“…Et je peux respirer dans l’espace.”
Today’s comic is by R.K. Milholland, who draws some little-known webcomic named Something*Positive because he looooves hatemail. His honeymoon gift to me, as he’s put it, is directing some of that hatemail towards me for a day.
Frankly, I’m convinced that last panel alone is gonna garner me more positive reaction than any negative responses to the strip as a whole, but that’s because I’m a starry-eyed optimist.
Here’s to optimism. Stupid, stupid optimism.
Awwwwwwwwww. ‘Je suis Batman.’ <3
This is brilliant, but it takes like an hour to read x_@
Don’t worry – once you get the hang of the English language, it goes a lot faster!
(I kid! I kid). Yeah, it’s a wall of text – something I’ve cut back on severely in my own comic, but eh – it happens.
The comic was excellent.
Even if it was a massive pain in the ass to read on my smart phone.
And my wife kept asking “What are you doing” and I’d reply “Reading Shortpacked”
…and she respond with “Still?”
And, yet, that’s one reason I love S*P. It’s one of very few comics that doesn’t try to cram everything into 30-40 words. It’s hard to describe stupid in only 30-40 words.
Great strip!
Comment made better by the fact it’s accompanied by the girl from Superbook Gravatar.
Dude, that was awesome. Well said, sir.
I’d go into how much I agree with you and how similar it is to so much other crap I’ve seen/encountered, but I am prone to walls o’ text myself, so… I’ll stop at “IAWTC.” Sooooo, soooo much.
Yeah, it’s a wall of text… but unlike certain OTHER comic producers, your “too many fucking words” are actually interesting most of the time.
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
I loved it so much and then I saw who did it and…….squeeeeeeeeee
Not a fan of Subnormality, I take it.
I would love to see that last panel as part of the cannon plotline
C ANON.
Unless Willis is planning on adding something involving gunpowder…
Well, Cannons are a Canon part of the Shortpacked Canon. If you’ll recall, one of Galasso’s more recent plots to take over the world involved hamsters strapped to cannons.
Correction: Cannons strapped to hamsters.
But still totally canon.
Wow, I expected it to end with a snarky dick joke, but that was nice. Excellent work Mr Milholland.
This comic is a lot of words words words words, but they are very good words, so I can forgive it.
This is so spot on. Even though it’s sad we even have to have this conversation in this day and age.
Absolutely right. How can there seriously be so much dumb in the world?
NOW IN GERMAN!!!
Ich heisse Batman
…also, just ran the french phrase in the description through a translator. So many lawls. I won’t deprive you of the joy I felt upon reading the translation. Go do it yourself. Or if you read French you could do that too.
…you had to run “je suis Batman et je peux respirer dans l’espacie” through a translator? In this comic?
It took me a minute of trying to parse it out, then I laughed profusely. Again. Because the whole thing already made me laugh.:D
Everyone, translate this for yourself now! Translate this like it will be your last chance to ever laugh again!
Damn, French Batman just surrendered…
Thats why he is Algerian-French. Those guys NEVER quit.
Ah, but did you tell me so? And are you going to do the split at the end of the dance?
It’d be rather “Ich bin Batman” Since he says “I’m Batman”, not “My name is Batman”.
Nope, since “Je suis Batman” is “My name is Batman.” Non-English languages are weird like that, but if you said it as “Ich bin Batman,” it would apparently change the entire meaning of the phrase. It also appears to always make it dirty, at least that’s what my German teacher told us.
Ok fine it doesn’t translate to “my name is Batman,” shut your FAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCEEEEEEEE!!!
Actually, “My name is Batman” is Je m’appelle Batman. Je suis Batman is literally “I am Batman.”
//Points to my own reply//
Actually, “My name is Batman” would be “Mon nom est Batman” because “Je m’appelle Batman” means “I’m called Batman.” But I’m really just splitting hairs now.
In fact, “I’m Batman, is more something like “Batman c’est moi”, as in Louis XIV saying “I’m the state” which translates “L’Etat c’est moi”. “Ich heiss Batman” is natürlich falsch too, it’d have been more likely “Batman bin ich’s”. I’m just half french and quarter german so I’m not sure, but the most important is the emphasis, and the emphasis is on the word “Batman”, so my solutions are best. Punkt schloss.
Actually actually, “Je m’appelle Batman” is more literally “I call myself Batman.”
je suis batman
If I could attack a Kermit photo, I would say
“NON! Je suis Batman!”
But I can’t, so I shan’t.
It’s hilarious and adorable at the same time.
Ethan getting a chance to rant on somebody with a stupid opinion, under Milholland’s pen…and I’m not annoyed that nobody ended up dying, because the last panel is just too cute….
Best Wall of Text I’ve seen in, well, maybe ever.
It rivals Subnormality for wall-of-text done right.
The last panel makes my heart melt.
Damn you, Milholland
^ This so much.
Yes. This.
Well said, Milholland.
Minor question, though: Ethan says, “And if you decide to bring up the whole ‘Muslims hate gays so why are you defending them’…” How would this customer, whom Ethan is apparently not acquainted (since he addresses him as “sir”), know Ethan is gay?
He’s had this conversation a million times before. At least a few times, most likely, with people who know him at least well enough to know he digs dudes, so he’s got the whole speech prepared, and doesn’t feel the need to customize it.
Also, I suspect that might be the ‘those people’ he meant he was a part of, and may have assumed the guy would have figured that out.
Good point. When I read the “different set of ‘those people,’” my mind immediately lept to “Jewish,” because Ethan is ethnically Jewish, albeit not religious, and because both “Muslim” and “Jewish” belong to the “religious minority” category. But “gay” makes more sense here, as both Muslims and gays remain widely misunderstood, feared and hated in much of America today. Jews…well, speaking as one, it varies, but overall not nearly as much as was once the case.
That is, actually, exactly my chain of thought about that line – initially thought ‘Jewish’, then thought about the context, and respective treatment of Jewish and gay people in the US, and figured he probably really meant ‘gay’. (Though not being Jewish, I don’t have a first-person perspective on how Jewish people are treated, but, still…)
Mine too, for what it’s worth.
I see no reason why it can’t refer to both.
I thought “jewish,” too, actually
We’re treated pretty good.
Especially since if you treat us badly and it’s not amusing to us, we can use The Conspiracy to get you executed.
Do you have to speaking to a known gay audience for “why are you defending homophobes” do be relevant rhetoric?
I love how all my favorite web comic artists know each other. I guess that’s what I get for always reading the comics my favorite web comic artists suggest. In fact, I got here via SP…
The guy might not now that Ethan is gay, but all of people use “they’re homophobic” as an example for why a certain group of people are inheritantly bad or untrustworthy. It’s like when people say “all republicans are homophobic” or “all Christians/Catholics are homophobic”. This is not a unverserally true statement as while there are members of those groups who are homophobes, there are many who are not. However, it’s an often used form of “justification” argument, especially on the internet. Ethan’s has discussed this so many times on the interent, that he’s obviously ready for every counter-argument.
This is Shortpacked. All know the Ethan.
Doesn’t have to know. A rant is a rant is a rant, and he’s taking it down its logical path.
“I gotta deal with being a minority in a minority of the minority, and nobody’s supportin’ my ass.”
Last panel is ad’awwwwwrable.
The last panel almost makes up for the last panel of the latest non-guest strip. Almost.
*applause*
Wow – that was great. I find it really interesting that Ethan as written by Milholland is the most reasonable he has EVER been during a verbal bitch slapping of someone stupid. I would’ve expected something much, much, MUCH snarkier…
Very well done, at any rate. A tip of the hat to you, sir!
That was entirely beautiful.
…
Crazy how so many complaints in the comments are about how much text is in the comic.
Have we really gotten to the point where a mere couple of panels full of text has become intimidating.
Sad.
Beautiful Comic Randy, Well done.
I don’t think many of the comments on the wordiness of the comic are complaints. Seems to me like it’s all “Wordier than Shortpacked! usually is, but good.” Which… it is!
It is a great comic.
Okay, who let Tum Buckley do this comic?
If you have that much to say on the issue, why don’t you start a blog instead of thinly veiling your offloading of emotion as humor and wasting my time by posting it in webcomic form? I come to Shortpacked to read about toys, not your blog post about how you don’t like intolerance. Yes, intolerance is an issue. Yes, people are going to react negatively to French Muslim Batman. Does that mean you should write long paragraphs on the subject? Yes! You can and should let others know your opinion on the matter! Should you hijack another man’s webcomic and draw cartoons around your blog post, disguising your opinion as dialogue between a self-insert and a brick wall? In my opinion, not only should you not do that, but I personally find it morally reprehensible.
If you’ll excuse me, I’m off to go draw a comic around what I just wrote. Can you send me a picture of yourself so I know what to make my “evil brick wall character” look like? Front and back, please, I need to know what you look like from behind so I can draw you walking away in frustration and shouting about how I’m wrong while simultaneously running away from me.
“Hijack another man’s comic?”
“Morally reprehensible?’
BA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAA!
