The world really sucks lately, so I’m avoiding doomerism wherever I can. And the best method for avoiding doomerism for me personally is to find some good stuff I enjoy and dive deep into it.
I’ve been working my way through the Star Wars comics catalogue for a few months now; I’m reading all 55 Epic Collections, and I’m currently in the post-Episode I era where the comics were truly at their goofiest.
Do they suck? Yeah, a lot of them, but surprisingly some are pretty decent compared to my memories of reading them as a teen. And I’ve grown enough to appreciate good stories with bad art, or funky art styles that used to repulse me, or terrible stories that have some interesting elements. Very little in these old Dark Horse Star Wars comics are truly dire and uninteresting stuff.
Even an extremely flawed work like Jedi vs. Sith was chock full of interesting choices, strange art design, and a bizarre penchant for child murder. No, I didn’t like it. But it was a nice capstone to Knight Errant, which I very very much enjoyed! And so I’m embracing the positivity here, just like I did last year with productivity.
So much of the internet is dedicated to hating on stuff. So much of life focuses on hating what we’re not. Raging against change, or lack of change. But it’s mostly just really angry.
There’s so much to be angry about for a person like me, that there’s just no point at all arguing about some video games people don’t like. And I no longer have room in my heart for people who turn disliking an entire sci-fi/fantasy franchise into their personality. (Sis, the MCU is mid and always has been, but they’re still decent watches. Stop raging about it if you don’t like it anymore…) (Dude, Game of Thrones Season 8 was *Six years ago.*)
If making and enjoying art, if spending time with friends and family are the only methods for avoiding doomerism for me, then I’m going to plunge as deep into this stuff as I can. I just don’t care anymore about that silliness. The silliness I care about is working way too hard to fit in IMAX 3D rewatches of the Avatar movies into my busy schedule.
