- Registrado
- 17 de Sep, 2018
I would love to hear your take on Star Citizen
Comicsgate Hangers-On and Drama Whores - A thread about some guy who's mad about Star Wars and the neckbeards obsessively stalking him
- Iniciador del tema Pomniman
- Fecha de inicio
-
🚨 DDoS attack. Tor is stable: https://kiwifarmsaaf4t2h7gc3dfc5ojhmqruw2nit3uejrpiagrxeuxiyxcyd.onion/.
🔎 Please read my article, How to Dox Anyone: A Liz Fong-Jones Story. (Xitter), (Substack). -
Want to keep track of this thread?
Accounts can bookmark posts, watch threads for updates, and jump back to where you stopped reading.
Create account
I would love to hear your take on Star Citizen
WhimsicalTrolli
kiwifarms.net
- Registrado
- 20 de Jun, 2019
Happy 100 pages drama whores, the next stretch goal is 150 pages for a ashcan.
- Registrado
- 13 de Jun, 2019
At some point. But I'd like to explore this hypothesis first.
Honestly, there's times where Comicsgate feels like an Alternate Reality Game. Like there's this greater story to what's happening, but you have to pick up on the right clues and follow them where they lead to understand it. It's clear the people involved are talented creative professionals, explaining their behavior and reactions is difficult outside of a very narrow context.
I'm not convinced Mike S. Miller is a true person, I've been looking for his face in old photos. I've found pictures of someone who looks like him, but nothing before his split with the mainstream comic industry that made me say that's him. There is not a lot of evidence for the existence of Mike outside the historical name that appears on a series of comic books. If someone was going to create a false identity, this would have been the perfect name to work with.
So we have these different personas we know as Mike S. Miller. There's Mike the Comic Book Artist, the person we see on videos and Twitter arguing with Twitter. Let's call that the surface, he's portrayed as an attempt as a culture warrior and crowdfunder.
Then there's Mike the Creator, the one running the show, taking very provocative actions that disrupt movements and create new and exciting business models like the one we have on display. Let's call that persona the Creator, he's the one running these crowdfunding campaigns that never get fulfilled.
It's hard to reconcile the two. Most people are motivated by self-interest, especially conservatives, who the Surface persona claims to be. This persona was benefiting substantially from a relationship with EVS, the decision to part ways can't be explained in terms of dollars. If he were a person, Mike would have known where his bread was buttered. Instead, we have this persona pursuing low-dollar crowdfunding campaigns that are never delivered. There's a non-sequitur there, something inexplicable about the actions of the Surface persona. The betrayal of trust of his peers, the timing of the break with CG, the decision to move away from a lucrative position after being chased out from one that didn't pay as well - this isn't how real people behave.
The question I'm struggling with: who created these Mike personas and why? There's a couple explanations I'm considering, and I would love help from other people on the Farms:
- There is a person maybe named Mike S. Miller, who is the creator, who is pursuing an expression of artistic vision. I don't see how that person would stand to benefit from this effort, but it's hard to explain sophisticated artistic projects.
- There's a persona run by another creator, who is an artist and has created professional works in the past, who has a political agenda. This other creator brought in an actor to play the Surface persona and has been running him for several years.
I'm leaning towards the later and believe the person who may be running the Creator persona is Doug Tenapel. He has a political agenda, he's been active in Hollywood for decades, and entertainment industry professionals do this sort of thing from time to time. Doug also has the financial resources to carry this out. That would explain the lack of outrage over Mike S. Miller's failure to deliver on 7 campaigns, no one bitches because he's paying the bill through multiple accounts.
But the former is plausible as well. I'm watching more and more of his videos looking for tells. Edwin is in on it too, he would have to be the Tony Clifton to Mike's Andy Kaufman.
- Registrado
- 17 de Sep, 2018
Good Lord. That none of these first time writers are taking advantage of your fiction abilities is a damn shame
- Registrado
- 13 de Jun, 2019
Yeah, it's possible I'm seeing something that's not there and a real-world person named Mike just made a series of baffling decisions that can't be explained by conventional thought. Maybe that person is a sociopath acting in opposition to self-interest at every turn.
But there is plenty of evidence to suggest the thing we see in Mike S. Miller videos does not exist. Either we're watching a performance artist carry out their work, an actor hired to play a part in some larger campaign, or something else that can't yet be explained. What I'm saying is each of these explanations is just as plausible - probably moreso - as accepting there's a real world person named Mike S. Miller. This persona and the story behind its existence, is much, much more interesting than those preening Blacklist Universe videos.
There's reasons to take this theory seriously. We live in a world of politicized social media, gay ops, anonymous accounts, and SJWs. Renfamous isn't a real person, it's someone named Lauren Cooper who likely works for Weber-Shanwick seeking to influence public opinion in entertainment. SJW Spiderman and SJW Captain America aren't real people, they are just anonymous schill accounts that are likely working a long game to alienate audiences off floppies and onto movies with very different cultural norms than most people would consider acceptable. Tess Fowler is a real person, but her attacks on talent are ideologically motivated attempts at gatekeeping designed to cement her own position in this dying industry. Under this backdrop, is it really such a reach to assume someone is running a counter op under the identity of a right-wing creator? Or that a performance artist is responding to all this stuff going on by creating a no-fulfillment model of entertainment?
People don't live in silos. People live in the real world and their actions are guided by motivations that become the story of their lives. Each of us possesses a set of strengths and weaknesses that are under our direct control. But then there are these external factors outside their exclusive domain, the real world opportunities and threats one responds to in order to gain some advantage. The majority of people respond the same way to external factors, absent some force compelling them to change their behavior. Identifying these forces and how they are able to influence people tells you what's really going on.
Let's focus on the external factors for a moment and get past the surface level details. Let's get a little nuanced and try to ignore the conspiracy-theory disbelief that comes with conversations lacking direct evidence. Examine the way this Mike persona operates in the real world and how people respond.
