Department of Horrible Secrets - Sex, Comics and Gaming

I've long realized that there's a corollary to Murphy's Law - "If anything can go wrong, it will." Barr's Corollary is: "And it will happen to me."

But that's so I'll FIX it.

It's no secret I think men are goofball, and often dangerously so. But more and more women - and men - are beginning to know that, and account for it. The Red Green Show made 15 seasons off of that. And it was guys writing that. Let's call it insider knowledge. 

I've been over on Facebook making smartass comments about guys getting out of line - everything from our volunteer career military and their advertising catches to guys stoning another girl to death for having a Facebook account - and I'm unashamedly a Feminist, because I ain't giving up my vote, not any time soon, no matter how hard anybody tries.

Anyway, there's this little group of trolls that evidently gives professionals in the entertainment industry a hard time - or try, anyway. They can't really, because those of us who are the real thing don't know anybody who care about them. We only know the People Who Count, and that includes among our fans. They're not easily fooled.

So, a dumb thing happened online - I'm a small-d democrat and will talk to anybody, even bad interviewers -  and I was having fun looking silly, and drinking while I was at it, because I'm German and to us being inebriated is a sacred state, and that's as good excuse as any.

But then this particular group of trolls lost their minds over me being a Feminist. I think they got a little unnerved when I said every father of a daughter was a feminist, and not to cross those guys. 

Then, about 3/4 of the way through the interview - and I totally blew it off as stupid - they started fixating on boy rape. We're talking intently making up nasty scenarios about raping a boy with a champagne bottle. I tried to steer the conversation away from it, but they'd locked their brains onto it, and if I hadn't been forgivingly inebriated, I should have just hung up on 'em.

I've been trying to figure out why this particular troll puddle is bothering me. I'm no big celebrity. Yeah, yeah, worldwide, for years, more and new people discover my work and love it, no matter what detractors - and they are few - try to say about me. My work and works speak for themselves. My tree has good fruit. So why bother with me? 

I woke up realizing that this links into the way women and girls are treated in the comics industry. In every single society that despises and tries to lock up or control women or girls, the men are trying to get their hands on the boys. To use them, kill them, or have them available for sex. Look at all the patriarchal religions - if they're not backing the altar boys into the vestry, they're torturing baby penises to fixate the poor kids for the rest of their lives, or stoning any girl who has a Facebook account before heading back to their boy servants. 

Are the full-grown things raping the boys in the back of the comic shops? Doubtful. But traditional superhero and gaming fans are teaching boys to hate and fear women and girls. The attitude spreads into society, as comics and gaming grow. Boys become increasingly vulnerable, as do girls, and the trolls who see women and girls standing up against that abuse as threatening their access to the boys. Why else go so insane over the mere approach of a girl to a game? Power doesn't even explain it; it's a sexual threat. No wonder this small group has lost their shit over me.

The healthiest superhero company in comics is Prism Comics. They unabashedly admit the joy of men being sexual with one another. Gay comics authors produce images of happy, joyful sex, with no threats to anybody. They're not turning any kids who come to them into woman-haters. In fact, they wish more women would sign up for their booth full of happy people. And they admit what the superhero genre is about, after all - boys admiring full-grown, sexy men. Not pederasty, damnit - but the admission that, when they were kids, they loved those costumes and those muscles. 

In fact, I've seen lost children show up at the Prism booth at conventions, and wait until their adults get found. Kids feel safe at the Prism booth, because nobody's making anybody hate on anybody, or exclude them, for whatever reason.

No, I'm not sharing any names or projects of the abusers. Let them fade back into their own small group. Nobody who counts cares about what they do; we're too busy having fun. But parents might want to stop just dropping their kid off at the comic shop. You never know if they're going to a bad one.

I hope I've fixed that - and I'm using the word like it would scare a dog.

Originally posted later, under "Sifting Out The Stalkers"

Recently, I did a dumb-shit radio interview while I was drunk.

Now, in the entertainment world, we creatives can get drunk off our asses, and nobody hurts anybody else. Nobody gropes, or attempts to rape, or uses drunkenness as an excuse. Dark Horse once put on a party that could have been seen as a Creative Vision Quest, or a Really Stupid Idea, depending on the attendees. They rented a suite, and filled the hot tub full of ice and bottles of some pretty decent beer. Then they let the creatives loose on it.

All I remember is having a lovely time. Somebody says me and a fellow comics creative professional - a woman - were in one of those eye-locked brain-to-brain fests, talking about... well, godlets know what. Probably distributors or print shops, if I know us. But neither of us remember it. No, guys, drunk women don't start kissing like in your fantasy - they eye-lock and blather and laugh really hard.

And not another person there took advantage of us while we were high. Not man, woman, young or old. We were completely safe.

During the radio interview, I got side-swiped, by people who had obviously planned it. The first thing they did was to try to claim there were No Feminists in Comics. While I was still going, "WTF?" they turned it around to all of us going and getting a beer. I was all for that; you can distract me from anything by bringing up alcohol. After all, my fellow creatives won't do anything bad to me.

