internet Lady Hating Machine have developed a truly impressive sensitivity towards the slightest perceived discomfort. And so it shouldn’t really come as that much of a surprise that a small army of perpetually outraged comics fanbabies are currently losing their collective shit over a milkshake selfie.
On Friday, Heather Antos, a Marvel comic editor who just happens to be a woman, tweeted a selfie featuring her and a bunch of her female co-workers enjoying some delicious beverages together. “It’s the Marvel milkshake crew!” she announced to her Twitter followers.
She was immediately swarmed by a squadron of fanbabies furious that such “fake geek girls” had made their way into Marvel’s inner sanctum.
https://twitter.com/BAR199323/status/891847749599199232
https://twitter.com/DiversityAndCmx/status/891978745715843072
You're right, @DiversityAndCmx. No life experience, the creepiest collection of stereotypical SJWs anyone could possibly imagine. https://t.co/ywIRk8UTYx
— DarkJester (@DarkJesterofOz) July 30, 2017
According to Antos, the private messages she got in response to her tweet were considerably less polite. “[T]he internet is an awful, horrible, and disgusting place,” she wrote, noting that she woke up Sunday, two days after she posted the selfie,
to a slew of more garbage tweets and DMs. For being a woman. In comics. Who posted a selfie of her friends getting milkshakes.
And yes, the fanbabies are still going at it today. For many of Antos’ “critics,” the selfie proved a perfect excuse to rant about Marvel’s alleged “anti-white, anti-men agenda.”
https://twitter.com/MonsieurBallin/status/891666775015694336
This is why marvel comics is killing the industry no one wants to be fem moaned feminist propganda in a superhero comic.
— Ceecko of one (@Ceeckoful) July 30, 2017
Maybe Marvel should just close shop. I'd rather that than see them lose their dignity for a Marxist agenda.
— Maeko (@MaekoDaekal) July 29, 2017
https://twitter.com/Red_Vanguard/status/891918378352472064
One fellow wrote out a mini-manifesto explaining how the eeeevil SJWs were destroying comics.
https://twitter.com/W00dlee/status/891874744802398208
The critics filled their angry tweets with an assortment of buzzwords that will be instantly familiar to anyone who followed GamerGate.
https://twitter.com/DiversityAndCmx/status/891875572741230592
https://twitter.com/CanuckCon/status/891822485305516038
https://twitter.com/darling_kun/status/891850198552653824
Not that the fanbabies didn’t have their own “narrative” to promote. One of the central tenets: that so-called SJWs only pretend to like comics.
https://twitter.com/thebechtloff/status/891705124405604357
Comics themselves were irrelevant, SJWs wanted another notch on their bedpost of Moral Victories. It was never about content, just control
— RJ Frazer (@rjfrazer) July 29, 2017
https://twitter.com/DiversityAndCmx/status/891674600475676673
Some saw the all-female selfie as a threat not only to men but to … white people in general, predicting an imminent White Genocide of Marvel characters.
Diversity for #Marvel Comics means get rid of all White Men.
— Veritas (@Veritas4UToday) July 30, 2017
https://twitter.com/thebechtloff/status/891515050502107136
It didn’t take long for things to get creepy.
https://twitter.com/thebechtloff/status/891503206282522624
Naturally, the reactionary fanboys turned on those who offered solidarity to the Milkshake Crew.
https://twitter.com/eldermeeseeks/status/891905588925521920
https://twitter.com/johndavidson83/status/891799233275322368
https://twitter.com/Daddy_Warpig/status/891857865140445184
And others tried to dismiss the whole thing as fake:
https://twitter.com/DoctorDooomile/status/891683546246643712
https://twitter.com/DiversityAndCmx/status/891985792591122432
https://twitter.com/laughingdrag/status/891834215377096709
https://twitter.com/DiversityAndCmx/status/891984421519314944
https://twitter.com/Stmpy_Mch/status/891916686953136128
Happily, at this point the “virtue-signalers” are winning. A wide assortment of non-reactionary comics artists, sellers and fans, female and male, have been showing their solidarity with the Marvel Milkshake Crew, filling the #MakeMineMilkshake hashtag with tweets like these:
https://twitter.com/PlinaGanucheau/status/891848514170433536
https://twitter.com/bookswpictures/status/891766052463325184
https://twitter.com/mollyjane_k/status/891742534074073090
That’s one time you don’t want your milkshake to bring the boys to the yard.