Hollywood was started by conservatives. They are still around in force, I talk to them from time to time. Not actors, but money and production people, sometimes merchandisers. They would like Hollywood to better reflect traditional values because that sells product. They engage in all kinds of marketing, sometimes including performance marketing where they pay a social media influencer to say nice things about their product. They talk about comic books all the time and have a totally different perspective than the average fan. It's a media juggernaut that can be packaged any way they want and create an unlimited amount of products. They are concerned about Marvel Phase 4, they've known about it for a long time and see the creatives as a threat. They can't sell gay relationships, and these are going to be the focus of the stories. They complain about United Artists and say it all went south once the actors took over.
For these guys, it's only one step further than what they are already doing to create a persona that represents a certain set of values, direct it to plant a flag and see what happens. This supports the Mike-the-Creator as an actor theory, the person we see on the videos is being run by a set of interests. They want to combat the moral defecation they see coming from Hollywood, and they maybe want to see a different set of properties emerge that can be marketed in the future. If Marvel flops - and I believe it will, they are burning a lot of goodwill - Hollywood is not going to move away from super hero media. They are going to find new IPs to move on.
On the other hand, consider Mike-the-Creator as a serious performance artist. This is a person working without financial reward. If he's not motivated by money, then what causes him to do what he does? Small business owners, entrepreneurs, people who have a good thing going - they know not to burn their marketing. That's the lifeblood of the business, that's how they feed their families.
Breaking from Comicsgate - the only motivation I can see is vision. Not principle. The thing we call Mike S. Miller had a larger platform being on Ethan's channel than what he has without it. If there was a person named Mike S. Miller and he wanted to argue principle, he had a great way to do it and an audience eager to hear what he had to say. But this persona had to go beyond the constraints of the platform / delivery model and start doing something truly original and visionary that is completed divided from the revenue stream it had tapped into. Right now, this thing is running 7 crowdfunded campaigns for comic books that have not been delivered. It's messaging real-world customers that the artist is not available to produce their comics. In the comments sections of its crowdfunding campaigns, this thing we call Mike is telling people their money will not be refunded, that the game is on and they are along for the ride.
And he gets no criticism for failing to deliver. That's a big clue as to what's going on. This board exists because people were shrieking about Cyberfrog fulfillment and the fights that ensued. Mike has 7 campaigns, some of which have been closed more than a year, and no one says anything. I assume comicsgate audiences are authentic and sincere, the majority of people funding these campaigns are something else. Either they are fake accounts funded by Hollywood to prop up an alternative to mainstream comics, something like a focus group. Or they are supporters who see the artistic vision, they don't complain because they are watching something deeply satisfying that has nothing to do with delivery of comic books.
Both of these scenarios explains the thing we call Mike S. Miller better than the surface-level details. I personally believe there was once a person named Mike S. Miller, he worked in mainstream comics and was cancelled. That person left the building a long time ago, the persona was taken over by something different and we didn't notice when it happened. What we're seeing is a marketing campaign. The question is why does it exist, and to what end?
Another theory shared with me in DMs - one that impresses me a lot less - is that Mike S. Miller is a creation of Ethan Van Sciver. He needed other creators to foster the image of a 'universe' being created, so he hired these actors to play parts and has been doing the art himself. That would explain the delays in producing his own books. When Renfamous started to fade he engineered a schism to protect the sense of controversy that supports Comicsgate.
I don't accept this theory but consider it valuable as a counterpoint to the others. Maybe @FROG wants to chime in and go on record to offer some perspective.
Leaving you with this, one of the most perplexing Blacklist Universe videos I've seen. Suggesting you watch it on 2x speed with closed captions on, you pick up on more details that way.
Follow Jesus Always. God Squad
Charles Stanley Explains Why it's Important to Follow Jesus, Wherever He May Lead Article contents: https://www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/maina-mwa...
www.youtube.com
The thing called Mike is gloating over its new merchandise store. The store doesn't deliver comics, it's a platform that takes art from thing Mike and puts it on merchandise. This thing called Mike obsessively oogles the automatically-generated images of products that can be made; but who would buy them? There's a pretty nuanced question being posed. If no one buys a product, what does it become? In the absence of a transaction, are you really merchandizing? This particular store is print on demand, there never is any actual product, he's produced this ephemeral marketplace where business will never occur.
The thing called Mike is talking about just-in-time delivery and supply chains. This struck me more as a meditation on globalization and the reality of modern business. The thing called Mike is really saying there's nothing there, form and substance are disconnected in a way the Bauhaus artists could only dream of. We're seeing more minimalization showcased in a way that makes the brand appear bountiful, even though it's not there and never will be. The thing is asking where is the value, what are we paying for? The whole video really screwed with my perceptions, I legitimately can't accept there is an authentic human being making this video non-ironically. It's not bullshit, it's just that the words mean something very different from what they would normally.
Great video for jumping on the ARG. There is no Mike S. Miller, there is no Blacklist Universe, most of the backers are probably fake accounts financed by an outside party. But what are we seeing and what is it's nature?
Última edición:
- Registrado
- 17 de Sep, 2018
Yeah, it's possible I'm seeing something that's not there and a real-world person named Mike just made a series of baffling decisions that can't be explained by conventional thought. Maybe that person is a sociopath acting in opposition to self-interest at every turn.
But there is plenty of evidence to suggest the thing we see in Mike S. Miller videos does not exist. Either we're watching a performance artist carry out their work, an actor hired to play a part in some larger campaign, or something else that can't yet be explained. What I'm saying is each of these explanations is just as plausible - probably moreso - as accepting there's a real world person named Mike S. Miller. This persona and the story behind its existence, is much, much more interesting than those preening Blacklist Universe videos.