Oh, this guy is adorable! Can we keep him? I promise to feed him and pet him and call him George…
Better get an extra large pooper-scooper, because I suspect Calzone will be spewing a lot of shit on a regular basis.
Randy- awesome guest strip!
“I come to Shortpacked to read about toys”
Translation: “Herp derp reeding about soshull ishooz is too hard for me derp de doo”
Also, most of Shortpacked’s strips are not about toys.
If you need reference to know what Willis looks like, you clearly DON’T read this strip. If you want to know what Milholland looks like, there’s an URL right there on the strip, and video blogs so you can spend hours crafting a likeness in an attempt to caricature Randy more thoroughly than he has himself.
Of course, in a battle of snark with either Willis or Milholland, you’re pretty much the Mouse That Trolled.
I don’t understand what you mean by that and that means you’re wrong.
Hehehe. I love it when a point sails so cleanly over a troll’s head. The mental image of a blank expression followed by a metaphorical ‘no u’ just makes my day — and I didn’t even have to go to my favorite troll board for tonight’s episode!
Spoken like a man who has never touched a girl (without paying for the privilege)
…Is that you Sarah Palin?
I’m pretty damn sure that Randy didn’t hold a gun to Willis’ head to make him put up this comic. I also think that bitching about what David decides to put up is not a good way to get the artist to bend to your will and not put up guest strips from Randy anymore. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Randy much at all, but this strip is most likely canon and you should be happy that Randy didn’t decide to fuck with the Shortpacked fans like he did with the Questionable Content fans. Or the Penny and Aggie fans. Or the Queen of Wands fans.
Y’see, hatemail and bitching about his work SUSTAINS him. He feeds on your impotent rage.
quoting Randy from his Twitter (@choochoobear):
“I can see one Shortpacked reader is having a hissy fit that I “hijacked” Dave’s strip to espouse my opinions.
“Because I didn’t run this by him first – and there’s no way he could have told me “no” if he didn’t like it. Obviously.
“Most people seem to like it, which is nice. Don’t wanna bore Dave’s readers. Now? SLEEP. I hope.”
that’s all i have to say about that
Well, I’ll go further:
Shortpacked: “Racists Totally Freak Out Over Muslim \’Batman of Paris\’ http://t.co/P3JxrX3 via @AOL”
Choochoobear: “@Shortpacked Is it okay if I draw a comic about Muslim French Batman?”
Shortpacked: “@choochoobear OH GOD YES YES YES YES YES YES”
Choochoobear: “As a honeymoon gift to @shortpacked I gave him guaranteed hate mail #WorstFriendEver Thursday, 30 December, 2010 02:24:42 via web Retweeted by Shortpacked and 2 others ”
And finally:
Calzone: “If you have that much to say on the issue, why don’t you start a blog instead of thinly veiling your offloading of emotion as humor and wasting my time by posting it in webcomic form? I come to Shortpacked to read about toys, not your blog post about how you don’t like intolerance.”
Wow. You obviously don’t read David’s comics or blog on a regular basis or you would know how wrong you are. If you think this strip was a waste of your time, then go back to newspaper comics. Saying Shortpacked! is only about toys is akin to claiming Penny Arcade is only about games. (and yes they get hate mail about their content as well)
I’m sorry, was that “too long; didn’t read”? I’ll sum up: David’s comic is about WHATEVER HE WANTS IT TO BE EACH DAY.
Hell, PA got hatemail FOR EXACTLY THE SAME THING a week ago. Tycho’s religion punchline was written by Gabe, and Tycho took the hatemail. Seriously, people need to grow the fuck up and realize that sometimes a joke is a joke is a joke. You may not agree with it, but it isn’t a damn soapbox. It may be something you believe in, it may be an issue you support, sure. But, and I’m quoting Carlin here, “It’s all about the exaggeration.”
Besides, by posting a pissed off comment complaining about the soapbox, you have successfully BECOME the joke of the comic, since Randy and Willis KNEW some people would fly off the handle. And now, because I’ve explained this, I’ve ruined the joke. You asshat.
It should be noted that my previous comment was aimed at Calzone.
I am sure he will offer you back the money you paid to subscribe to this comic. Oh wait . . .
You’re not very bright, are you? Because, of course, all webcomics writers have access to each others’ sites and can just post comics whenever they wa- no. Please. You are not that stupid. Yes, Randy made it very clear what he was talking about, but it still was a good comic that ended on a good note. A great note. So suck it up. Enjoy it. Isn’t that the point of reading these comics?
Whoa, who let Tm Buckley into the comments section?
Umm… The strip is about a reaction to a new version of BATMAN. Seriously, how could it possibly get any more relevent to this comic? O_o
If you have that much to say on the issue, why don’t you start a blog instead of
thinly veilingblatantly spewing your offloading of emotion as a troll rant and wasting everyone’s time by posting it in comment form?Who let this guy comment.
I came to my third favourite webcomic’s comment page expecting to see anti-muslim dribble except see this crap about some guy not liking that there is something outside toys to be drawn about like gay french muslims.
If I wanted to see complaining posts like this I would read a blog written by you which will no doubt get consently hijack by my favourite webcomic to write a marvellous wall of text that no doubt will get complaints by wiccans which hasn’t happened for awhile. Milholland must be mellowing in his old age.
I come to Shortpacked! to read whatever the fuck Willis feels like putting here and then consider it like an adult.
I think you mean Tim Buckley and if you think Randy is anywhere near that friendly you are sadly mistaken!
It’s funny how you guys didn’t even read what I said and just called me a troll and racist.
Stay classy, Shortpacked readers.
Actually, I DID read your post very carefully. Now, go look back through the archives. I’ll wait while you do…
Did you notice that Ethan has arguments similar to this with customers ALL THE TIME? The main difference is that David’s comics aren’t usually as wordy. In addition, you used the word ‘hijacked’. That implies that Randy did this strip without David’s knowledge or permission. As Cholma proved, this is clearly not the case.
You didn’t like this strip. That’s cool, its your opinion. But please, try to be more civil in the future you miserable, pathetic piece of bug-crap.
Happy New Years~!
“The main difference is that David’s comics aren’t usually as wordy.” – to me that’s a world of difference.
You know, the difference between a comedian and a preacher posing as one.
For some reason, the fact that the icon is Sentinel Prime makes it even more adorable.
Is it really so unreasonable that I don’t want to read about “THE IMPORTANT ISSUES?” The main reason I like Shortpacked is that it doesn’t get up it’s own ass with the author’s opinions on the issues, and to see some guy come on to the comic to do a guest strip that it literally everything I don’t like about webcomics sets me off. This comic is literally nothing but the writer’s opinion on the issue coming out of Ethan’s mouth, followed by your typical strawman calling him a fag, followed immediately by a gay joke. At least when Walky gives his commentary on the issues he doesn’t come off as a total prat about it.
You may now call me a troll and a virgin, if it makes you feel better. That’s my opinion of this comic and I’m sticking to it. It’s a clumsily-handled message about an insignificant issue that is delivered with all the subtlety of a brick being rammed up someone’s ass.
Also yes the fact that my cranky comments are accompanied by a picture of Sentinel Prime strikes me as funny too.
———————————————-
Anyone above this line got trolled HARD by this calzone guy.
Surely it would have clicked when he joked that it was written by the C-A-D guy (who is know for massive walls of text) and then directly followed with his OWN wall of text?
Stop. Feeding. The. Troll. Although it is funny watching you guys trying to argue with him
I don’t like what you like, that mean’s I’m trolling.
Herp derp.
OH! Thanks for expaining the Tim Buckley references!
I find it amusing that folks are taking it seriously.
Having read Calzone’s comment, the context strongly suggests irony.
This, however, seems to have completely skipped over the heads of just about everyone who read it… leading to an absolutely hilarious stream of butthurt whiners.
Anyone who still believes Calzone actually meant it need go no further than the slightly later comment: “I don’t understand what you mean by that and that means you’re wrong.”
Basically, you’d have to be severely retarded not to recognise the satire by that point.
Well played, Calzone. =D
It doesn’t end on a gay joke. It ends on a touching moment, with a bit of humor(the I am Batman in-joke), where the participants are gay.
My issue with your opinion is the idea that for some reason Ethan wouldn’t react exactly like this, and that instead the artist is using him as a self-insert to spew morality at us. Ethan has reacted like this multiple times, though usually it revolves around Transformers. You really think he wouldn’t have an opinion on a controversy revolving around Batman? Really?
Actually most of the time Ethan says next to nothing – the strawman dumb fans are funny by themselves.
It’s much, much more enjoyable this way.
Man, if you think this comic isn’t representative of how Shortpacked! Always Is, then you never ever read Shortpacked!. You don’t know this strip. You’re just here to bitch.
I read your comic all the time, Dave. Never once have you gone off your rocker and wrote two pages of text about something that can literally be described as “this week’s issue.” You’re actually funny about it, and quite clever. This is just a dude venting.
But hey, whatever. If you want your webcomic to be represented by unfunny preachy nonsense, I’m in no place to stop you. Keep on keepin’ on, Dave.
