July Sketch Suggestions

(Heads up, I kind of make a whole speech out of this one, and I "get political" as some might describe it. Feel free to skip to the last paragraph if you just want to to know the month's theme.)

So, things have been a bit rough lately, huh? And I'm not even talking about the pandemic, which is still very real, btw, despite what a lot of people seem to think/pretend. I'm talking protest, police brutality, black lives, trans rights, Me Too. As shameful as it is that this stuff is still an issue in 2020, I do take some solace in seeing people finally standing up and fighting back against injustice and a corrupt system. 

Unfortunately, an inevitable side effect of this is seeing people we previously respected and admired exposed as total shit stains. JK Rowling is a TERF. Joss Wheadon is a scumbag. There have been recent allegations against Warren Ellis of sexually grooming young women trying to make it in comics. These are all people that I personally, as well as countless others, have looked up to and who's work we've all enjoyed. And it's led to a very interesting discussion of whether we can, or if we even should, separate the art from the artist. It's a debate I, for one, struggle a lot with. I've dropped stuff in the past. Louis CK and JonTron are two dudes I used to really enjoy but I've more or less written off completely. But when it comes to the big stuff like Harry Potter or Firefly - Heck, I've made it clear Nextwave is one of my favorite comics of all time - I'll admit, it's a hell of a lot harder to divorce myself from it. 

One take on this subject that I've found interesting is a tweet I saw that said something along the lines of "The best parts of Harry Potter came from the fans." In a way, I think that's kinda true. The cosplay, the art, talking with your friends about which houses you'd be sorted into. That's where a lot of the fun comes from, and it all came from US. Even the movies, I'd argue, have enough other people contributing to them that you can hardly give all the credit to one racist, antisemitic, transphobic British millionaire. I'm certainly not saying this is the final answer on the subject, but there is something to be said for fans reclaiming art when the artist lets us down.

So, in that spirit, I decided to make the subject for this month Art, Not The Artist. I'm looking for suggestions of subjects you enjoy despite coming from problematic or even outright shitty creators. Comment with your ideas below. Voting starts on the first!