don't let the twitter rage get to you man. As a brown dude (i fucking hate that I feel i need to bring this up) i think the anger thats being directed towards you is totally unfair. I wish i could step in and attempt to defend you from some of it but i'm not really too deep into the comic scene and not really articulate enough either. You can't have a debate or discussion with these people anyway. Things have become too polarised. Shocking how they will turn on you at even a hint a ambivalence
I tend to do not do too well with this sort of twitter conversation.
The Island talk about Dilraj’s cover left a bad taste in my mouth, that continued with this. I don’t want to put out work that people see as harmful or worst case scenario, makes anyone feel like they are not welcome in comics.
That said. I think the idea that Image should have some kind of editorial to check work is a deeply offensive idea to me. I’m very frustrated by seeing creators posting things that amount to “please tell me if I do anything offensive” I would argue that there is no art without risk.
A friend of mine today was talking about this.
He was saying that if you are going to give artists total freedom you will get things like the Howard Chaykin book/cover or Airboy or Boiled Angel. People will do work that is not for everyone or misses the mark and offends – or is just stupid and offensive. but you also ideally make more room for books like Stuck Rubber baby, Sinner, Barefoot Gen, or
Phoebe Gloeckner
‘s A child’s life, or the underground comics movement-
Raw magazine or Metal Hurlant-(& I know these aren’t Image books but it’s the high water mark I aim for)
Or the other extreme is that you get Marvel movies– work designed to not challenge or offend. Work that I would argue isn’t really even trying to be “art” Where artist,
Ardian Syaf who quoted the Qur’an in the background (Granted it was taken by many to be anti semitic) of his art got fired over it. What that says to me is that Marvel was not employing him to express his actual opinions and beliefs.
I caught some shit today by saying that the cover is only lines on paper– but past that they are ideas. I was remembering hearing about why some thought that it was important to keep Mein Kampf in print in Germany (I think the new edition is heavily annotated) – Some view it as an important historical document that should be studied in order to understand what led to such an awful lack of empathy for human life.
I think a major problem we need to work on in mainstream comics (and certainly at Image) is getting in more types of voices from a much wider range of creators holding dramatically different ideas. If we’re making work for and by mature adults then I would hope that readers can take in ideas that they both agree with and strongly object to, and make their own decisions on them.
I don’t want comics to be sterilised disinfected, or deodorised in any way, and I think as both artist and readers we need a real diversity of ideas and beliefs for the American comic market to see it’s best work.
"Virtue Signaling." Your friend Hayley means "virtue signaling." If that's a real concept to you then your head's in the wrong place about this, buddy. You have power. Real power in this business and the company, Brandon. I'd like to think you haven't used it because you don't know it, because otherwise, you're not helping jack shoot.
I regard helping as trying to bring more diverse voices into comics– and making sure that they get paid. & that’s not always a thing you see my name on but it’s one of the things I’m most proud of doing with my ties to Image and something I’m continuing to do.
You should admit your social progressiveness extends to your sexual fetish for trans girls and not one iota past that. This twitter shit is embarrassing and showing your true colors
I like how your idea of defending REAL social whatever is to act like me having dated some trans women has to be a fucking fetish. Get all the fucking way out of here with that garbage,
I’ve mostly tried to be polite (mostly) while fellow creators were casually calling me a white supremacist and a bitch –because as my pal Hayley put it I “didn’t do a preformative twitter callout” on a book I could get for free but wasn’t gonna read anyway.
Okay, as a trans person who recently went through it all, I feel I should jot down my understanding of the system, as it was very confusing, and even talking to friends who had been on HRT didn’t produce clear info.
So, basically:
Northside Clinic are amazing, I highly recommend them for every medical need.
Northside GPs can prescribe HRT but you need to have gone through an assessment - this can be with a psychiatrist like Jaco Erasmus (who everyone recommends but has a giant wait list), or a clinical psychologist who does them.
Northside have two in-house clinical psychologists who do Gender Dysphoria Assessments needed to get on HRT, Ben Callegari and Clare Weightman. Neither of their wait lists are that long, comparatively, and my experience with Ben was pretty good.
You will need a referral to see them. You can get that from a Northside GP, but that means getting into Northside, who only accept new patients once a month. The other options is to see a regular GP and get a mental health care plan/referral - this is what I did. You send this off to the Northside Psych who will then book you in.
On average you will need 4-6 sessions to complete your asssessment. Presuming no problems, you then get the report you can use to get on HRT. Sessions are out of pocket and partially reimbursed by Medicare.
You’ll see a GP to follow up on this, they do blood tests, check your health, and prescribe you if all is well. If you don’t want delays, see the GP during the time you’re having your assessment, so blood tests are done when assessment is.
If you’re going on feminising hormones, they will recommend you store your sperm first. Ask about this early on to avoid delays, they will write you a referral letter. I went to the Andrology clinic at Royal Children’s Hospital, who I recommend. Costs are annoying - you pay a freezing fee which includes first year (then yearly), plus for each storage appointment. You generally need two appointments to get a specific sample, and you will need to not ejaculate for at least 3 days beforehand to get a good quality sample.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me - hi _at_ effy.is