There's reasons to take this theory seriously. We live in a world of politicized social media, gay ops, anonymous accounts, and SJWs. Renfamous isn't a real person, it's someone named Lauren Cooper who likely works for Weber-Shanwick seeking to influence public opinion in entertainment. SJW Spiderman and SJW Captain America aren't real people, they are just anonymous schill accounts that are likely working a long game to alienate audiences off floppies and onto movies with very different cultural norms than most people would consider acceptable. Tess Fowler is a real person, but her attacks on talent are ideologically motivated attempts at gatekeeping designed to cement her own position in this dying industry. Under this backdrop, is it really such a reach to assume someone is running a counter op under the identity of a right-wing creator? Or that a performance artist is responding to all this stuff going on by creating a no-fulfillment model of entertainment?
People don't live in silos. People live in the real world and their actions are guided by motivations that become the story of their lives. Each of us possesses a set of strengths and weaknesses that are under our direct control. But then there are these external factors outside their exclusive domain, the real world opportunities and threats one responds to in order to gain some advantage. The majority of people respond the same way to external factors, absent some force compelling them to change their behavior. Identifying these forces and how they are able to influence people tells you what's really going on.
Let's focus on the external factors for a moment and get past the surface level details. Let's get a little nuanced and try to ignore the conspiracy-theory disbelief that comes with conversations lacking direct evidence. Examine the way this Mike persona operates in the real world and how people respond.
Hollywood was started by conservatives. They are still around in force, I talk to them from time to time. Not actors, but money and production people, sometimes merchandisers. They would like Hollywood to better reflect traditional values because that sells product. They engage in all kinds of marketing, sometimes including performance marketing where they pay a social media influencer to say nice things about their product. They talk about comic books all the time and have a totally different perspective than the average fan. It's a media juggernaut that can be packaged any way they want and create an unlimited amount of products. They are concerned about Marvel Phase 4, they've known about it for a long time and see the creatives as a threat. They can't sell gay relationships, and these are going to be the focus of the stories. They complain about United Artists and say it all went south once the actors took over.
For these guys, it's only one step further than what they are already doing to create a persona that represents a certain set of values, direct it to plant a flag and see what happens. This supports the Mike-the-Creator as an actor theory, the person we see on the videos is being run by a set of interests. They want to combat the moral defecation they see coming from Hollywood, and they maybe want to see a different set of properties emerge that can be marketed in the future. If Marvel flops - and I believe it will, they are burning a lot of goodwill - Hollywood is not going to move away from super hero media. They are going to find new IPs to move on.
On the other hand, consider Mike-the-Creator as a serious performance artist. This is a person working without financial reward. If he's not motivated by money, then what causes him to do what he does? Small business owners, entrepreneurs, people who have a good thing going - they know not to burn their marketing. That's the lifeblood of the business, that's how they feed their families.
Breaking from Comicsgate - the only motivation I can see is vision. Not principle. The thing we call Mike S. Miller had a larger platform being on Ethan's channel than what he has without it. If there was a person named Mike S. Miller and he wanted to argue principle, he had a great way to do it and an audience eager to hear what he had to say. But this persona had to go beyond the constraints of the platform / delivery model and start doing something truly original and visionary that is completed divided from the revenue stream it had tapped into. Right now, this thing is running 7 crowdfunded campaigns for comic books that have not been delivered. It's messaging real-world customers that the artist is not available to produce their comics. In the comments sections of its crowdfunding campaigns, this thing we call Mike is telling people their money will not be refunded, that the game is on and they are along for the ride.
And he gets no criticism for failing to deliver. That's a big clue as to what's going on. This board exists because people were shrieking about Cyberfrog fulfillment and the fights that ensued. Mike has 7 campaigns, some of which have been closed more than a year, and no one says anything. I assume comicsgate audiences are authentic and sincere, the majority of people funding these campaigns are something else. Either they are fake accounts funded by Hollywood to prop up an alternative to mainstream comics, something like a focus group. Or they are supporters who see the artistic vision, they don't complain because they are watching something deeply satisfying that has nothing to do with delivery of comic books.
Both of these scenarios explains the thing we call Mike S. Miller better than the surface-level details. I personally believe there was once a person named Mike S. Miller, he worked in mainstream comics and was cancelled. That person left the building a long time ago, the persona was taken over by something different and we didn't notice when it happened. What we're seeing is a marketing campaign. The question is why does it exist, and to what end?
Another theory shared with me in DMs - one that impresses me a lot less - is that Mike S. Miller is a creation of Ethan Van Sciver. He needed other creators to foster the image of a 'universe' being created, so he hired these actors to play parts and has been doing the art himself. That would explain the delays in producing his own books. When Renfamous started to fade he engineered a schism to protect the sense of controversy that supports Comicsgate.
I don't accept this theory but consider it valuable as a counterpoint to the others. Maybe @FROG wants to chime in and go on record to offer some perspective.
Leaving you with this, one of the most perplexing Blacklist Universe videos I've seen. Suggesting you watch it on 2x speed with closed captions on, you pick up on more details that way.
Follow Jesus Always. God Squad
Charles Stanley Explains Why it's Important to Follow Jesus, Wherever He May Lead Article contents: https://www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/maina-mwa...
The thing called Mike is gloating over its new merchandise store. The store doesn't deliver comics, it's a platform that takes art from thing Mike and puts it on merchandise. This thing called Mike obsessively oogles the automatically-generated images of products that can be made; but who would buy them? There's a pretty nuanced question being posed. If no one buys a product, what does it become? In the absence of a transaction, are you really merchandizing? This particular store is print on demand, there never is any actual product, he's produced this ephemeral marketplace where business will never occur.