Also, what’s the deal with “Hijacked by 4chan?” What, you get one negative comment and suddenly you’re being raided?
So first my strip is “hijacked” by a friend whom I gave permission, who according to you somehow uploaded this strip without my consent; and now the very name of this storyline, which I titled a month ago when I uploaded next week’s strips, is in response to you.
You really have to stop seeing conspiracy everywhere.
Sometimes things are just things.
Um. Just because a joke features gay people doesn’t make it a “Gay Joke” anymore then “Who’s On First” is a Straight Joke (routine).
And as the author said, if you think this is somehow different then the usual Shortpacked, you have gotten very lost, very confused, and mistyped “Ziggy” into Google this morning because -damn-, yo.
But you’re being very entertaining and a lovely ring out to the year, so please feel free to continue marking your place in e-geek history by stamping your feet.
As the guy who actually made the guest strip, I’d say it’s more than reasonable and fair to say you don’t want social commentary in a comic you read. I think what makes you look like a troll is how you said it. If you just said, “I don’t think this is appropriate or funny. It feels like the author’s using the comic for his voice and not staying true to the character or the spirit of the strip,” people might debate or disagree, but it’s hard to call that trolling.
Look at the actual language you used though. You said I “hijacked” the strip. Considering Dave wanted me to do a guest strip, knew what I was going to draw (and encouraged it), I hardly hijacked it. You also threw in a lot of attacks on me that made you come off as petulant and trollish.
I’m not saying personal attacks on you are right, either. They’re not. But you can’t post a vitriolic response like yours and not expect some people to lash out as well.
It’s not about social commentary, it’s about wall o’texts and using a character as a mouthpiece.
It’s kind of nice to have folks accuse OTHER people of using Ethan as a mouthpiece instead of just me all the time! Now THAT’S a vacation.
Most characters are used as mouthpieces to some extent. That’s a weak argument.
As for a wall of text, no apologies for it. I used it, I liked it, and I’d do it again. And, more importantly, David liked it as did most of his audience.
We know you get off on making people suffer too, Randy.
>=D
Wow, most reasonably comment I’ve seen here comes from the guy I wrote bad things about.
Yeah, I probably should have picked better words, but I honestly didn’t expect the general population, including Walky himself, to think I literally meant that you stole his strip. When I said “Hijacked,” I really only meant that your strip just kinda came out of nowhere.
And when I say that this type of strawman mouthpiecing doesn’t happen in Shortpacked, I really meant this specific type of issue. Yeah, Walky uses Ethan as a mouthpiece all the time, but it’s to criticize things like stupid transformers fans. Never, to the best of my knowledge, has someone brought up dirty muslims, and then called him a fag. Really, the strip just came off as a little too strong in pretty much all areas. The typical strawman came off as a genuinely hateful asshole instead of a pompous neckbeard and Ethan came off as an equally pompous 2-dimensional mouthpiece playing the minority card instead of the usual “Level-headed guy trying to explain the situation.”
My main issue with the strip was that everything came off way too strong and just didn’t seem like Shortpacked. It seemed like nothing more than the usual cliched strawman argument that you see too much of in webcomics these days.
I could have worded my opinion differently, but somehow I imagine the comments section here would still be saying shit like “LET’S SEE YOU DO BETTER” and “I’m a pompous ass and I’ve had sec with women that aren’t hookers.” I think that might have contributed to my increasingly assish comments. The initial one was just spur of the moment. What can I say, I’m a bit of a dick.
Dude, you said “I don’t understand what you mean by that and that means you’re wrong.”
If you don’t think that level of a dickish comment deserves a “You’ve never touched a girl” comment in response, your social skills must exist on levels so low they don’t even register on the scale.
Sir, your INTERNET SOCIAL SKILLS are lacking. Fix this at once, you patron of prostitutes.
“Wow, most reasonably comment I’ve seen here comes from the guy I wrote bad things about.”
Yup, that’s Mr. Milholland for you.
“Yeah, I probably should have picked better words…”
You sure coulda!
“…When I said “Hijacked,” I really only meant that your strip just kinda came out of nowhere.”
Yes, guest strips tend to do that.
“And when I say that this type of strawman mouthpiecing doesn’t happen in Shortpacked, I really meant this specific type of issue.”
…Then you would be mistaken.
“Yeah, Walky uses Ethan as a mouthpiece all the time, but it’s to criticize things like stupid transformers fans.”
Replace “things like stupid transformers fans” with “people acting like idiots” and you’ll find there’s no jarring disconnect here.
“…playing the minority card instead of the usual “Level-headed guy trying to explain the situation.”’
Or maybe “level-headed guy fed up after explaining the situation a million times already.”
“I could have worded my opinion differently…”
Could and should have.
“What can I say, I’m a bit of a dick.”
On this, we agree. Hopefully you can get over that soon.
I have a talent-crush on you.
I don’t see you doing anything better!
Tum? I guess I could use some Tums after eating a calzone.
Very, very good.
Now I will wait to see if some Muslim group finds a way to be as upset by “Muslim French Batman” as the idiot in this strip. Because if there’s anything that transcends all races, faiths, and groups… it’s stupidity.
I’m sure there are people out there who don’t want to be associated with a billionaire who runs around beating purse snatchers to a pulp.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFFDdgRj3nE
Yes, there are.
They’re called “purse snatchers”.
Here, have an Internet, CEOIII. ♥
So wonderful!!!
Well said! I for one was not aware of the Muslim Batman. But Im glad they did this. The last Muslim hero in comics (that Im aware of) was the Muslim Bald Eagle mutant Al’Falqa in TMNT Adventures. He helped the turtles prevent a holy war in Israel.
There’ve been a few…the only ones that actually ‘stuck’ that come to mind immediately are Dust and Faisa Hussain, from X-Men and MI-13, respectively. Faisa had a similar ‘wat’? moment in the lead-up to her introduction when some reporter asked Cornell if she was a terrorist – though, not being BATMAN, she didn’t create quite the same controversy.
Oh, a third just came to mind, reminded by the Faiza incident, but he’s a bit more unfortunate…the most recent Doctor in the Authority. Who was a suicide bomber before becoming the Doctor.
There was also Rampart in Sovereign Seven, though that was years ago and turned out to be non-canon.
I guess that means he wasn’t a very good one then!
Ah! Yes! Dust!! Duh! How could I have forgotten her?! Yeesh. I like her.
Also:
Je veux être Batman aussi! Ce n’est pas juste.
We need a collection book of the guest strips!
Digging this comic, equality represent…but at the same time, I’m more excited that an in-joke between myself and my best friend somehow became the punchline. I mean really, what are the odds. To Drew I respond as I always do to Sage:
NO! JE SUIS BATMAN!
Randy, thank you so much for this comic. It was absolutely perfect. I agree with everything that Ethan said about the new Batman direction. While I’m not sure if I like the idea of Batman being a franches, I have no problem with one of the Batmen being Muslim. So long as he’s not a tool/jerk (cough/Damian/cough) who upholds Batman’s approach to justice, with no killing, awesome toys and strong beliefs about protecting the innocent, I’ll be happy.
I am so happy this happened.
All of the above! All of the above!!
I adore this.
I am truly giddy that I predicted in principle the line “…Et je peux respirer dans l’espace” before I scrolled down to read it.
Oh, and the rest of the strip, too. Giddy about that as well.
In other news, OMG DID YOU SEE WHO THEY HAVE PLAYING A NORSE GOD IN “THOR”? SOME GUY FROM *AUSTRALIA* WAIT WHAT
Wow, I like Ethan in this comic.
And, as a Palestinian Muslim, I just want you to know that I don’t find myself saying that about Many gay Jews
We’re a motley bunch.
I dunno, I’ve always preferred “crew”.
Milholland ranted intelligently and ended on a tongue-in-cheek yet wholly situational appropriate joke. Not a surprise at all and my fangirlism is pleased…
And yay, got to find out who the hell he was hinting at when he mentioned working on a guest comic earlier this week! All it’s missing is Singularikitty omnoming the cape off of Drew.
Beautiful all around.
Huh. Not a bad comic.
I was surprised by how wordy the comic was, until I looked at the bottom and saw who the guest artist was. All is explained.
Game, Set and Match… Randy rules!
… and Ethan collects
Why did it take three panels to realize this was Millholland’s art? x.x
Shame on me. Well done, Millholland, excellent strip.
Don’t feel bad — I hit S*P three times a week, and I didn’t twig until I saw it mentioned at the end. Of course, as soon as I saw Milholland’s name, I realized it made perfect sense.
I have the biggest, righteously awesome, truthy, badass boner ever.
That was awesome.
Ses parents sont morts.
MOOOOOOORTS!
Last panel is awesome, but I really think Drew should have more predatory face while saying that ;D
A very good argument. And honestly? The last panel made me smile
As a french reader and batman fanboy, I just wanted to say that not only i see nothing wrong about having a muslim as the french batman but that i also would like to see more “”"diversity”"” in our own comics.