But halfway through - when I was nicely buzzed - I discovered that one of the people on the interview was a person who is known as an entertainment-industry stalker. 

I should have simply hung up in the middle of the interview. But I'll talk to anybody, I was in the happy condition of trust that alcohol puts me into, and I tried to ignore him and his friends fixating on his balls and shit. 

And then they brought the story around to some school teacher who'd had it off with a student. I made a sarcastic remark or two, mostly about how they were equating what was admittedly stupid on the teacher's part, with brutal,  controlling rape: "I mean, what did she use? A beer bottle?" This is not downgrading adult interference with a child, but when a man rapes a woman, he doesn't need a beer bottle - although he may turn to one, for inebriation and tearing.

Since then, I've had more stalkers showing up, trying to use the interview on me. But is all to the good. Anybody - including on their comments page - who sides with them - are people who, on Facebook and at conventions, that we are forewarned about. Anti-feminists. Guys who hate women being at comicons except as tits to grab if they get the chance.

I have a lot of decent friends in this industry, and none of them would have done such a thing to anybody. But now we can watch these morons out themselves. And defriend them, and warn each other about them. 

Stalk me, you stupid fuckers. Why not just paint a virtual target on your own forehead? And now everybody knows who you are, and who you associate with.

Yes, you have Freedom of Association - but if you hang out with the Klan, I think I'd warn all my black friends about you.

(I caught one of them the first day I posted this, and everybody saw her (him?) try it on. So now everybody's warned. Works!)

Just Stop Trying, People

Every once in a while, somebody tries to - I dunno - "hurt" me online, or at least my work. Which leads to the following conversation from a very nice reader of mine, Danny Sichel:

From Donny Sichel, email:

"So I'm reading the Terrible Webcomics megathread on Something Awful.

Someone posts a page of Stinz." (I dunno which page; Danny just said, "a page.") 

"Responses: "Somehow, I can't bring myself to hate this. It's not even pinging my 'fetish-sense'. Please post an example of this comic sucking, because so far I don't dislike it."

"What is this, Lil Abner with centaurs? I kind of like the oldschool feel of the art"

"I am really really happy this thread introduced me to Donna Barr

because she is a fucking genius"

"Can't stop my fascination with Barr's work. There's something so

incredible here I don't fully understand "

When I said I thought this was funny and gratifying, Danny, like the decent guy he is, tried to get it through my thick skull that somebody hated my work:

Danny: "It's still the 'shitty webcomics' thread. Your stuff is being a work of insane genius. A given page of the Afterdeath stuff may totally insane when seen out of context, but it's not *lousy* - the art is vivid and competent, and there's actually a reasonable storyline. And you're someone who genuinely enjoys what you're doing. Yes, there are people who produce webcomics but don't like making art. They see it as a tedious obligation that's necessary for the rewarding experience of receiving praise.)"

That made it even better. You see, I'm an original - I solved all the artistic problems myself, instead of being a fake and a copy-artist. I learned to write in colorful letters home to my family from the army and college. I still base everything I do on stuff I've seen, researched, or been told stories about - not something I cribbed and barely changed from somebody else's (too-often cribbed-and-changed) fake stories. I'm not one of those legion of comics people whose work you pick up and go, "I can't tell which writer or artist this is, because they all look the same." You see Donna Barr, you KNOW Donna Barr. Nobody else can actually copy me, although there have been some adorable attempts - and some ridiculous steals. I think of the well-intentioned as good puppies, and the bad ones as abused puppies.

However, the thought the, no matter how old I get, I'm STILL the class weirdo is something I've learned to live with and appreciate.

I just thought - since the last pages of Stinz are done by very practiced friends, perhaps they're being hated on - and getting the free publicity! Yay! Win-Win, Cin Cin.

Shortrun Maybe?

Shortrun needs a square thang.

REVISED. I AM going to Shortrun - and I'll be sharing a table with Roberta Gregory!

I MIGHT be at Shortrun in 2014. Everybody tells me I should be. In the meantime, the show needs a piece of art for the application, and this is the page they can retrieve it from (shut up, Grammar Nazis; if I can get over "transpire," you can learn to live with split infinitives. Welcome to English).

Heard many good things about Shortrun. I wouldn't expect loads of sales from it, but there would be a lot of My People there, so it would be another chance to visit.

So I don't have to hear Gary Groth ask me again, "Do we have to SNUFF somebody to get you to come to town??" 

Oh, and see if Fantagraphics has money for me, while I'm there.

If I did come, I'll be bringing fewer and fewer books. I'd be bringing the shortest runs ever - original sketches, done for you. No, don't ask me to break copyright, unless you can argue a very very very acceptable parody. And I only do Slash with my own characters, thank you. I'll even do Furry stuff, because they seem to have gotten their shit together, at last. And I still do the best boots and horses in the business.

