Be Careful Tweeting with Your Heroes, They May Block You
Fans of the Second Print Comics Podcast, which I co-host with my friend Remso Martinez, know that my favorite comic book of all time is Savage Dragon, from Image Comics co-founder Erik Larsen. Larsen is simultaneously one of my favorite comic book writers and artists, and I dedicated one of my early episodes of SPC to his seminal work.
Larsen’s politics have always been pervasive throughout his writing. He is a far-left Democrat and isn’t shy about it. In various issue of the past decades he has had the lead character Dragon taking out George W. Bush, and most recently had the current lead Malcom Dragon give a full-throated endorsement of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Believe it or not, as a staunch individualist and libertarian, I never had a problem with this. It’s his books, his characters, and I simply accept it as part of a greater package of work that I find incredibly compelling.
This morning I got into a Twitter exchange with Larsen after he posted the following Tweet.
I responded as I might to any other person on Twitter who posted something similar.
Notice I mention nothing about vaccines here. But it irks me when anyone - be they politician, favorite comic creator, or random Twitter troll - posts something that I feel is actually a very dangerous tweet, especially when that person has a large following. The fact is, the COVID vaccines have not undergone human safety trials, and regardless of its efficacy or lack thereof, having a healthy immune system is - universally - the best way to prevent adverse affects from this or any virus, minus the risk of “we have no fucking idea the long term side effects of these vaccines”. Nobody does. Not me, not Dr. Fauci, and certainly not Erik Fucking Larsen.
But the exchange didn't end there. He went on to make an even more absurd remark comparing getting COVID to getting shot.
To which I snarkily replied:
Erik Larsen is one of those people who think he is “following science”, while literally spewing back unscientific bullshit. He’s not alone, he is one of millions, maybe billions who do this daily. He’d rather everyone get vaccinated, and feel he is a part of something greater, than actually promote any message of general health. Of course, then he’d have to look at his own health or lack thereof. It’s called called cognitive dissonance, and it leads to things like this…
I will always have tremendous respect for Erik Larsen the creator. Despite reading his comic for decades and seeing many, many political opinions that I rolled my eyes at, I always accepted it as part of the package, and continued to read along. I will still continue to do so, as I’m not going to deprive myself of my favorite comic book just because the creator can’t handle some criticism.
But as far as Erik Larsen the man goes, well…it’s hard to think of him as anything other than a bitch.
Check out all of my projects below:
Lions of Liberty, where I facilitate conversations with the hopes of inspiring others to achieve more liberty in their lives.
Second Print Comics podcast, where myself and Remso Martinez take a weekly look at the comic book characters, storylines and events that shaped our fandom.
Thinking about starting a podcast? Already have one? Book a podcast consulting call with yours truly to get yourself on the right track, and learn to grow your show without wasting precious time.
The Expat Money Show - This isn’t my project, but I’m thrilled that I’ve gotten to work directly with my friend Mikkel Thorup to help grow this show over the past few months. I believe greatly in what Mikkel is doing - helping others to achieve greater liberty in their lives by living and investing abroad - and helping grow this program has been a true joy. I also get to help moderate The Expat Money Forum on Facebook - check it out!