My book about Grant Morrison’s Batman run is out now. I’ll have a post a little later about where to get it and all that but I’m waiting for the new Diamond Catalog so you can tell your comic store how to order it.
For now, I want to talk about a review I received.
So far, most people have been nice about the book. The two Amazon reviews are positive with a few minor critiques that are totally justified. The same goes for the two reviews I saw on Facebook. If I made a mistake, then I totally own up to that mistake and feel legitimately bad about it. I can accept being called out on something if it is justified and if there is a misconception about something of mine, I can write that off as reader error combined with a lack of clarity on my part. These are acceptable losses.
What I can’t abide by is when people are just downright rude.
Of course, there are the people who hated my book before they ever read it because they just don’t like Morrison. That’s fine. He’s not for everyone. He is polarizing.
Then, there were people who hated the book before reading it because we had the word “Understanding” in the title and that seemed to think I was saying they couldn’t understand the comic without reading my book. I can see this misinterpretation, but that was never my intent. You can get Morrison’s Batman without my help. I just wanted to open a dialogue with my book.
Then, there are the people who don’t understand that my interpretation is exactly that – my interpretation. You don’t have to agree with it, but it’s mine. I welcome all interpretations of the book because I don’t think there is one particular way to look at it. Disagree with me if you want to, that’s fine. I won’t fight you. I just want to talk about this comic that I love.
But, the review that got me was from Goodreads. I won’t post the review here, because I don’t want to dwell upon the negative like that, but to summarize, someone named Chris rips into me pretty hard to the point where he only neglected to insult my family or question my sexuality. It’s a pretty rough review.
At first, it bothered me. How could someone hate my work that bad? I mean, I get maybe a three out of five if you disagree but a one out of five and all that anger too? That’s a lot of hate for a book that in the grand scheme of the world is pretty inconsequential. All I wanted to do was talk about Batman and how much I love the comic and this guy just takes a dump on my love and tries to invalidate my feelings.
Disagreeing with someone is one thing, but actively hating them is another. That hurts. Disagreement I can live with.
Perhaps the best part was looking at the 2:00 a.m. time stamp on my book. He was so furious after reading my book that he wrote out a passionate, hate-filled review in the wee hours of the morning. At this point, I just think he’s ridiculous, but I have to say something to him. I had to fix my shattered ego.
So, I friended him on GoodReads and once we were friends, I sent him a message saying “I’m sorry you didn’t like my book.” That was all. No anger. No disagreement. Just an apology for having wasted his time.
Then, I looked into his other reviews. Most of his reviews were negative. He ripped on Brian Michael Bendis’s Ultimate Spider-Man which made me feel much better being in such esteemed company as Marvel’s most popular writer for 15 years now.
He had a few positive reviews too, but these were one sentence each. Nothing like the hate that I received. This didn’t surprise me because hate comes so much easier than love. It’s easier for people to rip on why they don’t like something rather than talking about what they do like.
Much to my surprise, I received a response from Chris. He said “Thanks for the message. I hope my review was mostly constructive, if maybe excessively harsh. I’m crazy about Morrison’s work, so my expectations when people write about it might be a bit unrealistic.”
And that was enough for me. He wasn’t all that constructive, but at least he admitted to being harsh and unrealistic in his expectations.
I responded with some justifications and explanations for his complaints and I owned up to some of my mistakes and I don’t know how he feels about the whole thing, but I feel better. I confronted this person who was so angry by my book and made him consider his words and actions. I did this not in anger, but in polite understanding. I could have easily said a number of things to make him mad in return, but that would serve nothing except to make an enemy. And I feel SO MUCH BETTER about it all. Really. It was a cathartic experience.
Anyway, that’s the only really negative review that I’ve received so far. Hopefully it will be the last on this project at least.
I’m glad you reached out like that. People get upset and write unkind things. Reaching out with kindness is a great strategy, and it’s something you should be proud of.
The guy makes a couple specific points and a few general ones, but he also makes a lot of points that aren’t a huge deal. For example, “Are there many readers out there who have never heard of Stephanie Brown, but for whom Tim Drake needs no introduction?” Well, yes. Stephanie Brown is more obscure than Tim Drake, and a lot of Batman fans know who the third Robin is but not who Stephanie Brown is. Should there be a sentence or two introducing Tim Drake? That makes sense. But it’s not an indication of a wider, mind-boggling problem with the book. (And I know you’ve read Morrison’s Doom Patrol…)
But whatever. People have their opinions. Some make negative points but go way too far in pressing them. Others have positive points but go way too far in their praise. I think the best approach is to take what you can get out of everything in life, and discard the rest — emotionally discard too. It’s no different than someone yelling at you while driving. “Hey, maybe I could have parallel parked better there, and I’ll make a mental note. But your venom is best forgotten, and as quickly as possible.”
Glad you processed this for the better. You’re a great guy, and it’s a smart and fun book.