McCarthy paranoia all over again.

[Shadowmimiiru]

During the summer of 2006 I drew a clanbob crossover comic. This comic took place at a comic convention in Florida and had a few different subplots. One of these plots involved FK hiring Ahab to "take out" undesirables at the comic convention using a powerful airsoft sniper rifle. There were no actual deaths, no one was injured outside of being temporarily knocked unconscious and there was no meaning behind it other than to make a joke.

Move ahead in time to today. I sit at my computer desk, writing up lesson plans for next week when the phone rings. It is the Penn State University police calling. The Education department head found my name attached to a comic that features a man shooting people (see the above crossover) and immediately removes me from student teaching status and requires my presence on campus tomorrow to "discuss" my future.

Seriously, this paranoia over school shooting has become nothing more than a fucking witch hunt!

In the hour since I have been informed of this I have done all I can to remove my name from being searchable ... it isn't perfect and will take awhile to actually work but it's what I can do. I have also removed all the "offending" comics and destroyed my mirror site completely. All in all, despite all the hardships I think I'm about to face, this is a funny end to a comic arc that was meant to poke fun of the growing level of paranoia in the United States.

Yes, I am posting this to as many places as possible. All comic artists and writers are in danger of this happening to them and so they must be warned.

[Bustertheclown]

Yes, I am posting this to as many places as possible. All comic artists and writers are in danger of this happening to them and so they must be warned.

Only if they're college students who want to go into teaching. I doubt very much that any drawing by me of people getting shot would hurt my career as a beast of burden in a warehouse.

It does go to show, though, that the internet is not a place to be anonymous.

I hope that logic wins out in your particular situation, and you emerge from this no worse for the wear.

[Warofwinds]

What kind of idiot-crap is this? Throw it in their faces in the "discussion." Stand up for yourself! Freedom of speech? Hello? There were no threats. Next thing you know, cartoon violence will be seen as a threat. WTF?

Penn State! I thought you were better than this! Boo!

[Keffria]

It certainly sucks that you got in trouble for having violent pages in your comic, especially when the violence was apparently nonexistent; it sounds like maybe someone had a grudge against you and pushed for an investigation. Maybe when you explain yourself clearly and show that you're not insane, you will get your position back.

That being said, you work in a school and you should have been more thoughtful about what you posted on the internet. Educational institutions have taken flack in the past for ignoring blatant signs of mental instability in students (etc.) who would go on to take out their problems on others. This response is pretty predictable in a "better safe than sorry" climate.

[Shadowmimiiru]

The "signs," however, are a slippery slop that will lead to the same kind of problems we had during the McCarthy era mentioned in the title of this post. There needs to be checks and balances before "discussions" or hearing take place to make sure that it is fact and not paranoia that is guiding the people in charge of the investigation.

[Keffria]

You say "discussions" like they're going to sit you down, tell you that you're fired, and send you packing, but at this point, for all you know, you may actually be given a chance to explain your case. Don't "Throw it in their faces"; just be a rational human being and calmly prove to them that you are not dangerous. You may very well get your job back.

It's not that I don't feel sorry for you, because, as I said, your situation sucks. But overwhelming evidence suggests that you need to be careful, as a potential educator, about what you attach your name to. End of story.

[Laemkral]

This is definitely the school being overzealous in its pursuit of safety. Maybe school shootings have turned into a witch hunt, or maybe it's just the moral panic de jour. We're seeing an evolution of the high school shooting into a new form on the college campus, probably due to the nature of the crime.

These things are all about attention in some shape or form. Whether its revenge in an "See what happens when you mess with me and my kind?", or a rampage purely for the sake of killing folks and going out in a blaze of infamy. The news media is almost entirely to blame for throwing things completely out of whack, as are the various political forces at work with an agenda. But then again, when is this any different from moral panics that have swept the nation before?

Fear appeals to a base instinct that overrides common sense, and fear is what the media, government, and those in charge use to maintain a status quo or to promote an agenda. Even those who you would think have only the common good to think about, have something involved in the process.

Stay calm, stay rationale. Be prepared for people appealing to fear and irrationality, and have a justification for your actions that is non-confrontational. When they see that the comic was not only "non-lethal", but is probably being looked at purely out of context, things should go a little smoother and another side of the story will be told. Your side.

By the by, Hooah Army Values in your sig.

[McDuffies]

I wouldn't compare it to Macartism, while horribly misguided and paranoid, it's at least well-intended for society, which is less than you could say for macartism. On the other hand, back then you could've gotten in troubles for no reason whatsoever by someone snitching on you, and you'd never know the source of troubles, while here you at least have some kind of explanation. Not that it makes it any better, I just don't see much similarity.

It's not the first incident of this kind. Students have been expelled from school for writing stories about zombies, etc. Meanwhile, antisocial people and people under a lot of pressure, those who are most likely dangerous, aren't being helped, on the contrary. They accuse people who are showing some kinds of agression, but when you count the figures, people who do such things are always "nice guys" and "we could never see it coming". On the other side, such ill measures increase paranoia and social pressure, which is one of the main reasons tragedies happen.
These things are so obvious that you really wonder how officials don't see them.

On the other hand I'm kind of happy that there's no such thing as anonimity on internet. Often, people, assuming that internet grants anonimity, let the worst side of them show, and do rather nasty thing. It'd be nice if we could trach down hackers, people who post goatse pictures around and flamers and, you know, beat them up in some dark alley or something . You generally shouldn't do anything you'd be ashamed of in real life.

[Td501]

It's probably not just the violence, but the portrayal of a sniper at a crowded public event that set them off. Yeah, this sucks big time, and it's difficult to consided that this is the possible result of a comic drawn over a year ago, but it's also hard to fault the schools reaction in this day and age.

They probably just need to evaluate you on the off chance you actually are a real threat. It should work out. Please let us know how it goes!

[Shadowmimiiru]

My suspension has been lifted, however, the university has highly recommended new guidelines I should follow in my comic and has "highly recommended" (read forced) that I get a psych evaluation from the campus psychologist just to show that "I have nothing to hide."

[TheSuburbanLetdown]

Glad things sort of worked out. Could've been much worse.

It's always sad that when a tragedy occurs, people get paranoid and persecute people that are harmless. Meanwhile, some other person that appears "normal" is going by unnoticed.

[Mvmarcz]

I wonder what will happen to me once it's time for me to student teach.....


Wait I live in Louisiana....they don't care about anything!

But no seriously I need to go search my name right now....

[Tim]

But no seriously I need to go search my name right now....

You're probably best known for drawing hawt pin-ups. I don't think you have that much to worry about

[KWill]

But no seriously I need to go search my name right now....

Ha, that's always a fun experience for me. My name is rather common in the Anglophonic world, and it appears that I share it with a basketball player, two football players (one retired), and a gay pornstar.

[Robbie]

I did a google search and found my dad on some "rate my professor" website (we share the same name).

Anyway, I have to wonder what would happen if some school official took one of my comics out of context. I figured this thread would turn into that sooner or later anyway....

And good luck with this crap. It's probably best not to get to apprehensive, like people said, until you actually have the meeting. It's quite possible they will just give you a chance to explain some stuff.