Now i just hope our “homme chauve-souris” aka “le coureur de la nuit” will make for a good character.At least this first issue was promising. And please, you americans would be nice NOT to blow up too many historic buidings in the incoming storylines. Thank you.
And as always for a comic by Milholland or for one posted in Shortpacked : great job !
I’m sure they’ll be at least as gentle with the Eiffel Tower as the Japanese are to the Tokyo Tower.
Batman’s going to make himself a giant cocoon on it?
The tower will be completely destroyed at least once per issue, sometimes twice within a dozen pages. Various villains will destroy it, heroes will be left with no choice but to destroy it, the entire structure will be transformed into some sort of food at least once…
…and Batman will find some flimsy excuse to make himself a giant cocoon on it. Just because.
It’ll be the Bat Cocoon! Yes!
Personally, I like the idea of a new, Muslim, French Batman. I mean, the point is to tell a new story in a new place, and as long as they can acknowledge more things about the character than those three things (Religion, Nationality, Hero), it could turn out rather interestingly.
As for the comic, I’ve always liked S*P strips when they don’t appear on S*P. That comic isn’t quite my speed, but when he takes his hand at working with another person or their characters, I find myself drawn, so much respect, much like.
Well the religion, as the country, can give a clue of what the character can be.
For example, a muslim in a mostly non-believing country as France is giving here a clue that the french batman would be more a disciple of Averroès or of Youssef Chahine’s vision of Islam than a fundamentalist who cannot bare to see a living thing on a drawing (such sadly exist too). Would be the muslim batman a Saudi Arabia billionnaire, you would’nt have nor expect the same representation of him. So I think it’s clever to have taken France as the land of the muslim Batman who has to exist!
I still do not know if he’s going to be -as you say in the US- of “caucasian” (converted or east-european), “oriental” (maghreb, egypt, turkey), or “african” extraction, what can give another clue of what kind of Islam rules he’d follow. My favourite option would be an adherent of sufism, but that’d be far too far from what it takes to be batman, as sufis don’t care about money nor materialism, so have few common points with Batman.
Still, as I am, as you could have guessed, french, to make the french batman a muslim (which is different to make the muslim batman a french guy as I said above, a brilliant idea) can be a bit harder to get from here. Not because of what french muslims are. But because what french non-muslim are. We have here a whole racist movement which take the muslims for responsible of all troubles, and some of these racists are even involved in the gouvernement. And I fear, that given that french have usually the idea of themselves of atheists, they, firstly, won’t buy the comics where this french batman appears, secondly, consider that if american people (most of them believe that all DC authors and artists are from the US) think that the representation (I know it’s not a representation) of France is a muslim, then it means that they would have to fear that muslim take the best upon them. That’s stupid, I agree, especially when the nowadays representation of France is a douchey cocain-speeded dwarf. But that’s what they are going to tell, and I fear that racists will gain a few members, and communautarism, which doesn’t really exists here, gain a bit of legitimacy.
To conclude, I’ll say brilliant idea and brilliant SPcked comic, and I hope I am just a fucking pessimist (and second hope, let the french batman not live in Paris but in Etretat).
I feel educated. None the less, I am not one of the ‘you’s in ‘as you say in the USA’, as I’m Australian, but I dare say it’d be a bit presumptuous to expect you to guess that.
Oh, Hell, public perception is we’re becoming Lil’ USA anyway.
I do wonder; is this a development made for France, or for people who want to read about France? Whenever I read about Australia in comics, we’re… Somewhat bastardized, as happens when your familiar (to you) culture appears in a work by another culture, and thus, Aussies don’t usually indulge in anything about our country if it’s made by another. Perhaps DC is unfussed about the French opinion on this – they’d be weary of back-draft, certainly, but it’s quite likely this is to attract people of other countries who have an interest in France, rather than those that are French themselves.
Or perhaps not. Who knows? Just have to read it when it comes around.
Hey, Aussie, you know better than the yanks what beer is, so you know better than the yanks what the world is, so I don’t have to educate you
. I’m kidding of course, this point was made for the US and for the rets of the world as we french have as a duty to have all people from everywhere around the world to be taught. Or laught, I can’t remember.
When I finally get a boyfriend, I’m totally making him do that.
…this may be why I don’t currently have a boyfriend.
Today’s strip made my day on MANY levels! Best start to New Year’s Eve I’ve ever had – thanks, Randy!!! (and you too Mr Willis, of course)
PS: I’m totally gonna get my date tonight to do that if I can… does anyone know where can I find a Batman costume in Puerto Vallarta with zero notice?!?
Il est Batman?
Non, je suis Batman.
Oooh, Tish! You spoke… french!
It took someone THIS far down the comments to make this reference?
Excellent ! Chapeau bas, Randy.
tl;dr
Good on you, Ethan. That (sort of) shut him up. And, I like French Batman too.
DW, I can’t tell you how cool I think it is that you’re acquainted (and apparently friends) with R. K. Milholland. His work is filled with all kinds of nasty, snarky, cynical, sarcastic humor. I love him for it.
Just to be contrary…
I loved the strip, up until the last panel. DAMN YOU WILLIS!
(I know Randy drew this, but I can’t curse out Randy)
Wow. Even by the usual standards of both SP and SHORTPACKED, this one’s great. Thanks to each of you. Great work, Randy… and thanks, David, for having the balls to go there, too.
1. I was thinking “Jewish” not “gay” in Ethan’s “those people” line, but in retrospect it could be either. Or both. Casual antisemitism is rare in my experience, but when it happens, it’s startling. Especially in a retail setting.
2. Goodness gracious, what a wall of text. Something tells me Milholland’s been confronting this particular issue once or twice already, hence the well-developed arguments. That, or he knows how on line debate goes.
That. was Beautiful
I wanna see Batman Inc. now
As much as I’d like to go ‘D’aww!’, I have to say this first:
DAMN YOU GRANT MORRISON AND YOUR BATMAN CORPORATION!
Okay. Now I can go ‘D’awww!’ at Drew and Ethan.
This is my first comment, and I use it to say:
Succinct and beautiful. Bravo.
Randy, I love this. I’ve seen an awful lot of commentary on our choice of French Batman over the past couple of weeks. A lot of sense and a lot of nonsense. Your strip is worth the whole damn’ lot of them (and probably says more in one page that we managed in two entire annuals, curse you!)
… Did you guys see what just happened… um… David Hine just happened.
Just sayin’.
And he got the least respectful possible Gravatar *snickers* Way to treat your celebs, Willis!
Also, I think this might be one of the sweetest things Randy’s ever written.
Well done, Randy, well done.
I thought only muslim WOMEN wore cloaks and masks..
1 – Nice!
2 – Muslim Batman — Am I the only one who immediately pictured Abed from Community?
If only I could translate this to French
— “If I stay there can be no party. I must be out there in the night, staying vigilant. Where ever a party needs to be saved, I’m there. Where ever there are masks or if there’s tom foolery in joy, I’m there. But sometimes I’m not because I’m out there in the night staying vigilant, watching, lurking, running, jumping, hurdling, sleeping. No I can’t sleep. You sleep, I’m awake. I don’t sleep. I don’t blink. Am I a bird? No, I’m a bat. I am Batman. Or am I? Yes, I am Batman.”
Now I’m ashamed I didn’t think of that until just now.
If it helps, here’s a shitty Dictionary.com translation:
“Si je reste il peut y avoir aucun parti. Je dois être là-bas dans la nuit, en restant vigilant. Si jamais un parti a besoin d’être sauvé, je suis là. Si jamais il ya des masques ou s’il ya des bêtises tom dans la joie, je suis là. Mais parfois, je ne suis pas parce que je suis là-bas dans la nuit vigilants rester, regarder, se cache, courir, sauter, course de haies, de dormir. Non, je ne peux pas dormir. Tu dors, je suis réveillé. Je ne dors pas. Je ne clignote pas. Suis-je un oiseau? Non, je suis chauve-souris. Je suis Batman. Ou suis-je? Oui, je suis Batman. “
And here’s the hilarious recursive translation! (Because I’m bored.)
“If I stay there can be no party. I must be there in the night, staying vigilant. If ever a party needs to be saved, I’m here. If ever there or whether it masks tom is nonsense in joy, I’m here. But sometimes I’m not because I am there in the night to stay vigilant, watching, hiding, running, jumping, hurdling, sleep. No, I can not sleep. You sleep, I woke up. I do not sleep. I do not blink. Am I a bird? No, I’m a bat. I’m Batman. Or am I? “Yes, I am Batman. “
Si je reste là, la fête ne peut avoir lieu. Je dois être ailleurs, là-bas, dans la nuit, et rester vigilant. Si une fête est en péril, je suis présent. Si quelqu’un porte un masque, ou bien s’il se trouve quelque malice parmi la joie, je suis présent. Et pourtant parfois ce n’est pas le cas, car je suis ailleurs, là-bas, dans la nuit, à rester vigilant, à monter la garde, à rôder, à courir, à bondir, à franchir les obstacles, à dormir. Non. Je ne peux dormir. Quand vous dormez, je reste éveillé. Je ne dors pas. Je ne cille pas. Suis-je un oiseau? Non, une chauve-souris. Je suis Batman l’homme chauve-souris. Est-ce bien celà? Oui. Batman c’est moi.
