Not all of the scurrilous accusations against comics come from the top down. Some come from the bottom up. Such is often the case in the shady, shameful history of death threats connected with comics work. Among those who've found themselves targeted at various points include Dan Slott, for writing a comic that temporarily killed Spider-Man, comic critics who objected to a Batgirl cover, and Ron Marz, who, on instruction from DC editorial, replaced Hal Jordan for some years with Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern. Like plagiarists, these human insects haven't blamed comics directly-- rather, they've claimed a love of comics as the reason for their actions. The narrative always seems to be the same: they're just trying to "save" comics, and whatever issue they're mad about represents another step on the slippery slope that will ruin their favorite icons of their childhood forever. What makes it particularly galling is that these are generally fans of superhero books, who seem to have missed the point of them: the "superstitious, cowardly lot" of criminals was not the group to emulate.
T Campbell has written quite a few online comics series and selected work for Marvel, Archie and Tokyopop. His longest-running works are Fans, Penny and Aggie-- and his current project with co-writer Phil Kahn, Guilded Age.