The thing called Mike is talking about just-in-time delivery and supply chains. This struck me more as a meditation on globalization and the reality of modern business. The thing called Mike is really saying there's nothing there, form and substance are disconnected in a way the Bauhaus artists could only dream of. We're seeing more minimalization showcased in a way that makes the brand appear bountiful, even though it's not there and never will be. The thing is asking where is the value, what are we paying for? The whole video really screwed with my perceptions, I legitimately can't accept there is an authentic human being making this video non-ironically. It's not bullshit, it's just that the words mean something very different from what they would normally.
Great video for jumping on the ARG. There is no Mike S. Miller, there is no Blacklist Universe, most of the backers are probably fake accounts financed by an outside party. But what are we seeing and what is it's nature?
Alternative hypothesis:
Mike saw easy money in the crowdfunding game and promised a book. That money came so easily that he did it six more times and immediately fell behind in delivery. He lucked into targeting a community that is in opposition to something so they are willing to provide funding just to stick it to whoever they're mad at with few complaints. The few complaints are being addressed by an artist not at all used to professional communications so these read kind of weird. Mike seems evasive when asked in person because the thought of delivering seven books, six of which are just rough ideas sets off his panic responses
Or maybe I'm the crazy one and this is a grand alternate reality game performance art because crowdfunding has never been abused before in its entire history and there certainly aren't several YouTube channels completely devoted to crowdfunds that deliver nothing
Edit. I just re-skimmed and saw the Ethan mastermind thing. Practical question. In between streaming, arguing with random here and on Twitter, maintaining a family and barely drawing gay frog comics for the internet, WHEN does he puppetmaster these fictional artists?
- Registrado
- 13 de Jun, 2019
That's what originally bothered me about the thing we call Mike S. Miller.
I started following Comicsgate because of Capt Cummings, he was just so raw and direct with the complaints about the mainstream. He spoke to concerns everyone had but no one could articulate, in many ways moreso than YBZ. This board was split off from the main CG board after complaints turned inward, towards EVS. Fulfillment is a huge concern for many people in the CG community.
A big tell that this is an ARG is the absence of complaints towards Mike. There is a long history of creators who never delivered, Cridious is getting shit on right now for failing to deliver. But there are no complaints about the thing we call Mike S. Miller.
He's the magic crowdfunder. He runs campaigns, takes money, never delivers, and no one notices. I assume the CG audience is sincere and authentic, but being a backer is where the rubber meets the road. For some reason, backers have no issue with the fact he can't complete his books. Or that his revenue streams have been cut off and he has no other sources of income.
Then there's the schism with CG proper. I've run enough businesses to tell you that no one cuts themselves off from their marketing lightly. Even if you have to walk away from something, you at least keep your mouth shut about it in order to avoid creating backlash for yourself. This thing called Mike claims to be an entrepreneur, does all the small business owner stuff, but it doesn't act like a business owner with family interests intertwined in it's own success.
There's other tells as well. The language the Mike thing uses in the Blacklist Universe videos is a little too precise, a little too lacking in introspection. The thing is showcasing various points of view for the benefit of an audience, saying things that don't need to be said. Seriously, watch that video and see if you can tell me that's a real person expressing authentic sentiment. There's dozens of others like them, it's clear there some separation between the person speaking the words and the person writing the script. There's moments the language feels like an Ionesco play.
Again, I'm not saying I'm sure I know what exactly is going on here, only that there is a lot of evidence it goes beyond the surface level details. It's easier to explain Mike S. Miller in terms of the performative aspects of the character. This is a situation where fiction is outperforming reality, where there's no explanation for the person in terms of the real-world forces in which it operates. I can see the reasons why this thing would exist and what the motivations would be for wanting to create it. What I can't see are the historical, factual details for why it would be there in the first place, doing what it does.
Trying hard to remember the name of the fake YouTuber from a few years ago, some girl who was sharing her life story only to be found out through reverse image search and exposed as an actor. This is probably a campaign along those lines, real artistic genius expressed through popular mediums is very rare. But it's also possible, maybe we are just on to one of those profound fellows who sees the world for what it is and calls bullshit.
But you're not crazy for looking at it differently. Most people don't catch onto ARGs before they have a chance to mature, which is why I'm talking about it here and on other forums. I don't think I'm the only person who has caught on.
- Registrado
- 13 de Jun, 2019
Missed your update.
To be clear, that's not my theory, I received it in DMs and thought about it.
Sometimes you have to have a null hypothesis to flesh out a working theory. Mike S. Miller as a genuine human being is one, EVS as a puppetmaster is another.
I don't believe EVS has been running the Mike S. Miller persona, mostly because there's a more likely explanation:
Doug Tenapel. Doug worked in Hollywood for a long time, with the pedophiles and sodomites at Nickelodeon. He enjoyed some financial success as a result. He left to work on Highlights Magazine and wrote for Breitbart News. What had to attract him to make the jump to journalist was the perspective of Andrew Breitbart, who talked about the vapidness of Hollywood and the PC crowd long before we had SJWs.
If anyone had the domain expertise, connections and ideological disposition to be running an actor as a Christian comic book artist, it would be Doug. In theory, he was using entryism to get into Comicsgate and pulled out his crew once it became clear no one was going to disavow homosexuals. They continue to maintain close relations and promote the same ideological viewpoints.
It's one possible explanation. What gives EVS as puppetmaster credibility is the glacier-like pace with which his books are produced. He produces less than one inked / pencilled page per week. He has to be doing something else with that time, YouTube only accounts for part of it. Assuming he's capable of working at a rate of one page per day - which is more in line with what happens in the industry - it's conceivable he's spending that time drawing less-sophisticated content and passing it off through an actor. Or that he's actually directing another artist to produce the work, that takes time as well.
I have a list of videos where the thing called Mike is drawing and the camera shows human hands from an above angle. A few of us are going through them to try and identify who the hands actually belong to. We're also looking at artwork from early CG videos for differences in the rendered style in Lonestar and original works created by the thing called Mike S. Miller. One thing that's conspicuous about the Mike thing, in Blacklist Universe videos, is the use of hands for emphasis.