Thank you! That’s all really, just Thank you!
This comic really pissed me off!!! A Batman from France that happens to be Muslim I can totally buy. Drew putting on a Batman costume when he can’t even handle Ethan’s toy collection being in the room when they make out is just to much for me to maintain the suspension of disbelief. Hell, he couldn’t even handle one Ravage toy on top of the TV set!!! It’s just way too out of character, even for a guest strip!!!
/Fanboy’d
Well, there’s a big difference between costumes and toys, though. I’d wear a Batman costume, especially if it made my fiancee happy, but there’s no way I’d spend my money on a Batman toy.
I thought it was like a krypto or bat-dog toy not ravage.
It was Ace the Bat-Hound
But I totally agree, it does seem odd for Drew to dress up as Batman, that threw me off as well.
Aaaaa!!! That just makes it worse! Now I’m picturing them doing it doggy style while Drew is wearing the Batman costume. Ethan yells out imitating the voice of Shaggy “Hay Scoob, say it again!”
Drew replies “I’m Ratran!”
He’s had time to get used to Ethan’s uber-geekiness.
And Ethan probably revealed his Batman crush as early in the relationship as he could do without scaring him off.
I disagree. I can easily see Drew dressing up as Batman for Ethan. His problem isn’t with Ethan’s geekiness, or with the Batman franchise, but rather with the physical presence of the figurines themselves. There’s a large difference between wearing a Batman suit and gettin’ it on, and trying to get it on while being WATCHED by hundreds of tiny plastic faces with tiny painted plastic eyes.
It’s true. My girlfriend has got used to the vast collection of figures in my room, but she’s still not totally comfortable with the tiny inanimate audience…
Very well spoken, sir.
So uh…is someone going to draw kinky fanart of that last panel? *cough*
Rule 34 says that the last panel was ALREADY made into porno…
The real problem isn’t French Muslim Batman. The real problem is that they still let Grant Morrison write for Batman.
Oui, Oui…Tu etes batman, indeed…good comic post.
So… much… text…
Approaching C-A-D levels of pretentiousness!
Brilliant!
My boyfriend and I did something similar once, but that involved a Spider-Man costume and German.
‘Holy godless heathens Batman! A group of Homosexuals having a peaceful protest!’
‘It’s ok Robin, luckily I always carry my faggot-reppelant in my bat-utility suicide-vest’
‘Holy fundamentalist values Batman, your arch-nemesis, Capitalist Pig is escaping up that tall building! We have to stop him before he completes his evil scheme of separating church from state!’
‘Quick! To the bat-hijacked 747!’
‘Holy praise be to Allah Batman, the parents of a 12-year-old girl are refusing to allow a 40-year-old Muslim man marry and rape her!’
‘This injustice must NOT go unheeded!’
PS: It’s ok for me to make these jokes because i am hactually a Muslim.
Are you sure about that?
Calling those strings of text, “jokes” is a serious abuse of the English language.
first off Anonymous i don’t care if your Muslim or not that was offensive. Second off it wasn’t funny so I’m missing your reason for doing it at all besides to be offensive in the first place… and saying its ok because your Muslim is like saying with all due respect… its meaningless filler entered so you don’t have to be responsible for the garbage spewing from your mouth. My name is Patrick Stier im not hiding behind an Anonymous post to say this.
That’s freaky. I’m reading through the S*P archives right now.
While I agree with the message, did it really warrant this verbose comic? Wouldn’t a blog or livejournal be more appropriate. I guess I’d say get off your soapbox, but apparently that’s all shotpacked is now.
“Shotpacked” also has… a plot.
Your mom is a soapbox!
Yes. Yes, it really did warrant this verbose comic.
Comics are both words and images. It’s okay for the ratio of words:art to shift in favor of words sometimes.
and its a guest comic so its not even shortpacks soapbox….
TLDR. except actually, that is a lie. I read every letter.
Political correctness is humor now?
Not only is it humor, it’s also evidently “inspiring,” “touching,” and “adorable.”
Also if you disagree with the general opinion, you are trolling and, according to the classy gentlemen going by the name of Trae Dorn, you have never touched a woman.
I CALLED THIS GENTLEMEN A VIRGIN, INTERNET JUSTICE HAS BEEN WROUGHT.
No, political correctness isn’t humor.
Pointing out exactly how ridiculous and unoriginal bigotry is, *is*.
Not until it’s make through a joke. And I mean a real one, not a seemingly afterthought weak punchline.
i think you’re confusing `political correctness’ and just plain regular `correctness’. Nothing Ethan (thanks to Randy) is saying is either overtly PC or out of character; it’s just topical, and accurate. The last panel is funny on its own.
Getting angry about “political correctness” is a real quick way to make me assume you’re a racist or a homophobe. Disaffected straight white folks are why the term exists, and similar or identical folks are all too eager to appeal to it whenever someone who is not like them gets favorable treatment in society or fiction.
Don’t know if you’ve ever watched this, but this seems like the right kind of lashing against P.C
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/2783-Correctitude
It’s from moviebob on the escapist, so a lot of pepz probably already saw it.
For a very brief period after the term “political correctness” first appeared in the early 90s, it could mean a wide variety of things. It generally meant that the person using the term wasn’t prepared to toe someone else’s party line, either on the right or on the left. This was generally a good thing!
In the 21st century, when someone complains about political correctness, this complaint only ever has one meaning. That meaning is, “I am a mindless bigot, it angers me that there are people who are not me, and I am about to say something breathtakingly dumb”.
In short, get knotted.
I am embarrassed not to have realized it was Randy’s work until the second to the last panel. He should trademark that head shape.
Anyway, I like this strip. Rock on, guys!
bitchy comment, bitchy comment, batman’s dick joke
Great Job, Randy!
This may be a wall of text but I’ve read it through five times now. And that’s not counting the numerous times I read just the last panel.
Batman with a crescent moon icon? wait isnt that Marvel’s answer to Batman, Moon Knight?
Actually, yes. http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kw5h0x42cd1qa7otlo1_400.jpg
Holy Strawmen Batman! XD Seriously, this Guest-Ethan is an obnoxious prick. I see where its going as a parody of the usual Strawman Toy fan argument, but I guess it just got WAY too wordy… So much as to the point that seeing him being unreasonable in his response (Maybe if you had given it a bit more back-and-forth instead of Ethan ‘assuming’ what his arguments would be).
Not that his arguments are wrong. They have merits, but also overlook a push in entertainment lately to try and forcibly wedge in Pro-Muslim characters to fight back a growing ‘anti-Muslim’ sentiment, that may or may not be reasonable.
In the end, Ethan just ended up looking like a self-righteous politically correct zealot that plugs his ears anytime he even thinks he hears something ‘offensive’ to the non-mainstream. Like I said earlier, I just think if the strawman had more argument in between the wall of text, it would have softened the obnoxiousness from Ethan. (Atleast in my opinion, which of course does not reflect probably anyone but myself :3 )
Yeah, pop culture should just go with the flow of cultural prejudices and never attempt to examine or question them.
Except their not examining them, or questioning them. It ignores the reasoning behind them. Or wait… Are you talking about this comic? Or the Batman? because I can give this comic a pass, because… well, thats just the way some comics are. Same with others like daybyday or the like.
I can’t say about the Batman because I havent heard much about this new french batman except how the usually easily-offended people get upset about any opposition to a ‘Muslim’ batman. “How DARE you question a muslim batman!” It’s just as ridiculous as the opposition “How DARE there be a Batman thats not WASP!”
`Easily offended’? Dude, how can you say that the `usual people’ were easily offended if you haven’t heard that much about it? Did you read the articles in question?
http://www.publiusforum.com/2010/12/23/batmans-politically-correct-european-vacation/
It would be a massive struggle to NOT get offended by what this guy and his supporters were saying!
Not that you’d actually try not to get offended or anything… After all, its more fun to be the morally ‘superior’ person to the ‘bigots’ isn’t it? I read through the article, and while I do have a feeling of “It’s overblown” (On their side, they don’t need to be quite as offended by it), it makes a reasonable argument for their stance. Unfortunately, there are people who get themselves offended whenever someone else tries to point out things that are inconveniently true… IE: The growing Islamic gangs in France, violence that ‘ties’ itself into occupation in Egypt (just another excuse). But no, it’s ‘Communist Party’ and ‘Neo-Nazi’ problems… Rather than something that is happening locally (why not have a Muslim Batman that rebels against the violent Islam followers in the region? Wouldn’t that be more positive PR for the peaceful followers?)
While I’ll reiterate. I don’t think its that big of a deal that he is a Muslim Frenchman, I am willing to acknowledge that that man has a legitimate claim to his offense (even referencing other troubles lately with the comic medium). But, people are easily offended… On both sides.
Actually, This wouldn’t be a first for Ethan.
Ethan, of course, nails it here!