"BIF! Bam! POW! I know NOSSING!"

NOT JUST A RIVER IN EGYPT - BRIDGED

However, I'm modifying this report, because as I've posted this, the guys in our industry have raged defensively against how women and girls are treated, and demanded to know where it's happening, so they can defend their colleagues and fellow fans. 

If this has made everybody so touchy they simply will not tolerate the abuse, whether on the internet or in business practices, our work (and I mean other comics professionals who have been demanding and pursuring action for years) is done. 

Or at least the Bridge of The Geese had been built for the boys.

BUT - from what I've seen of the industry response from the boys, in reality, for any problems with the hard cases, I'm calling the cops or the ACLU. I'd just as soon not be told, again, to suck it up like the black people do. No, I'm not kidding.

Calling the Cops on Conventions

Just sent this to Emerald City Comicon:

"I don't know if you remember my reporting some fan who was threatening to infringe on me and my table for the Emerald City Comicon convention, but you fine folks said, "Call us and we'll come a-running!" Your "Costumes are not Consent" posters are a beacon for everyone in our society, not just our community.

As you know, many women and girls in comics and other media cannot post on a forum, write a review or work with men in comics, without being called "bitches," "whores" or threatened with rape. For years, we've all been subject to some level of this abuse, from the mild to the full attack. Nobody listens to us.

Recently, a bunch of fan-boys began to lie about me, in an attempt to frighten and isolate me, as they've done so many other women. Those of you who know me are probably thinking, "No good can come of this."

However, I think it will. Bad things happen to me so I can fix them. If I'm bothered by these people at a convention, I shall simply call 911 and report "assault" - because that's what harassment is. I don't care if it's a dumb fanboy who doesn't know any better, or an industry professional who SHOULD. Enough of this abuse.

And I'm sending a copy of this letter to the Seattle Police Department, and posting it on my blog, http://www.donnabarr.com 

I doubt this will frighten Emerald City; they might welcome the backup."

And I did send it to the Seattle police, with a comment that I'm not asking for assistance now, but want to head off incidents before they happen. I've requested comments and guidance from the Seattle Police - and the best police know, and are proud, that they are public servants. 

Dumb boys mess with my liveried servants, will they? They want costumes - they can have some REAL ones to deal with.

Emerald City 2014

Ka-Blam adds the right touch, as usual.

Another great Emerald City Comicon. And, as usual, wore my Ka-Blam Tshirt, to show off who printed my lovely reprints of Stinz and the Desert Peach! 

Does it get any better?

Didn't post a lot of photos of Emerald City, because they're all over the interwebs! 

Hire the Artist - RATES

Donna Barr is a professional artist who works in her own style. Please view her art gallery at DeviantArt to choose ONLY THREE pieces you absolutely love, to give her an idea of what you want. Do NOT send her illustrations of other people's work. William Blake is dead, and you'll pay as much as you'd pay an anime artist if you want her to copy that style. No barter, please. And only one person gets Friend Prices - because she's done so much for the artist. Email for further details. Note: once a job has started, this blog posting acts as a contract. "Artist" refers to Donna Barr. Contact

Basic prices (Including shipping, handling and insurance) (DIGITAL THE SAME AS TRADITIONAL):

For any single-color (B&W, etc.) traditional illustrations, in any non-paintbrush media (ink or pencil):

       $175 per 8.5 x 11 illustration. 

     $50 per quarter page.

     $25 spot illustrations.

Color or paintbrush (acrylic or watercolor) per 8.5 x 11 illustration:

     $310 per page.

       $95.00 per quarter page

     $65.00 for spot illustrations.

Hand-lettering per page: $175, in addition to art.

Comic pages:
     Black-and-white comic-layout pages are $275 apiece.
     Full color comic-layout pages are $450 apiece.

Payment shall be for 50% up front, to start the illustration. The final 50% must be paid after approval for the art to be delivered, both as hard copy (paper, etc.) and high-resolution scans.

Copyright: 

The artist retains copyright if the artist completes both writing and art. If the client is the writer, the copyright belongs to both the writer and the artist, and any future handling must be negotiated at the time. Legal differences will be settled under the copyright laws of the United States, in whatever jurisdiction is most convenient to me.

Undelineated project Fee: $80 per hour.

I will NOT investigate from your work in lieu of carefully-thought-out exact descriptions of the specific illustrations. If you insist I do so, There is a $100 reading fee for short stories, $200 for poem, and $1500 for novels. 

Research: Please send a carefully-chosen packet of research materials for your project if you don't wish to incur the research fee of $80 an hour.

Full book layout for print-on-demand publishing: (not including book-length editorial services): $750. Layout can include upload and publication on any print-on-demand site the client prefers (ie., Lulu, Createspace, etc), as well as distribution programming. Whole payment up front.

Teaching you how to self-publish: $350. Whole payment up front.