The distance between the fingers and the bottom of the hands is relatively short, probably less than 7 inches. The length of the fingers in the drawing videos is larger, we can gauge it relative to the length of the pen being used. The finger length appears to be slightly greater than 8 inches.
This is very close and worthy of continued examination. I'll share more as we continue to identify good screenshots, there's many hours of video to go through.
All I really know is there's reasons to believe the thing we call Mike S. Miller is not an actual person. I want to know for sure what I'm looking at.
- Registrado
- 17 de Sep, 2018
Doug tennapel, as a middle aged man with a family, who streams as much as any middle aged man who is mad at comic books being different than he thinks they should be (read: a whole fucking lot) and who works hard enough to consistently hit his deadlines does not have time to puppetmaster a fake comic book artist
- Registrado
- 13 de Jun, 2019
Yeah, that's something I considered too.
Let's remember we're trying to explain this thing called Mike S. Miller. Doug is relevant as a possible explanation for its origin and continued direction.
While I agree Tenapel is probably focused on other things, here's why you don't dismiss his involvement. On the one hand, Doug and the thing we call Mike S. Miller livestream together regularly. Recent video called Nerd of the Round Table.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap10JWYEZIc
I'm finding it's best to watch these videos on 2x speed with captions on. Focus a little less on what they say and more on the interaction. Doug Tenapel runs most of the conversation, selects the topics and does most of the talking. The video focuses mostly on promoting Doug's campaigns and achievements, there's no mention of the Mike Miller campaigns. For most of the video, they talk about comic book history, touching on famous artists and strips from the past, and the relative price of comic books.
The conversation was conspicuous mostly because it seemed like each discussion topic was a lead in to the next. This is something to watch for in the Blacklist Universe videos, many of them seem scripted and only superficially natural. There are no natural disagreements between the participants, there are no moments of insight leading from something said before. The dialog seems directed to hit certain points, with charts and graphs to justify something said earlier in the conversation.
So the video is an advertisement, Blacklist Universe is handed over to Tenapel for a night to promote his books. What other independent creator gets that kind of treatment? For comparison, there's 2 recent videos related to YBZ. They're hyper-critical, one makes the argument that Cecil is a better author and comics crowdfunder than Zack. There's a lot of charts and graphs used to present data that seems to make a point other than the one they are discussing (and no one disagrees about the relevance of the information.)
Ya Boi Zack 'N Me
Found out that Zack and I have the same opinions on a certain hashtag. Help Lisa with her Cancer costs! https://www.gofundme.com/f/c7mymg-help-lisa-beat-brea...
www.youtube.com
EXPENDABLES! Nerds of the Round Table
Last day for LONESTAR 2 and MONSTER HUNT!!! https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lonestar-1-2-and-monster-hunt-crossover-event#/ Back EXPENDABLES NOW!!! https:...
www.youtube.com
We tried to find other examples where the thing called Mike was interviewing creators and giving them the same space to promote their videos - where they get to take over the stream and the Mike Miller character isn't putting away it's own promotions - and couldn't find any. Why would Tenapel be the only person where Blacklist Universe breaks it's format, takes the spotlight off the host and devotes all it's attention to this single creator?
It's an interesting question, doesn't prove anything. But if you are considering who is running this character we call Mike, this seems significant. If you really want to see a contrast with how different authors are treated, look at the video interview with Wenger.
A civil discussion with Wenger
Don't forget to back LONESTAR, get issue 1, 2 and MONSTER HUNT! here! https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lonestar-and-monster-hunt/x/19053687 Sign up for Qui...
www.youtube.com
Robust discussion, analytic deconstruction of various topics, morality is in play, other high concept items are making their way in and out of the conversation. Again, play it on 2x speed with close captions and you start to clue in on the idea that the person on the camera is not coming up with these points on the fly. The discussion is a little too tight to be improvised, Wenger is mostly not a participant, there's a dominance factor happening that doesn't happen in the interactions with Tenapel. Roger Scruton would have had a hard time laying out these avenues of argument so succinctly and with such aplomb, yet here it is.
In a silo, one could look at these videos and find it perfectly reasonable to conclude someone named Mike S. Miller is a real person who exists and he's Doug Tenapel's bitch. But the character Mike doesn't live in a silo. It lives in the real world, it has crowdfunding campaigns that have raised high dollar amounts without being fulfilled, it's creating merchandising stores for products that are ephemeral and no one is buying, it broadcasts on YouTube daily to tiny audiences mostly consisting of the same accounts, it trolls people constantly on Twitter.
And the only affinity this character we call Mike S. Miller has for another creator is Doug Tenapel. That relationship is significant.
The other reason not to dismiss Doug Tenapel's involvement is his work history. He's from Hollywood - this is something people chirp about from time to time. Three important outlets he worked with are Shiny Entertainment, Nickelodeon, and Breitbart - not necessarily as an employee, but as outlets for his thoughts and work.
While most creatives have interesting career journeys, Doug's seems especially interesting. Nickelodeon and Breitbart could not be further away from one another, it's the sun and the moon. Doug was working with Nickelodeon during the Dan Schneider era. Dan wrote, scripted and produced many of Nick's most famous shows, and he's also notable as a child predator. Some of what he did is absolutely unforgivable, as an adult, getting teenage stars pregnant, paying for their abortions, getting lawyers to cover it up.