One of my favorite things about guest strips is when the guest artist stays true to some part of the original comic (and not just the characters). David’s recent comic for GWS was clearly his voice but maintained the spirit of GWS. Randy, doing an amazing job no matter how you look at it, didn’t just get his voice across but did it in a way that that is similar to David’s own diatribes through Ethan in the past.
So, in short, awesome again. <3 <3
I’ll sleep better at night knowing there is a Batman watching over Paris, whoever he is.
When I think about it, there are only two reasons why I’m uneasy about Batman Franchising himself and none of them have to do with who the new men and women under the cowl will be.
The first issue I have is that it takes away from the mysteriousness of the Batman. I mean, what made Batman awesome is it was this one guy in all the world who was the ultimate badass. Now there’s going to be numerous versions of the character. The mystique of the character gets lessened, which is disappointing. Not necessarily bad, but something that will take getting used to.
My second issue is how obviously this is going to backfire down the line. There’s the obvious stuff, like Bruce Wayne’s company being targeted by not only criminals, but lawsuits from people hurt during Batman related missions and pissed off countries who don’t like the idea of there being Batmen in their neck of the woods. And then of course there is the obvious major plots where there’s also going to be the Batmen who go rogue and who end up betraying the Batman ideals, resulting in Bruce having to go take them down. Again, this isn’t necessarily bad, and if handled right, it could be interesting. But it isn’t exactly something new or unexpected, is it? I mean, look at Jason Todd as an example.
THOSE are some pretty valid points. I admit I’m not sold on Batman, Inc., myself – but the Detective and Batman annuals? They were great.
And well before that, there was Azrael, whom Wayne appointed to replace him when he was physically unable to be Batman, ever again as it then seemed. Azrael, too, was mentally unbalanced and overly brutal, and had to be brought down.
Yeah, I doubt the “worldwide franchise” arrangement will last. Still, I give DC credit for doing something a bit different with the Batman character, if only temporarily, rather than just having Wayne come back from his near-death and chronological-displacement trauma and resume business as usual, as if a routine baddie had simply knocked him out with a wrench.
Your latter point is especially accurate Shift. Batman was supposed to be the pragmatic side of the moral compass that is Superman/Batman. He walks a very fine line and knows it. The idea of a group of Batmen operating way outside of Wayne’s supervision is just asking for trouble.
I’m not sure about the “probably Christian” thing. If they’re part of a religion that’s not Christianity, sure, but most comic book protagonists appear to be athiest or agnostic by default, and no one cares. I’d honestly be more surprised to find an openly Christian hero than a Muslim.
…And then there’s Warren Ellis, whose Authority once killed God. I am not kidding. Guess what his beliefs are?
The most prominent `openly’ christian characters (where being christian is clearly part of their character, is mentioned and informs their decision making) at DC and Marvel would be Huntress, Daredevil, & Nightcrawler (with quite a few more obscure characters, particularly in outside the big two publishers). The Spectre sometimes gets portrayed as the wrath of the christian god, but sometimes the less specific wrath of the abrahamic god.
‘Atheist’ is one of only 2 ‘religious’ categories I’ve ever seen anyone complain about in comics. (‘Muslim’, obviously, the other.) Only ‘that makes no frakkin’ sense’, however.
Hmm. Yeah, openly, actual Christina characters seem to be rare, but… well, the larger North American society as a whole is Christian by default, whether or not a particular person is actually a practising Christian or not. It’s Christmas time, we’ve all got Christmas trees, kids are singing Christmas carols at the mall (even if thery’re avoiding the Christ-specific ones and just doing Reindeer songs etc, they’re still called “Christmas” carols…).
Easter and Christmas are our two main statuatory holidays, even if the religious overtones aren’t always present. If you talk about what you’re giving up for Lent, everyone knows what you mean. If I talk about the blot I made on Disirnacht, few people will have a clue what I mean.
Not trying to be anti-Christian or anything here; it’s just that, as a non-Christian myself, I’m extra aware of just how much our society just default-assumes that you’re Christian without even cluing in, mostly, that that’s even what’s happening.
I mean, I don’t take offense whenever someone wishes me a Merry Christmas. Buuut… it’s never “Happy Hannukah” or happy Ramadan or joyous Kwanza or things, is it? –Although, it IS cool (as someone who celebrates it) that the mainstream media is picking up on the whole Solstice thing. It’s just that, well, even if you’re atheist, it’s the *Christian* god you don’t believe in, right? At least in North America. And that’s more or less because it’s at heart a Christian society despite the (perfectly correct) separation of church and state.
TL;DR. XD I’d say Randy was catching if I hadn’t been doing it for years already anyways.
Happy Everything!
I’d buy that last panel if it were a print.
I usually hate pretty much everything about Milholland’s writing but this is just spectacular.
The only way it could be more perfect would be if racist douchebag’s parting shot included a complaint about Ethan saying too many words.
In fact even that last part I’m not totally sure about since that “if you love it so much!!??!?!” line is such a classic in this genre.
Nice guest strip. I love it when Shortpacked gets Comic Book Political.
If you think the Ethan Siegal character was being brutal to a potential paying customer (and actually, I think he was), then just consider what would have happened if Mike, or Ronnie (I know, he’s out of the strip) were stocking the Batman blisterpacks instead of Ethan.
The poor customer should be grateful it wasn’t Mike, deliverer of epic beatdowns.
This is actually the cutest thing that I’ve ever read. I loooove you.
Actually, from what I understand, France keeps passing anti-Muslim laws because being Muslim isn’t “French”. So, yeah, making Batman a Muslim in France is a big political statement. At least in France.
But I still like the comic. I even liked the wordiness.
Unfortunately, the “French” are by no means alone in having a history, recent or long past, of legislating against those who might be considered “not us” by those who are considered “us.” There were tremendous pressures to create and pass antisemitic laws in France between 1896 and 1903, for example. This would be the “Dreyfus Case” period.
The weirdest factions in all of that were the anti-Dreyfus socialists (who figured they shouldn’t have to exert any efforts for justice on the part of one of the ruling elite, a General Staff officer at that) and the conservative establishment types of all stripes who felt Dreyfus MUST be guilty but thought he should get a fair trial anyway…..
Note: I’m not singling out the French here. I’m not sure there’s a nation on the planet that doesn’t have a “shameful episode in the past” they like to keep in the history books, or omit from the history books.
‘Cause the French would never make a Muslim of Algerian descent a national hero.
Oh, wait.
It’s about as funny as Mallard Fillmore. It’s almost like you can do this with any argument!
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x351/soapboxed/2010-12-31-guestsomethingpositive.png
That made my eyes hurt. And my brain.
I’m trying to figure out where he made a point though, I read it and all he did was make a pre-emptive strike at people who would criticize it by calling us ignorant. Where was this mythical point he mentioned?
His point was what he said at the beginning, that he thinks comics should be funny instead of soapbox rants with a joke tacked at the end as an afterthought.
And that people would ignore that and instead hurl insults.
Oh wait, that’s not how criticism is dealt with here….I should say:
I’m sorry my story was too complicated and hurt your ignorant puny brain! But I knew haters would hate it, and I feed off of your tears!
Than I should go bitch about it and seek positive reinforcement from my brahs on Twitter.
Well I guess he’s entitled to his opinion, but I don’t see any reason why webcomics should be funny rather than anything else, I mean, anything made by somebody should only ever have to be what they wanted it to be. Milholland got Willis’s approval to `soapbox’ about this issue after all.
I do agree with the guy that having a dissenting opinion doesn’t make someone a `troll’ though; I certainly think that term is bandied about to readily (along with insulting people’s intelligence) in this particular case Calzone’s arguments were easily enough to be refuted without attacking him personally.
Although, conversely, there’s nothing wrong with `ad hominem’ attacks if it actually is the behaviour of a commentator/person you’re responding too, rather than their opinions… I remember one time I called out a dude on a writing review web-site for always being rude and condescending when he criticised other writers work and he got all huffy that I was using `ad hominem’ attacks rather than logically refuting the criticism that he gave… after several posts of trying to explain that his criticism of the work – that their grammar was often faulty or that their plots were cliched- was valid, but that he didn’t need to be such a dick about it, I remembered that I was on the internet.
Social commentary can be done in comics, if done right. Bill Watterson regularly did that in Calvin and Hobbes, but it was in such a way that
A) it was part of the plot instead of forced in
B) it still managed to usually be humorous
and most important
C) it was done in a way that made you think and see things from a perspective you might never have thought of before.
This does none of those things. it’s a wall of talking points I can get from any political show or blog. It wasn’t to make anyone think, it was to say something to a bunch of people that likely agree with you, and awaiting kudos for being so edgy and smart.
Making this web comic contain super-serious social commentary was like if Michael Bay tried to make Citizen Kane. It’s not going to work, you don’t have the talent, stick with what you’re good at.
As an aside, I think a Muslim Batman sounds like an interesting idea.
Oh come on. “I don’t understand what you mean by that and that means you’re wrong.” That’s not somebody who’s interested in a serious discussion, that’s somebody who’s trying to get a rise out of people.
