Come to Jesus, by Michael Davis – Straight No Chaser #345 | @MDWorld

April 19, 2014 Michael Davis 5 Comments

There was a time, 25 years ago or so, when I gave a fuck about what people said about me. That all ended when I wrote an article on professionalism for Comic Buyers Guide. One woman, a professional in the industry, lost her mind over that piece.

She objected to my straight talk to young professionals about the importance of being on time, good hygiene, and knowing at least some history of the industry outside of the hot artist they were ripping off. Her response said I was a destroyer of dreams and a bad influence on young people.

She called me a bad influence…on young people.

My response?

I renamed my studio “Bad Boy Studios.”

Her reply to my article was a “come to Jesus” moment,  as we Black people like to say.

A come to Jesus moment is that very moment when you decide something in your life must change.  That instant I decided not to give a flying fuck what others said about me? A “come to Jesus” moment.

If this woman, who was not unknown in the industry by any means, thought what I wrote constituted bad advice, and that by distributing it I was expending my influence in a way that would corrupt the thinking of young artists, if she thought that…then, that bitch was crazy.

Many may not think so, but I have mellowed a lot over the years.

Believe it or not, most things that once drove me crazy don’t warrant much, if any, of my time now. Once, I’d look for a fight, and if I found none, I’d pick one.

There was a time nothing would escape my ire.

Now? Not so much.

When things strike me the wrong way, it’s more likely now that I’d just let it go.

Some things I’ll still go after like a rabid dog for one very good reason.

Namely, if left alone the matter would create even greater difficulties and become substantially harder to manage, stop, or explain.

Consider these recent events: UPS ‘losing’ Denys Cowan’s artwork, a well known Black publisher accusing Milestone of stealing their business plan, and lastly an important university inviting and then uninviting me to speak because of damaging hearsay.

Left alone, each would have evolved into much bigger concerns. Among those concerns would be the accepted narrative that would unjustly taint Denys, Milestone, and myself.

In other words, in saying nothing, this becomes the perception: Denys’ work was ‘lost’ because Denys had not shipped it correctly. Milestone had stolen the business plan, and I had used vulgar sexual language while addressing a room full of children.

Any of them true? HELL-TO-THE-NO!

Nevertheless, if left to stand, they might as well be.

My goal in each situation was to attain clear and undeniable vindication because anything else is bullshit. Did I achieve my goal with any of the above?

It was Ice Cube who said “he was the wrong nigga to fuck with.“

That brings me to my point, which once again took me forever to get to.

I’ve been writing a weekly column for the website Bleeding Cool since October 2013. My first couple of months were just me being me. I wrote how I write, which is to say, I wrote whatever was on my mind.

Long story short, to a great many people, that did not go over well.

In fact, at one time a lot of people said I was crazy, and not the crazy I’d cop to in a minute, but the for-real crazy.

I let it go.

Well, I kind of let it go. In my next article I’d respond to something that pissed me off. That just made them more pissed.

I gotta admit; I was loving it.

Someone posted that I was a horrible writer, and I responded in my next article by writing about my book deals. As I expected, that sentence was met with severe criticism.

One post said a book deal did not make me a good writer and having one is no indication of such.

That guy was 100% right.

The Bleeding Cool audience may have its share of trolls, but there are also some pretty smart people on the site. But the noise is so deafening from the naysayers that at times it drowns out any honest debate. A dissenting opinion showing support for what I’ve written and/or the way I’ve written it will be met with a brutal attack that takes over the conversation.

Take my last article for instance: the comments section started out as a Milestone discussion, like the article…duh. Until someone took offence at the tone I used when answering one of the questions.

That comment took over the discussion.

No more discussion about Milestone, no more positive or negative feedback about the article. Gone was the light hearted banter pushing the discussion forward. It was replaced with high school ridiculousness, captivated now by a single otiose reason.

Hurt feelings.

Hurt feelings over a flawed question he asked that I had a bit of fun with.

A bit of comic book fun, mind you. Here’s a fun fact: that guy had more than a few comments I’ve liked over the last few months. Even if I disagreed with him, I respected his point of view. I’m not averse to people disagreeing with me; hell, that’s the story of my life. My problem is a mob of trolls often will sway the direction of the discussion to where nothing is being talked about but what was wrong with HOW I said something, not WHAT I said.

Shit, call me a moron, say I’m crazy, but after, or better yet during, stay the fuck on the subject.

There will always be people objecting to my swagger, I know this.

I’m well aware as long as I continue writing with zeal, that’s going to be their focus. Some months ago while thinking about just that, I had yet another “come to Jesus” moment.

I decided I’d write with little to none of my swagger.

I’d write about industry doings, leaving any personal shit out. I’d write as if my life was devoid of whatever annoying persona those at BC found not to their liking.

So when the Geppi show I curated became one of the most successful shows ever staged there, and was extended for a year…

I crowed not.

When UPS became my little bitch and found every single one of Denys’ 28 pages of art, the same 28 pages I was told finding would be ‘impossible’ from UPS officials days before.

I shouted nothing.

Many at BC said my bluster and uppity (my word) attitude would ensure UPS would refuse to help. All my mouth had done was make things worse for Denys.  This week a comment elucidated how I gave UPS nothing but hot air as I do with everything I rant about.

I have not mentioned UPS or any personal trial or tribulation for months. I wondered if given what they wanted that it would make any difference?

No.

Not one bit of difference did it make.

Any note of my change in tone and style is always met with venom. No discussion is ever free from a reference of some hate from months ago.

Pity.

I was hoping some troll leader would be smart enough to see what I was doing and respond in kind.

Nope.

The vast amount of Bleeding Cool readers read BC for all it has to offer. They keep an open mind and will at least allow for something outside of their comfort zone to be presented and form their opinion based on fairness.

Trolls?

Not if it killed them.

People wonder why the Michael Davis, self-proclaimed Master Of The Universe with his huge ego and uppity (my word) attitude, does not comment on the Bleeding Cool site. It’s tailor made for me, it’s a perfect place to generate hype and continue to make the world about me.

Well, I’ll tell you why.

Because commenting on dumb high school shit is not what Michael Davis does.  Nor does Michael Davis “generate hype” for no other reason than to promote himself.

That shit was 25 years ago when I needed promotion.

I’ll comment on Bleeding Cool when the question is worth a fucking damn, the trolls learn to give just the tiniest bit of respect to the discussion, and let it be about something other than high school bullshit and nonsense which serves no purpose but theirs.

Until then, I’ll answer any legit questions in the body of my articles.

For months I’ve given the trolls what they claim to have wanted from me: humility, substance, and discussion about Milestone history.

They got that. They got that for months. It didn’t matter.

To that end, just last week I answered questions about Milestone with details never revealed before, and the majority of the comments were about what?

Milestone right?

Nope.

The comments were about a silly joke they did not find funny. Well, the trolls won’t find this funny either; they just got played for the last four months.

Ha.