Songbomb!
ETA: Dammit, ninja’d by Bina!
Gwenpool’s idea of heroism (this isn’t the main artist on the book, but still…):
— Did it started as cheap cash in? Yes. Did it last 20+ issues already? YES!
God, just the mere presence of a women upsets their delicate sensibilities.
@Scildfreja Unnyðnes
Had, but thank you! <3 I quit to pursue my art/college/etc. It was a blast while it lasted, and I got to sign autographs at cons before this shitty #GG culture got its hooks into so many impressionable kids, at least.
If anyone ever asks me to guest again, I’m not sure if I could handle it. I imagine anime cons must get the least number of garbage-people, but I’d still probably grab the mic at a panel and just start screaming incoherently until they dragged me offstage.
@ Violet;
It’s ok, “fanbabies” and “MilkShakeGate” are now public domain!!
I know I should be more concerned about content, but I am stuck on “should of ripped” and “meta-naritive”.
But on the content, it all just reads like “waaaaah! girls are getting cooties in my comics! waaaaah!”
And probably too: “Daddy Trump make ’em stop! waaah!”
@ lumen8
You ever seen this. 🙂
https://youtu.be/7L9io-b9Uew
(Not suggesting you actually shoot anybody!)
I’d get a front row seat for that.
Heck, I’d join in. What a great idea for a panel! “Scream incoherently with your favourite voice acting talent in a one-hour panel focusing on modern gaming and comic culture!” It’d be exhausting, and probably really cathartic. We could go out for ice cream after. It’d be great.
@Alan
Maybe not, but I’ve always wanted an excuse to kick over a podium like Hooper X. ?? I needed that today, hahaha.
@Scildfreja Unnyðnes
Man, would that ever be cathartic! They need to implement that idea for women in comics, like, yesterday. D: I could be convinced to get dragged to a con today if there was an hour-long primal scream panel.
@Weird Eddie: In that case, looks like my Mammotheers Against The Manosphere game gained two new cards.
I’m just laughing at y’all responses to the responses! You guys stay on point , so I ain’t got to say nothing.
It’s a relief for me to know y’all got this!
Please, fanbabies, reals over feels here.
Jeez, and the way they’re talking about a company whose characters they claim to love… they would cut their own noses off if they thought for a second their faces had become an “SJW.”
@ Alan;
comments policy *
the arguments presented by the fanbabies in this discussion aren’t centered on justice, on fairness, or on rightness… they’re centered on “because I CAN-ness”… so, at some point IF (ah say, IF…) it were to become “No, you fucking CAN’T-ness”, well, that might change the dialog….
* the comments policy warning being for MY comment, of course….
Another narrative these dipshits like pushing is feminists don’t really enjoy the same activities as them, they just love complaining about so they can be changed! For…reasons! “They force creators to sanitize games/comics that they weren’t going to play/read in the first place!” That’s how little they understand people; they think if anyone else complains then they must not be fans, even if it’s issues only a fan would know about in the first place.
Lumen8:
Please don’t! You need to protect your voice! Jessica Calvello had to drop out of VA work for Excel Saga after she damaged her voice in production.
It’s been years since I’ve had my last milkshake but…it’s a habit I’m seriously gonna have to reacquire.
Guess what, dudebro. Multicultural Utopianism is my fuckin Escapist Power Fantasy. What you find empowering ain’t the end all. A world where white people behaved themselves and where the systems meant to overinflate their power relative to the other were available to everyone? Yep, I fantasize about that shit on the regular
You wanna be able to punch monsters to make yourself feel important and less weak and less scared. So you have leave to lord your artificial superiority over all and sundry. Well, I wanna be able punch monsters to protect me, mine, and people like me and mine from fuckers like you
…that got angrier than I’d originally intended
@Eddie
I once shared a story I came across in which a guy invites his girlfriend to a Star Wars costume party. She doesn’t wanna go, cos the boyfriend’s bestie (an ‘incel’ asshat) will also be there, and he’s a constant chore to be in the same room with. He convinces her tho, and she shows up dressed as, what the ‘incel’ describes as, Black Widow with a lightsaber. She looks to boyfriend for support and to stop asshat from making an obnoxious scene. Instead, he ‘uhm, actually’s that, in fact, Black Widow isn’t a Star Wars character. She storms out refuses to talk to either dude. Boyfriend goes on Reddit (cos this is the grittiest timeline) to ask advice. In rare Reddit fashion, he gets his ass handed to him. After everyone stops laughing uncontrollably, he’s given his answer in 2 words:
MARA JADE
?