I’ve read lots of Calvin and Hobbes comics, and from what I remember, the social commentary strips were generally one-shots, not part of the plot. Calvin and Hobbes were sledding or walking around the woods and they would start talking, not too different from walking around a toy store you work at and starting to talk with a customer.
As for the humor, It was usually just the punchline. I remember one joke when they were sledding and the entire thing was just Calvin thinking out loud, and they proceeded to crash at the bottom. Then Hobbes made a comment that was the punchline.
I feel the main difference between Calvin and Hobbes and here is that Calvin and Hobbes weren’t going for specific social issues, they were debating more philosophical points and these are more political.
C&H’s philosophical points aren’t nearly as polarizing as political agendas. You don’t often see people on the TV telling you that Locke is better than Hobbes or that Calvinists trashed a local Catholic church.
I agree with Pope Richard Corey about the rant itself being funny though I don’t know if that is because I generally see someone who agrees with me being put down, not actually winning an argument
And I honestly laughed out loud at your “That’s not how we respond to criticism here!” tangent.
gubluh? But the soapbox itself is also funny — It’s a well thought out summary of an argument that happens very frequently, explaining every stupid twist and turn. In addition, the character does this kind of thing frequently — it’s one of his major flaws, soapboxing, and that’s part of why he’s so funny. His soapboxes are usually right and valid, but they are nonetheless largely irrelevant and goofy.
Humor doesn’t have to be all Punchlines. It is often much more subtle than that, and I think you’ve missed the joke here.
It is more interesting to me that Nightrunner is parkour/free runner trained. This poses as an interesting choice, as, it would seem, this manifestation of Batman would be a lot less of a brawler than the American Batman seems to be. This brings to mind a more (forgive me for crossing universes here) Spiderman-esque style of combat, with a much more agility and maneuverability focused hero, while still emphasizing stealth, fear, and ambush based combat.
Moving on to the subject at hand though…
The problem with the mainstream-slash-conservative american perspective of Islam is that of the mysoginistic/violent extremist (as hit on by Ethan), and yet ignores the mysogeny and violence in the bible (as America has an overwhelming large Christian population [AMERICA IS NOT A CHRISTIAN NATION, DAMMIT!]). Moderate Muslims, taken as a whole, do not wish any harm to anyone, and would simply rather live their lives in peace. I knwo this, as I served in the Army along side many practitioners of Islam. One of my greatest and truest friends is a muslim from Egypt, whom was my roomate in Iraq during a long tour. He had no hatred of Jews, no hatred of America (he proudly served the country he called his own, and with great honor and duty), hell, no hatred of anyone except those who would do his family or friends harm. The fact of the matter is, much like Christians, they pick and choose what they follow from their religious texts.
Getting to my point, if you read a majority of the “Right-Wing” (American Conservatives) blog or news source, and specifically the comments (I would advise against it for anyone with heart or blood-pressure problems), you will see certain trends..Demoniziation of the Left (liberals), hatred of anyone “foriegn”(Xenophobia), hatred of any other religion, hatred of anyone with dissenting views, hatred of anyone with diffrent sexuality (questioning hetero-normative views), and by and large, mysogeny. The fact of the matter is, that the people who are “outraged” by this are people who only want to see Hetero-normative, W.A.S.P. Christians as heroes, and everyone else as either villians or unimportant.
Thanks to this comic, I am going to read through the archive of Shortpacked (a comic I wouldn’t have heard of had it not been for following Milholland). Thanks, Shortpacked, and Randy, for fostering debate and discussion about topics that lead to greater debates and discussions.
That’s a rather limited view point there as well. First, comparing it to Christianity is a common and flawed angle alot of people try to do in an attempt at a ‘gotcha’ moment. Christianity doesn’t encourage mysoginistic/violent actions except in defense of yourself, and the culture largely has grown to be very accepting and far more forgiving than Islam. It doesn’t call for murder, it calls for forgiveness, it doesn’t call to impose foreign laws into countries, it calls to live by the countries laws while obeying God’s. I don’t deny the sad state of homosexual dislike by the Christian community, but even to that degree it’s not as bad as Islam is, particularly in recent years when the religion has mellowed out.
And personally? I found left wing (American Liberal) blogs to be horrible on my own blood pressure because of the level of hypocrisy they show. Demonization of the Right (Conservatives, IE: Rednecks, Racists, Sexists, Elitists, Rich….), hatred of anything traditional, hatred of anyone with a differing view point (trust me, Its much harder arguing conservative ideals to a liberal, than liberal ideas to a conservative. It’s easier to pull to the left from a right standing, than to the right from a left standing).
While once again I don’t agree with the hate of this character, I think the opponents are upset about the climate of ‘rewriting’ Islam. Islam receives a pass so much in this country, because it seems noones willing to give them a fraction of the guff Christianity (IE, the baaad religion) gets. We have people claiming that Islam was the first to push for womens rights, equality of people, that they deserve credit for all our scientific endeavors, and that the terrorists attacking the United States and other countries are just doing it to be mean… Not because of any religious reason.
But yeah, read through Shortpacked. XD Awesome comic. Its got a few political digs here and there, but never goes as bad as this comic was.. :3 one of the reasons i can regularly enjoy it.
Generally speaking, in my experience the extreme fringes of both the right and left are iconclasts. That said, the right seems to frame near everything in very black and white, us and them viewpoints, while simultaneously harkening back to only an idealized view of tradition rather than acknowleging the flaws of the past. The left tends to engage these issues — at times to the point that they go too far — but they do engage with them.
To give an example: at a recent Texas A&M midnight yell, some gay students were called faggots for having the rainbow flag. The reaction on the right was that they shouldn’t have been showing that part of themselves, because it’s not tradition. So in that case, what they’re being asked to do is deny a part of themselves in order to fit a larger viewpoint of what an A&M student is supposed to be. Do you believe that to be right?
I respect your statement, and agree. I don’t approve of anyone to the far sides of either political spectrum. Going by Conservative vs Liberal, Conservatives tend to be the more reasonable and common sense side, while Liberal is the more compassionate and giving side. The problem comes when there is an imbalance between being willing to do what is right, between just doing what you want.
I cant refer back to history, because until recently i’ve ignored politics (oh what a happy time that was before then), but it seems the left is more busy with the ‘us vs them’ arguements in the last decade atleast. It’s always playing up the ‘rich’ vs the ‘normal guy’ , the ‘whites’ vs the ‘everyman’, ‘war mongers’ vs ‘John Q Public’. So I think that once again may be something both side does, but the opponent is unable to see… I mean, is that fair to acknowledge?
I don’t know the case you’re referring to, so I can’t properly respond. Was it just that they hung out a flag? Were they just called faggots? If yes to the first, then no they have every right to acknowledge that side to them. If yes to the second, they need to just suck it up and acknowledge that that comes with the territory. I told the same thing to my little brother. He was insulted and picked on because he was the only white boy on the football team, and complained and whined about it. I told him to suck it up then. Either he quit the team, or he play on and just work through it.
Maybe its coming from a more traditional upbringing. But whining, and complaining over trivial things never made much sense to me… We are becoming a more and more childish society, unable to take any insult, and there are many groups that like to make their ‘insults’ worse.
Yeah, if they were actually harmed, or had something done TO them for their openness… and if all they did was hang up the flag? no, that’s not fair. But otherwise. . . Think the name callers had their rights too. Thats the rub there, how much freedom and rights are you gonna take away from everyone else, till the ‘infringed upon’ feel happy?
Malcolm, the US population is over 75 percent Christian, according to the 2010 census. You are not a minority. Even given that, Christians are actually over-represented in the U.S. government. You are not oppressed.
There is a qualitative difference between a majority questioning the values of a minority and a minority questioning the values of a majority. Christians don’t get beat up or strip-searched because people say inflammatory things about Christianity.
Christianity, if we are going by scripture, does encourage violent and misogynistic acts; I could quote you chapter and verse about stoning adulteresses and slaughtering pharisees. The fact that those things are in your sacred text does not mean that most Christians believe that such things are appropriate. The same is true of Muslims.
The reason your questioning of Islam is met with such opprobrium is because, thanks to the hard-won and bloody lessons of the twentieth century, people have grown sensitive to the language of bigotry. A person in a position of power who “questions” an entire minority group is automatically, himself, questionable.
What I don’t get, though, is why conservatives aren’t more friendly to hard-line Islamists. You guys share a respect for tradition, hyperalertness around revisionism, the tendency to speak for huge groups of people who don’t actually share your values, distaste for secularism, a tendency to see attacks on your logic as attacks on your entire system of values and power structure, etc….
And i’m willing to bet the majority of your quotes will come from the old testament, which while being a part of the christian belief system is essentially… whats the word for changed? Eratta-ed? by the New Testament. Compare this to similar to Islam, where not only the Koran itself is filled with the usual violent language, but even other sacred texts taught along with it encourages violence and control over co-existance. Christianity, while it opposes other beliefs, it does so in its own belief system… It doesn’t say kill non-believers (though there are those that take it that way), but say not to take another god before God, and live with the laws of the land you live in while living a life for God.
