After a few days of thinking on the subject, I've decided to be a bit more direct than I was on Monday regarding the flap between Dirk Deppey and Neilalien. The fact that I was reluctant to say anything about this to begin with points to part of the problem. Because of his insider status and the semi-professional status of his weblog, Dirk Deppey is not like other bloggers. He is a demi-celebrity in the comics blogosphere, an A-lister among us. He does a great job covering things that no one else is touching, and for that he deserves attention. But his ability to focus a large audience makes it intimidating for a blogger like myself to contradict him.

Nonetheless, part of what blogging means to me is having the freedom to speak from a position outside of industry or traditional publishing. Blogging is a personal exercise, in that it has also allowed me to create alliances and friendships I would not have formed otherwise. So, partly because I disagree with his actions, and partly because Neilalien is my friend, I want to say: for Dirk to have used his spotlight and the platform of an interview to attack Neilalien was fucked up. The fact that Neilalien felt he was misrepresented by the attack makes the act that much uglier. Since then, Dirk has written, "I believe Neilalien is taking this shit way too personally," asserting that "I believe that nothing I've said recently has involved anything which a reasonable adult would consider 'much to Neilalien's insult.'" You're wrong, Dirk. This reasonable adult finds it insulting.