Mike Dawson
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A Year of Making Comics - Update #8
🕑 Added 2023-02-07 14:32:04 +0000 UTCI was sent an advance readers copy of RINGMASTER, the upcoming biography of Vince McMahon by Abraham Riesman, whose previous book about Stan Lee I enjoyed very much. I finished reading RINGMASTER, which I liked, but I have to admit, didn't connect to in the same way that I did the other book, because I am of course *extreeeeemmmmmely* familiar with Stan Lee and the history of Marvel Comics in a way that I'm just not with Vince McMahon and the WWF/WWE.
I basically know who McMahon is, and am perfectly familiar with the WWF's cadre of colorful characters (particularly that late 90's Hulk Hogan era), but pro-wrestling I guess has just never done much for me.
But, I did read the book, and I think I would like to try and propose a graphic review of it to the New York Times. However, the editor I worked with there the first time around hasn't given me much guidance about what it is they'd be looking for in future pieces. I really don't know if a graphic review of this Vince McMahon book is something she would be interested in.
So, since I don't know what they want, or if this would be appealing to them, I probably have to approach pitching a comic about RINGMASTER in much the same way I did the last piece: figuring out what about the book is interesting to me, and making a comic that dips into topics and issues that I care about.
So, while I'm not sure yet how to shape a comic, I'm thinking, I need to not bother wasting panels talking about how I personally have no affection or much nostalgia for wrestling. What seems interesting about Vince McMahon is that he's one of these ruthless "visionaries", in that he seems to have had a vision, and pursued it ruthlessly, creating his own reality along the way. Riesman touches upon McMahon's relationship to Donald Trump, and mostly gets across the notion that the WWF was a sort of proto-MAGA in that those in the fandom both know fully that the reality they're living in is entirely fake, yet are 100% emotionally invested in that fictional narrative and all its outcomes.
I took a few notes while reading the book and underlined a couple passages, this full quote below from pro-wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer kind of sums up how the WWF existed outside of legitimacy, I think in very much the same way Trumpism did. Here's a photo of McMahon and Meltzer from the 1990's
“Vince has gotten away with so much stuff, because - “the sports people don’t wanna discuss morality with Vince MacMahon, and the entertainment people don’t even wanna think he’s part of their world, and the politicians don’t want to be laughed at for looking at something that’s fake”
Nobody "legitimate" wants to be seen taking the WWF/MAGA seriously, it's a joke, except, for those who are in on it, it's absolutely deadly serious.
On a less conceptual, more practical level, I might want to think about trying to make this cartoon a nine-panel grid instead of last time's twelve, for the very dull reason that most social media platforms (Instagram/Tumblr) only allow you to publish up to ten different images. If I was so fortunate to get another piece accepted, I know now that they won't likely be publishing it online, so at least I'd be able to better post it on my own social media accounts if I reduced the panel count.