Like many monsters in entertainment, Dan surrounded himself with others of a like mind. Chris Savino, John Kricfalusi, Brian Peck, others - Nickelodeon was their home. It makes sense, people tend to associate with others that share their values. Moreover, if you're guilty of something, why not socialize with others who do the same thing - lessens the chances of being accused yourself. In the 90s, I never had any professional dealings with Nick but there were widespread rumors about what went on there. In the 2000s, something you started to see was producers carrying around digital cameras. They had a name for them, they were called Hobknockers. People at Nick would trade the cameras and sometimes digital storage for the cameras with each other. The word was they were photos of talent for consideration in productions, but I always wondered what kinds of photos they were looking at.
The place was disgusting. It was a cash cow, many people respected it for being able to create hit after hit. But the underbelly - that shitstain Dan got Amanda Bynes pregnant, he's the reason she's so fucked up these day (him and her parents for letting it happen.) Just thinking about that is repulsive.
I take Doug at his word that he's a Christian, that he's a family man, that he has strong sentiments about sexual degeneracy because I know where he came from. While it's atypical that someone straight laced went anywhere with Nick, I'm ready to accept that he was the exception.
I'm also ready to accept other people recognize this as well. Doug's journey from Nick to writing for Breitbart is an interesting one. I know he was getting EWJ royalties the entire time and don't believe - not for a nanosecond - that he has ever been in dire financial straights, as he claimed when he was appearing on EVS streams. I also know Hollywood spends a lot of money on performative marketing these days, hiring schills to appear in social media to promote all kinds of causes. Some of them are hgih functioning creators in their own right, administrators who run movies and shows and just take a time out to send a signal about diversity, or inclusion, or the future of a franchise, or whatever. They want to appear they are better than the rot that came before them.
It would make perfect sense for someone to read an article in Breitbart, talk to others about these Communists in Hollywood, look at other marketing campaigns and cook up a 10-figure scheme to shift the culture back to Conservative values. I know people who would write checks for that effort right now if it was presented to them as an option.
Is Doug involved? Could not tell you. Is there a reason to look closely and examine what's happening? Goddamned right there is. Again, Nickelodeon / Viacom - that place was a den of pedophilia and sodomy the entire time Doug was there. He made a journey to present a personal brand that directly and outspokenly opposes the exact values that were present in this place. What happened during that journey to put him here, right now, in this place, associated with this thing we call Mike S. Miller, producing these hardcover books with the intent of creating valuable IPs that will be licensed and merchandized within the Hollywood system? Why would the goal be to walk back into the mouth of the beast, why would Doug be taking losses on his works if he was financially strapped, why would he be making his own videos?
Doug's presence and relationships are significant and should not be ignored.
Again, I don't believe there is a real-life person named Mike S. Miller producing videos for a YouTube channel called Blacklist Universe. There is some direction behind this character and I want to know what it is I'm seeing and why. Is this an artist, maybe who found a patron in Doug Tenapel, carrying out an elaborate performance art piece to examine the nature of value and the human experience in today's globalized economy? Is this a social media personality invented along the same lines as Renfamous designed to influence public opinion through direct confrontation?
EVERYTHING about the thing we call Mike S. Miller is inconsistent with the forces operating in reality. There's no logical explanation for it to exist, and Doug is pretty curious too. Don't ignore their close affinity.
- Registrado
- 17 de Sep, 2018
Yeah, that's something I considered too.
Let's remember we're trying to explain this thing called Mike S. Miller. Doug is relevant as a possible explanation for its origin and continued direction.
While I agree Tenapel is probably focused on other things, here's why you don't dismiss his involvement. On the one hand, Doug and the thing we call Mike S. Miller livestream together regularly. Recent video called Nerd of the Round Table.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap10JWYEZIc
I'm finding it's best to watch these videos on 2x speed with captions on. Focus a little less on what they say and more on the interaction. Doug Tenapel runs most of the conversation, selects the topics and does most of the talking. The video focuses mostly on promoting Doug's campaigns and achievements, there's no mention of the Mike Miller campaigns. For most of the video, they talk about comic book history, touching on famous artists and strips from the past, and the relative price of comic books.
The conversation was conspicuous mostly because it seemed like each discussion topic was a lead in to the next. This is something to watch for in the Blacklist Universe videos, many of them seem scripted and only superficially natural. There are no natural disagreements between the participants, there are no moments of insight leading from something said before. The dialog seems directed to hit certain points, with charts and graphs to justify something said earlier in the conversation.
So the video is an advertisement, Blacklist Universe is handed over to Tenapel for a night to promote his books. What other independent creator gets that kind of treatment? For comparison, there's 2 recent videos related to YBZ. They're hyper-critical, one makes the argument that Cecil is a better author and comics crowdfunder than Zack. There's a lot of charts and graphs used to present data that seems to make a point other than the one they are discussing (and no one disagrees about the relevance of the information.)
Ya Boi Zack 'N Me
Found out that Zack and I have the same opinions on a certain hashtag. Help Lisa with her Cancer costs! https://www.gofundme.com/f/c7mymg-help-lisa-beat-brea...
EXPENDABLES! Nerds of the Round Table
Last day for LONESTAR 2 and MONSTER HUNT!!! https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lonestar-1-2-and-monster-hunt-crossover-event#/ Back EXPENDABLES NOW!!! https:...
We tried to find other examples where the thing called Mike was interviewing creators and giving them the same space to promote their videos - where they get to take over the stream and the Mike Miller character isn't putting away it's own promotions - and couldn't find any. Why would Tenapel be the only person where Blacklist Universe breaks it's format, takes the spotlight off the host and devotes all it's attention to this single creator?
It's an interesting question, doesn't prove anything. But if you are considering who is running this character we call Mike, this seems significant. If you really want to see a contrast with how different authors are treated, look at the video interview with Wenger.
A civil discussion with Wenger
Don't forget to back LONESTAR, get issue 1, 2 and MONSTER HUNT! here! https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lonestar-and-monster-hunt/x/19053687 Sign up for Qui...
