Comic Industry Slams Down ‘Bill Maher’ For His Comments On ‘Stan Lee’
Political Commentator and television host Bill Maher has drawn the attention of the world, thanks to his comments on the sad demise of Stan Lee, along with the comic industry as a whole.
Maher dismissively wrote in a blog post about the news of Lee’s death, mocking those who are currently mourning the recently departed legend saying, “Deep, deep mourning for a man who inspired millions to, I don’t know, watch a movie, I guess.”
He then insulted adults who read comic books even drawing a connection between comic book readers and the election of Donald Trump as the President of America saying, “I don’t think it’s a huge stretch to suggest that Donald Trump could only get elected in a country that thinks comic books are important.”
Many creators commented and criticised Maher’s comments, such as Batman writer Greg Capullo, Kurt Busiek (The Avengers) and Gail Simone (Domino, Batgirl).
I never speak on topics I know little or nothing about. Why? I never want to be the fool. In other words, I don’t wanna make a Bill Maher out of myself. ??✏️??
— Greg Capullo (@GregCapullo) 17 November 2018
Bill Maher’s an idiot, commenting out of ignorance and assuming that all comics are like the ones he read as a child and there’s noting to them but what he perceived as a child.
But then, that’s what he often does. https://t.co/6QVGqpXO3r
— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) 16 November 2018
Here’s a thing, even if you don’t care about comics.@billmaher saw a mass of people grieving and thought, ‘Hey, how can I make this about me?’
Probably all anyone needs to know, really.
— GAIL SIMONE (@GailSimone) 17 November 2018
Several other industry personalities were cruder in their response to Maher like Justice League’s Scott Snyder, Black Orchid’s Neil Gaiman and Harley Quinn’s Frank Tieri.
Lol. #billmaher Just upset because nobody will mourn him when he dies.
— Scott Snyder (@Ssnyder1835) 17 November 2018
Maher’s just trolling, and lots of people are rising to the troll. (Julie Burchill did it better 30 years ago with her “There aren’t any adult comics because adults don’t read comics” line. ) More people cared about Stan Lee’s death than care about Bill Maher alive. https://t.co/yRzFCYQBzl
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) 17 November 2018
Bill Maher has done the impossible: gotten the entirety of comics fandom to agree on something
— G. Willow Wilson (@GWillowWilson) 17 November 2018
Bill Maher dismissed an entire storytelling medium?
Wow. He’s so highbrow.
His brow is so high, there’s probably less room for a mind.— Tom Taylor (@TomTaylorMade) 17 November 2018
Tom King (Heroes in Crisis) tied it all back to Stan Lee, comparing Lee’s now-famous piece on harmful rhetoric to Maher’s thoughts on the matter.
‘Nuff said. pic.twitter.com/FXXpvuzCyL
— Tom King (@TomKingTK) 17 November 2018