That might seriously be one of the most screwed up things I’ve ever read. Amazing.

Oh Christ. Sometimes I wonder how Mark Waid is able to function, what with stories like this and the ones he’s told in more recent interviews and Waid Wednesdays on John Rogers’ blog.

This one trumps the Archie Comics owner yelling at him that the dictionary was wrong.

I don’t know which scared me more. The fact that these guys just kind of kidnapped Joe for a day, or how upset Joe got.
I might have handled it a bit different, but I can imagine how the two fans felt when they realized that it seems like a good idea, but not everyone should think that way.

Comics fans ruin everything.

Wow. Seriously. Wow. Thanks for that heads-up. I could never, ever imagine doing something like that — and now I have to worry about falling into something like that some day? *Now* I am grateful the cellphone exists.

The question begs to be asked ” What would Warren have done if this happened to him? ”

$5 on beat them getting beat down with that cane of his.

Aaaaaaaaa! And they tried to do it again? What if they escalate this?

Dear (insert favorite deity of choice (or not) here). The horrifying thing about this story is that I could envision the insane comic fans trying to rationalize their actions with the excuses that the odds of Waid visiting their tiny Vermont town was practically zero under normal circumstances and that they couldn’t afford to see him in person in New York City. Yet they so wanted to meet him. Besides, said nutcakes may say, they didn’t hurt Waid in any way, so no harm no foul.

*Pause*

In a way, what makes Waid’s story so horrifying is its utter mundanity. “Misery” could be dismissed as an aberration. But given how easily this betrayal of the creator-fan relationship could occur, I’m more worried that Waid’s situation doesn’t happen far more often than reported.

Now I understand what you need a murder pencil for.

Damn good story for a short film or The Simpsons.

JDM: Waid kept his murderous instinct at bay. Ellis would hold back so he only beats the nineteen fans, and not the whole state.

I thought this story was going to be about Mark’s trip to Vermont during which I met him at a store signing. How wrong I was.

It’s an awesome pipe dream by Mark Waid. It’s a shame that the only detail he did not lie about was the name of the state.

The same thing has been known to occur in professional wrestling, usually to workers whose star has faded somewhat. They’ll be booked for a show or convention, turn up at the “venue” only to find that there’s no event scheduled, and that a “money mark” has lured them out there for the pleasure of their company. The difference in this context is that the accepted protocol is to hang out with them for a few hours and make sure that you’re paid in full for the booking, maybe even wrangle a little extra out of them.

Hey, it beats taking bumps…

[...] Shared The Greatest Story Ever Told [...]