A lot of people are bagging on James Sime, he of The Isotope Lounge as of late. The jist seems to be Sime's face-front and aggressive style of hyperbolic promotion, both of self and of others, appears tarred by the damaged brush of Online Comics Activism and so the ever-fickle Comics Blogosphere-- hold the laughs until the end-- have decided that, oh, right, activism is bad and stupid now.

And while I personally agree with some points and disagree with others that James makes (and, I gotta say, how he makes them sometimes-- all of which I look forward to talking over with him next summer, as we handsell the fuck out of BIG HAT), here's the difference between, say, a comics blogger and Sime: in the morning, a comics blogger wakes up and reads about comics on the internet. Now, James Sime wakes up, gets dressed, has a cup of joe, smooches his girl, walks down the street, unlocks his store, and sells comics for a fucking living.

Having generated more than my fair share of it, I know from the kind of rant-y hot air Sime's enthusiasm and delivery is being labeled, but any guy that makes his bread and butter behind the glass counter automatically brings more to the table than some guy with an opinion and a keyboard. Point and laugh all you like, but this guy's life runs because he moves comic books day in and day out.

Regardless of anything else Sime is saying, that context deserves a respect that a lot of his detractors seem to be missing. Those comics his pals left sitting around? He wasn't trying to advertise WHITEOUT; he was advertising his store, you goon. Sime's not trying to save comics-- at least not primarily. He's trying to run a goddamn business, which is a hell of a thing to do. If he helps comics along the way, great. I think comics could do well with more innovative, proactive retailers. Sime's just one flavor of an all too rare breed.

Also, people on the internet just like to bitch about shit. I'm one of them.