@Moggie:
Haha! It’s easier to do than people think!
Let’s just say I came this close to getting that role after Jessica hurt herself, but I was told after my audition that I still sounded too young at the time. In the end, I think I might have wound up going the same way if I’d gotten the role, so I dodged a bullet. I was NOT experienced enough to handle Excel.
Anyway, I’m done derailing the thread now 😀 See you guys around here!
Ghostface no-pants killer?
That’s one articulate bystander.
Also, do those fanbabies have any actual hardship in life? They seem to have a lot of bandwidth for reacting to femtoaggressions.
@Robert
And so thankless. She just saved them from a bank robbery… yes, the bank burned down / blew up in the process but still. :3
@ bekabot;
Not fair!! You all go around teasing me with your milkshakes, you KNOW I’m lactose intolerant and yet you feel it’s just FINE to torture me!! The gummint should provide free lactose-substitute milk shakes JUST FOR MEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeee…eeeeee….!!
wow, I ought’s start a sub-reddit… “In-lact-s” er, somethin…
@Weird Eddie: Do iiiitttt! That’ll be hilarious!
@Axecalibur, I’m currently doing a little game worldbuilding for a project I may end up trying to publish. It’s a science fiction colony world that was cut off from Earth and is doin’ its own thing. The primary national actors are:
1) a traditionalist Chinese and Malay superpower trying to keep its high standard of living for its citizens while its global hegemony crumbles under internal pressure;
2) an Ethiopian, South Indian and Arabian polyglot democracy quickly gaining superpower status, with a focus on rebuilding the planetary infrastructure and regaining contact with the other colony worlds;
3) an Argentinian, Chilean and Brazilian breakaway state from the large Chinese power, currently embroiled in a hot war with that power over territory and to liberate cultures subsumed under it; and
4) a small Scandinavian culture living in semi-nomadic communities, focused on ecological restoration and exploration.
I’m worried about Orientalism in what I make, so am doing my darndest to make sure the cultures above aren’t treated as exotic mystics to a “neutral” white western reader. The Ethiopian nation (2) is the “default”, and is sort of a model for what I’m trying to achieve with the cultures there. They’re progressive, multicultural, scientific and exploratory, with advanced industry and excellent social services.
I don’t want them to be too perfect, though, so they’re also pretty meddlesome internationally and, while they’re quite environmentally conscious, they also have an attitude of “we’ll just genetically engineer a couple of new species to solve this particular problem and let them get to it” instead of changing their own behaviours. (They have the technology to do that effectively – it’s not a cop-out. It’s more to demonstrate that they see their environment as something that can be changed without ethical repercussions.)
I trust your instincts when it comes to this sort of stuff way more than mine. Do you have any thoughts on things I should be careful about?
The idea behind Gwenpool (after the initial Gwen Stacy as Deadpool, which got ditched at the planing stages):
— Perfectly average teenager from the “real world” stuck in the world of Marvel comics. So no powers (she eventually gains some), no skills (those too), just the knowledge that this is all fiction, and all the genre savvy that comes from having read a metric shitton of comics. It escalates fairly quickly as “reality” as it were catches up with her (so for example after that bank robbery “stopping” she gets arrested). ^^;
I’ve always thought it was funny that dudes just ignore the long history of social justice themes in comics.
I mean, one of the most famous comic runs from DC comics is Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams’ run on Green Lantern/Green Arrow which almost exclusively deals with social issues. Captain America fought the Nazi menace before we went to war. John Stewart was the first Black superhero without “black” in his name. Wonder Woman wonder womaned all over the place.
In the very first superhero comic, Superman was 100% a social justice warrior tackling the death penalty, intimate partner violence, and government corruption. Comics have dealt with policing, race, gender, and politics since their inception.
Social issues are kind of where comics have shined. I can’t imagine how boring a comic would be if it was just, “villain and hero punch each other.”
So…I think it’s the jerks who want to take away social justice from comics who are ruining them