Do you read comic books? Then you are dumb, and also, you are a "ne'r-do-well." So says crazy Chicago lady Fran Gelb, who this week wrote an angry letter to the Windy City's Trib.
"In my early school years," Gelb explains, remembering those Stone Ages, "comic books such as 'Batman' were found only in the hands of a few ne'r-do-well students who definitely did not go on to do bigger and better things."
Are you listening, you unsuccessful comic book reading plebes?
Because Gelb is just getting started: "So it is particularly disconcerting to note the current hype and apparent national enthusiasm for the latest movie installment. Based on the record box office receipts, it would appear that not only is our world being further dumbed down, but there are a number of opportunistic people who are getting rich in the process."
Being one of those opportunistic people – if not a rich opportunistic person, because I'm a blogger! – I'm a little offended. But luckily, geeks have a defender. After Ms. Gelb's letter caused a mini-firestorm on the internets, Mark Noyszewski wrote his OWN letter, and called Gelb an old angry Republican.
"Instead of using the viewpoint of her early school years," Noyszewski argued, "she will realize that over time things change, evolve and sometimes get better. It was no accident that 'Maus: A Survivor's Tale,' which won the Eisner and Harvey awards, also won a Pulitzer Prize Special Award. It is an amazing book."
–Matthew Shaer
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