Short Interview: Three Questions About Eltingville

This was done for a student's project. I gave some long answers so they'd have things to pick apart for their essay. I have to stop agreeing to do these kinds of things for a while, unfortunately, I just don't have time anymore. Anyway, I didn't edit this because I am trying to get through a backlog of e-mail, so hopefully it isn't too awkward:

1) Did the rise of rightwing politics within 2010s fandom spaces contribute to you finishing TEC after all those years?

No, I planned to finish The Eltingville Club comic back in 2000. I wasn't able to work on the wrap-up stories for various reasons, until Dark Horse Comics became my home publisher. I wanted to finish Eltingville mainly because it was a project that I found stressful to work on, there's a lot of negativity and anger in the stories and a lot of detail and effort put into the artwork. I was losing energy and interest in continuing the comic, especially after adapting the series for an animated pilot with The Adult Swim. So, I was burned out and worked out the stories that would complete it. In-between the years I did the pilot and first started working on the last comics, fan behavior on the internet grew more and more extreme, to the point where it almost seemed like the exaggerated behavior of the Club members would be overtaken by the real-world counterparts. Real-life toxic fandom was far more racist and misogynistic than in Eltingville, because I had to walk a tightrope and not make the characters so repulsive that it would turn off readers. But in the last story I hinted at how bad Bill and Pete's behavior and attitude had become towards women, and inferred that they were dismissive of minority fans. They fully embraced the idea that anyone who was unlike them were at best, "fake fans" or, at worst, "cultural invaders". By the time I was drawing the final stories I was aware of how far gone the toxic and right-leaning "fans" had become, and was able to work in some of that culture. The last two comics would have been written differently in 2000, there was a bigger monster to throw rocks at by 2015 or so. The internet allowed a lot of ignorant and hateful attitudes to metastasize faster than in the decades before it.

2) Were Gamergate or similar bigoted nerd movements of that era serve as inspirations at all? If not, what did?

No movement in particular inspired the final stories. It was always overall toxic behavior, obsessiveness and the idea of living for your hobby -- making your hobby your self-worth and personality -- that fueled Eltingville. I was aware of Gamergate, and Comicsgate, and the toxicity of sites like 4Chan, but I didn't address them directly. The stories were very character-based and they weren't joiners of other groups. They were online toxic nerds --except for Jerry, who was always the punching bag desperate for friends -- but they mostly looked inward and part of the joke of the series was their infighting over the group's activities and control of their agenda. Also, regarding Gamergate specifically, only Jerry was a serious gamer, and I never really touched on video games in the stories. I was hoping to do more on the subject in the animated series if it was picked up. Gaming is a very specific kind of fandom that needed a full story or episode to do it justice, and I never got around to it.The initial inspiration for Eltingville was hate mail a friend of mine received while writing a DC Comics series in the 90s. That got rolled into all the bad behavior I had seen or dealt with as a fan, a comic shop manager, and a professional. Eltingville was initially about pushing back against the notion that fans were harmless, mild-mannered nerds with pocket calculators -- toxic nerds have always existed, and have become toxic professionals. They've been sending hate mail and death threats before the internet existed, now it's just easier for them to spread their bile directly at the people they have their issues with. They supposedly love the object of their obsessiveness, but actually hate it, they love a version that exists in their entitled minds. It's a lot like reactionary right-wing behavior. People who say they love America, but don't actually support the things America is supposedly about and hate those who aren't like them. Both want their institutions under the control of certain people, espousing their views, and only their views. Whether it's Star Wars movies, civil rights or rule of law. An inability to let other people or ideas exist.

3) I understand you're not as involved as you were in fandom culture anymore, but if you were to have written Eltingville in the modern day would anything have changed drastically in terms of character? For better or for worse? 

It would obviously be worse. The nation is worse, the culture is worse, we're in chaos. That would have to be reflected in an updated or continued Eltingville. But that's another reason I needed to finish it up. Chaos can't continue for long without collapse. The last two stories amped up the consequences of the Eltingville Club's toxicity and derangement. A comic shop burned down, and then the entire San Diego Comic-Con was turned into a riot. That was deliberate. This kind of behavior, the anger and hatred and lack of self-awareness had to eventually lead to worse behavior, worse repercussions and eventually the Club's destruction. And they ruined things for a lot of other people. Something that was supposed to be fun turned into misery because some people can't see beyond themselves, have zero empathy and a destructive need to feel they're above others. part of the joke about Eltingville is the Club members are all fighting over trivialities and nonsense -- toys, collectibles, fictional characters, etc. But it's the same for awful fans in any subculture -- cars, sports, wrestling, whatever -- and a microcosm of the shitty behavior seen in the larger world. But I didn't think about it in those terms until the end of the run. It was mostly jokes about really pathetic fans and the way they kill the fun for themselves and others.