Robust discussion, analytic deconstruction of various topics, morality is in play, other high concept items are making their way in and out of the conversation. Again, play it on 2x speed with close captions and you start to clue in on the idea that the person on the camera is not coming up with these points on the fly. The discussion is a little too tight to be improvised, Wenger is mostly not a participant, there's a dominance factor happening that doesn't happen in the interactions with Tenapel. Roger Scruton would have had a hard time laying out these avenues of argument so succinctly and with such aplomb, yet here it is.
In a silo, one could look at these videos and find it perfectly reasonable to conclude someone named Mike S. Miller is a real person who exists and he's Doug Tenapel's bitch. But the character Mike doesn't live in a silo. It lives in the real world, it has crowdfunding campaigns that have raised high dollar amounts without being fulfilled, it's creating merchandising stores for products that are ephemeral and no one is buying, it broadcasts on YouTube daily to tiny audiences mostly consisting of the same accounts, it trolls people constantly on Twitter.
And the only affinity this character we call Mike S. Miller has for another creator is Doug Tenapel. That relationship is significant.
The other reason not to dismiss Doug Tenapel's involvement is his work history. He's from Hollywood - this is something people chirp about from time to time. Three important outlets he worked with are Shiny Entertainment, Nickelodeon, and Breitbart - not necessarily as an employee, but as outlets for his thoughts and work.
While most creatives have interesting career journeys, Doug's seems especially interesting. Nickelodeon and Breitbart could not be further away from one another, it's the sun and the moon. Doug was working with Nickelodeon during the Dan Schneider era. Dan wrote, scripted and produced many of Nick's most famous shows, and he's also notable as a child predator. Some of what he did is absolutely unforgivable, as an adult, getting teenage stars pregnant, paying for their abortions, getting lawyers to cover it up.
Like many monsters in entertainment, Dan surrounded himself with others of a like mind. Chris Savino, John Kricfalusi, Brian Peck, others - Nickelodeon was their home. It makes sense, people tend to associate with others that share their values. Moreover, if you're guilty of something, why not socialize with others who do the same thing - lessens the chances of being accused yourself. In the 90s, I never had any professional dealings with Nick but there were widespread rumors about what went on there. In the 2000s, something you started to see was producers carrying around digital cameras. They had a name for them, they were called Hobknockers. People at Nick would trade the cameras and sometimes digital storage for the cameras with each other. The word was they were photos of talent for consideration in productions, but I always wondered what kinds of photos they were looking at.
The place was disgusting. It was a cash cow, many people respected it for being able to create hit after hit. But the underbelly - that shitstain Dan got Amanda Bynes pregnant, he's the reason she's so fucked up these day (him and her parents for letting it happen.) Just thinking about that is repulsive.
I take Doug at his word that he's a Christian, that he's a family man, that he has strong sentiments about sexual degeneracy because I know where he came from. While it's atypical that someone straight laced went anywhere with Nick, I'm ready to accept that he was the exception.
I'm also ready to accept other people recognize this as well. Doug's journey from Nick to writing for Breitbart is an interesting one. I know he was getting EWJ royalties the entire time and don't believe - not for a nanosecond - that he has ever been in dire financial straights, as he claimed when he was appearing on EVS streams. I also know Hollywood spends a lot of money on performative marketing these days, hiring schills to appear in social media to promote all kinds of causes. Some of them are hgih functioning creators in their own right, administrators who run movies and shows and just take a time out to send a signal about diversity, or inclusion, or the future of a franchise, or whatever. They want to appear they are better than the rot that came before them.
It would make perfect sense for someone to read an article in Breitbart, talk to others about these Communists in Hollywood, look at other marketing campaigns and cook up a 10-figure scheme to shift the culture back to Conservative values. I know people who would write checks for that effort right now if it was presented to them as an option.
Is Doug involved? Could not tell you. Is there a reason to look closely and examine what's happening? Goddamned right there is. Again, Nickelodeon / Viacom - that place was a den of pedophilia and sodomy the entire time Doug was there. He made a journey to present a personal brand that directly and outspokenly opposes the exact values that were present in this place. What happened during that journey to put him here, right now, in this place, associated with this thing we call Mike S. Miller, producing these hardcover books with the intent of creating valuable IPs that will be licensed and merchandized within the Hollywood system? Why would the goal be to walk back into the mouth of the beast, why would Doug be taking losses on his works if he was financially strapped, why would he be making his own videos?
Doug's presence and relationships are significant and should not be ignored.
Again, I don't believe there is a real-life person named Mike S. Miller producing videos for a YouTube channel called Blacklist Universe. There is some direction behind this character and I want to know what it is I'm seeing and why. Is this an artist, maybe who found a patron in Doug Tenapel, carrying out an elaborate performance art piece to examine the nature of value and the human experience in today's globalized economy? Is this a social media personality invented along the same lines as Renfamous designed to influence public opinion through direct confrontation?
EVERYTHING about the thing we call Mike S. Miller is inconsistent with the forces operating in reality. There's no logical explanation for it to exist, and Doug is pretty curious too. Don't ignore their close affinity.
GASP! A frequent streamer may have discovered the value in preparing an outline of topics they want to cover and also developed a rudimentary ability to segue between said topics even if it feels a bit forced. Clearly, this man isn't even a man at all, he's an invention of another man who by all outward appearances is concerned with metaphysics rather than meta-art. It is obvious that the metaphysician is controlling the fictional man, and there is no possibility that he is really a man who has asked his friend for advice on how to be a better streamer to perhaps reach more people, fictional or not
Edit: there's no real way to dance around this, so I'll just come out with it. I'm getting some serious Schuler vibes from this theory
- Registrado
- 18 de Feb, 2019
This on the same level of autism when people say EVS is masterminding WarCampaign when he's at best, just extremely complacent with their absurd behavior because they suck his dickYeah, that's something I considered too.
