Recently, YouTuber, published author, metal expert, lover of film-noir and Death Wish movies, and all around awesome guy, RazörFist, championed in the birth of the Iron Age (see here). He was talking about grabbing the bull by the horns and just making your own shit. Fuck the gatekeepers and the mainstream, they’re roadblocks to the stories we not only want… but need. Fuck asking permission! Luckily for me, I never have… but neither should you.
While this point was spun-off from RazörFist talking about the success of Eric D. July’s first crowdfunded comic book (which has made well over $3M, at this point), this applies to all creators in the realm of entertainment media. Beyond gamergate, comicsgate, the Fandom Menace, the Rebellion, and every other counter-mainstream movement that has pushed back against the retardation, wokeness, and utter destruction of beloved franchises with legitimate legacies, the Iron Age is all of that coming together and becoming the new culture.
Specifically, in regards to pulp, there is a pretty strong foundation of new authors already. Most, if not all, just started creating their own thing in their own way without being aware that other like-minded creators were doing the same thing.
In my case, I was sick of everything that the mainstream was pumping out and I decided to write the book that I wanted to read: short, fast, action-packed with likable, cool characters, villains that were total bastards, big monsters, and a real sense of brotherhood and kinship.
I didn’t want stories crammed full of political and social allegory. As the real world burned around me, I needed an escape from it, not a constant reminder of it to lecture me and attempt to make me feel bad. If I couldn’t find those stories or real heroes to keep me above the fray, it was up to me to create them. In doing so, and in putting my work out there, I’ve come to discover many others who have essentially done the same.
The main reason I write this, is to express the sense of hope I have that things are improving. I have learned that I am not alone in my attempts at trying to create good stories and good art in a world that severely lacks that stuff, right now. My only fear is that others don’t fully grab the horns of this bull, because I know that together we can do great things and conquer the vile bastards that still have a hold on mainstream entertainment.
In a lot of ways, we have won already. We’ve started to find one another. We have our differences and our own preferences, but ultimately, we all want the same thing as far as the big picture goes.
The best way to success is to cross-pollinate with one another. Cross-promotion and support goes a hell of a long way and since this movement has started to become somewhat defined and been given a name by RazörFist (thankfully not another fucking “-gate”), a rallying cry has been heard by many.
There’s just something in the air now and it’s as if the beacons of Gondor have finally been lit and the merging of great forces have come together to form a grand army against a seemingly unconquerable darkness.
For now, those of us in this thing need to keep working and to keep supporting one another. We need to grow our platforms, just as much as we need to create quality stories and art.
The mainstream has taken nearly everything we’ve loved away from us. If they haven’t destroyed your favorite thing yet, it’s coming. The thing is, all this dismantling and murdering of once massive, great franchises created a void that better writers and artists can and will fill.
Eric D. July’s immense and incredible success only proves that people want and need good stories and characters that they can believe in. While I don’t think that pulp is on the same level of popularity as American superhero comics, who’s to say that it can’t be if the creators have the talent to forge vast worlds and mythos that people will want to escape to.
It’s on all of us with the skill to make this happen.
Going back to what RazörFist said in that video and what I’ve always believed since I was a kid in the ‘80s making my own comics, writing my own stories, and designing my own video games… fuck asking permission. Make your fucking art!
It’s never been easier to create your own work without mainstream publishers. Frankly, everyone I’ve met in this community is always willing to help and offer advice on how to get shit done. If you want to know how I self-published or need guidance or advice, just ask. (My twitter handle is @R0B_DMC)
As I said, we’ve already won. However, it’s not on the world to see that, it’s on us to show them.