The problem is it’s not hard won anything that is to blame for this. It’s people being afraid to address a genuine problem. The problem is people act afraid to acknowledge that terrorist problems are the cause of radical muslims, they prefer to pretend these people just decided to get angry for no reason… I’m willing to acknowledge the dangers of over simplifying, as it was ignorant people blaming Christianity for white racism that drove many people to the Nation of Islam, and created counter cultural things such as Kwanzaa, but refusing to acknowledge and combat this violent fringe only supports its growth.
I’m suprised more Democrats arent backing this. Afterall, aren’t they supposed to be the ones against gays being killed? Women being treated as second class citizens? People being murdered over nothing (providing they consider them human at all [abortion])? why does it have to be the ‘racist’ ‘bigoted’ ‘homophobic’ ‘misogynistic’ ‘rich’ ‘old’ ‘redneck’ ‘[Insert counter-minority-label]‘ Republicans to oppose this? Or is it just because it’s politically convenient?
Maybe I wouldn’t feel quite as strong about this if it wasn’t for the hypocrisy. Like the Times Square bombing last year, the last time I listened to NPR for news. When they thought it was a white guy, they were saying how he was likely a tea party activist, angry at the president, ‘crazy’… yet, when it was found out it was an arab muslim, suddenly the whole discussion became ‘Oh, he was ‘failed’ by the American Dream.’ Or before about the ft. hood mjr who murdered those people on an army base… As far as the left was concerned, the fact that he was Muslim didn’t play in in the slightest.
We know, we know, Islam and Christianity, like all religions, have a tiny minority of dicks who make everyone look bad.
So true!
So Damn Cute. “Je Suis Batman.” made me laugh so hard and awww so much. Hooray for Diversity in Batman Inc, but Batman’s been a broken toy in my opinion since Final Crisis.
but that’s just fine ’cause they fixed Batman by turning him into Iron Man with less alcoholism and less fussyness about other people using his schtick!
I agree that Bruce Bat has been a broken toy for a while… Mostly because Morrison forgot to include any sort of explaining factors in the Batman parts of RIP and Crisis. Things just sort of happened.
But the post RIP storylines took his family in some really exciting directions. Even Damian, the Little Retcon Who Could, turned out to be really interesting under the guidance of Dick. Who was awesome. And then Tim! And, well, okay, Catwoman was in a goofy place and still is, but, yeah. Still a fun okne.
One difference between the two points of view in the comic: The customer knows there’s a “Muslim Batman.” Ethan knows the character’s name.
Oh, Randy, I love you. And Mr. Willis, I love you for letting Randy do a guest strip. Also, what ever happened to Choo-Choo bear’s kitten son/daughter that Roz got Leslie? I feel like I haven’t seen him!
Generally, when the artist of a strip I read goes on vacation, I’d rather see a hiatus notice than a guest week, but this one alone makes it all worthwhile. Perhaps I’m a little biased because I also enjoy S*P, but this strip makes me really, really happy.
After somebody else ‘rewrote’ this strip, I could not resist doing it too.
http://oneswellfoop.net/wp-content/uploads/batman.png
I think most of you will enjoy it more.
Yes, I’m the guy who registered shortpackedblowschunks.com when David referred to it in the comic. I’m a real stinker, ain’t I?
This is not a comic, this is a rant with some word balloons.
I actually LIKE the idea of a French Muslim Traceur Batman, but Ethan comes across as a prick in this comic, and honestly, this is far more soapbox-ish than Willis’s usual comics. Furthermore, I feel like the “joke” at the end wasn’t very funny, or particularly relevant to the rest of the comic. It feels tacked on.
It was too long, it was too pretentious and presumptuous, and even though I agreed with Ethan, I still wanted to punch him.
I feel kinda bad now… I didn’t even realize there was a controversy about Biliah Asselah until I read this. (Outside of the usual stuff that is.)
I’m really out of the loop.
I’m totally in love with the concept of Batman, Inc. But then, I’m a fan of most comic things Grant Morrison does, actually. I know they’re not everyone’s cuppa, but they’re definitely mine.
My own trepidation about this is the character’s name. I REALLY wish they hadn’t picked Bilial. I like the name and I’m grateful they didn’t choose a more obvious name, but considering how much hate there already is for the idea of a Muslim Batman? Giving it a name that’s one letter away from a pretty prominent Abrahamic demon’s name strikes me as a bad idea. I can already see all the people calling him Belial.
D’awwwwwwwwwww
isnt drew modeled after randy?
<3 this comic.
I’m a bit late to toss my two cents in-I was going to, but I decided to think long and hard about it before I commented. Here’s my ponderances.
I love this comic. There’s a sort of delicious, bizarre irony in a wall of text to make the point that this topic is really not worth all the discussion it’s engendered.
And it’s really not. The conflict is, at it’s heart, absurd. The Anti-Muslim side is patently ridiculous, and the people at the other side of the argument, due to the psychotic paranoia masquerading as patriotism, is forced to respond as though the Anti-Muslims are NOT raving loons, even though rational dialogue is far more than such people deserve.
I realize that this is a roundabout way to approach my real point, but please bear with me: To all those who are complaining about ‘not funny’, I suggest you revise that. Absurdity is the very genesis of humor, and this topic (As I indicated before) Is bubbling over with it. What you actually MEAN is that it’s ‘Not funny to me’, which is indicative of a breathtaking level of self-aggrandizement. You are not important enough for a comic strip to cater to you personally. If you don’t like it…it happens. This is not some massive failing on the author’s part (This time).
Also, for those of you who think social commentary can’t be funny, the fans of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert would like a word.
I apologize for the length of this-I even edited it down some. But I had to get it off my chest. You may proceed to ignore/flame/whatever.
I’m a reader of S*P and immediately identified this comic as his work without even reading. Always good to read Randy’s stuff as his stuff reminds me of my inner jerk.
Milholland does good! It’s his usual wordswordswords style, but it’s no more laborious than most Shortpacked! and Nightrunner is fuckrad, so…yeah!
On the other side of the topic: hey, if you’re going to be a religious bigot/racist/etc. like some of the people here, please have some class and just, you know, come out and say it. Be PROUD of your prejudices!
That way, we know your opinion is pretty much invalid, and we don’t have to waste time mincing words like “political correctness” and “I don’t like to think about social issues” and “SOAPBOXING, IN MY COMIC, BLUH BLUH”. Just announce what you think!
“I hate Muslims, here are my reasons, I find Nightrunner and his concept offensive, etc. etc.”
See? That’s simple! People know you’re a bigot, you can be banned and ignored, and you don’t have to do all this wordplay that the rest of us find excruciating to read!
YEAH!!!!!!!!
Just because I want to be internet smart too….
Persian Farsi is بتمن هستم or Batman hastam (soft h) for ‘I am Batman’
But i was taught that it is poor grammar so اسم من بتمن Esme man Batman (slur it so it’s just esm’ batman) is proper ‘My name is Batman’
I suppose it’s not this batman!
It’s a shame so many of the negative comments of this strip focus purely on the length of the text. It’s a comic, therefore both the text and artwork must be taken as a whole.
The entire arguments that Ethan is acting out of character and ranting conflict massively with the brow-beaten and world-weary way Randy has drawn him. Ethan is obviously resigned to the fact that once again the strawman is going to goad a response and so instead of stalking away in pent up frustration he delivers a beautifully delivered monologue.
Yes it does contain a lot of words (that’s the general point of a monologue) but no it’s not a rant. If you want a shorter version of this strip, copy and paste the opening speech of of the fifth panel onto the bottom of the fourth and edit it so the text gets gradually smaller, then you can skip the fifth and sixth panels entirely and still get the punchlines.
But in the time you’ve done all that you could have actually read the strip properly and appreciated it as a comic instead of missing the point entirely.
I love how just having milholland do a guest strip creates internet drama.
It’s his Forte.
Well, my beef with is that batman France is Muslim… The rioters that have made many neighborhoods in Paris unsafe and killing police officers seemingly on sight.
And we expect that the police will embrace a Batman who they know that his loyalties are divided between the cowl and ‘his people’… Yep, that’ll go over real well when the comic, if is ever does, addresses the real problem of racial tension.
At least the outfit conceals completely.
The full article that the writer glossed over:
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/wthuston/2010/12/27/meet-dc-comics-new-batman-an-algerian-muslim-who-saves-france-from-nazis-and-communists/
Yeah, every sentence in your post shows you didn’t read the story in which this Batman was introduced. It directly tackles the cultural tensions in France. Hell, this Batman is birthed directly from them. But I guess knowing the facts gets in the way of inflammatory rhetoric.
J’suis Batman.
“…Et je peux respirer dans l’espace.”
Is it a terrible thing that THIS is my favorite line?
Are you kidding? It’s my favorite French quote, and I spout it off at unreasonable and often inappropriate times.
… If this is true, it means France is heavily infested with islam too.
The problem is more dire than I originally suspected.
This strip is made of superduper win. Thanks, Mr. Milholland!