Let's remember we're trying to explain this thing called Mike S. Miller. Doug is relevant as a possible explanation for its origin and continued direction.
While I agree Tenapel is probably focused on other things, here's why you don't dismiss his involvement. On the one hand, Doug and the thing we call Mike S. Miller livestream together regularly. Recent video called Nerd of the Round Table.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap10JWYEZIc
I'm finding it's best to watch these videos on 2x speed with captions on. Focus a little less on what they say and more on the interaction. Doug Tenapel runs most of the conversation, selects the topics and does most of the talking. The video focuses mostly on promoting Doug's campaigns and achievements, there's no mention of the Mike Miller campaigns. For most of the video, they talk about comic book history, touching on famous artists and strips from the past, and the relative price of comic books.
The conversation was conspicuous mostly because it seemed like each discussion topic was a lead in to the next. This is something to watch for in the Blacklist Universe videos, many of them seem scripted and only superficially natural. There are no natural disagreements between the participants, there are no moments of insight leading from something said before. The dialog seems directed to hit certain points, with charts and graphs to justify something said earlier in the conversation.
So the video is an advertisement, Blacklist Universe is handed over to Tenapel for a night to promote his books. What other independent creator gets that kind of treatment? For comparison, there's 2 recent videos related to YBZ. They're hyper-critical, one makes the argument that Cecil is a better author and comics crowdfunder than Zack. There's a lot of charts and graphs used to present data that seems to make a point other than the one they are discussing (and no one disagrees about the relevance of the information.)
Ya Boi Zack 'N Me
Found out that Zack and I have the same opinions on a certain hashtag. Help Lisa with her Cancer costs! https://www.gofundme.com/f/c7mymg-help-lisa-beat-brea...
EXPENDABLES! Nerds of the Round Table
Last day for LONESTAR 2 and MONSTER HUNT!!! https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lonestar-1-2-and-monster-hunt-crossover-event#/ Back EXPENDABLES NOW!!! https:...
We tried to find other examples where the thing called Mike was interviewing creators and giving them the same space to promote their videos - where they get to take over the stream and the Mike Miller character isn't putting away it's own promotions - and couldn't find any. Why would Tenapel be the only person where Blacklist Universe breaks it's format, takes the spotlight off the host and devotes all it's attention to this single creator?
It's an interesting question, doesn't prove anything. But if you are considering who is running this character we call Mike, this seems significant. If you really want to see a contrast with how different authors are treated, look at the video interview with Wenger.
A civil discussion with Wenger
Don't forget to back LONESTAR, get issue 1, 2 and MONSTER HUNT! here! https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lonestar-and-monster-hunt/x/19053687 Sign up for Qui...
Robust discussion, analytic deconstruction of various topics, morality is in play, other high concept items are making their way in and out of the conversation. Again, play it on 2x speed with close captions and you start to clue in on the idea that the person on the camera is not coming up with these points on the fly. The discussion is a little too tight to be improvised, Wenger is mostly not a participant, there's a dominance factor happening that doesn't happen in the interactions with Tenapel. Roger Scruton would have had a hard time laying out these avenues of argument so succinctly and with such aplomb, yet here it is.
In a silo, one could look at these videos and find it perfectly reasonable to conclude someone named Mike S. Miller is a real person who exists and he's Doug Tenapel's bitch. But the character Mike doesn't live in a silo. It lives in the real world, it has crowdfunding campaigns that have raised high dollar amounts without being fulfilled, it's creating merchandising stores for products that are ephemeral and no one is buying, it broadcasts on YouTube daily to tiny audiences mostly consisting of the same accounts, it trolls people constantly on Twitter.
And the only affinity this character we call Mike S. Miller has for another creator is Doug Tenapel. That relationship is significant.
The other reason not to dismiss Doug Tenapel's involvement is his work history. He's from Hollywood - this is something people chirp about from time to time. Three important outlets he worked with are Shiny Entertainment, Nickelodeon, and Breitbart - not necessarily as an employee, but as outlets for his thoughts and work.
While most creatives have interesting career journeys, Doug's seems especially interesting. Nickelodeon and Breitbart could not be further away from one another, it's the sun and the moon. Doug was working with Nickelodeon during the Dan Schneider era. Dan wrote, scripted and produced many of Nick's most famous shows, and he's also notable as a child predator. Some of what he did is absolutely unforgivable, as an adult, getting teenage stars pregnant, paying for their abortions, getting lawyers to cover it up.
Like many monsters in entertainment, Dan surrounded himself with others of a like mind. Chris Savino, John Kricfalusi, Brian Peck, others - Nickelodeon was their home. It makes sense, people tend to associate with others that share their values. Moreover, if you're guilty of something, why not socialize with others who do the same thing - lessens the chances of being accused yourself. In the 90s, I never had any professional dealings with Nick but there were widespread rumors about what went on there. In the 2000s, something you started to see was producers carrying around digital cameras. They had a name for them, they were called Hobknockers. People at Nick would trade the cameras and sometimes digital storage for the cameras with each other. The word was they were photos of talent for consideration in productions, but I always wondered what kinds of photos they were looking at.
The place was disgusting. It was a cash cow, many people respected it for being able to create hit after hit. But the underbelly - that shitstain Dan got Amanda Bynes pregnant, he's the reason she's so fucked up these day (him and her parents for letting it happen.) Just thinking about that is repulsive.
I take Doug at his word that he's a Christian, that he's a family man, that he has strong sentiments about sexual degeneracy because I know where he came from. While it's atypical that someone straight laced went anywhere with Nick, I'm ready to accept that he was the exception.
I'm also ready to accept other people recognize this as well. Doug's journey from Nick to writing for Breitbart is an interesting one. I know he was getting EWJ royalties the entire time and don't believe - not for a nanosecond - that he has ever been in dire financial straights, as he claimed when he was appearing on EVS streams. I also know Hollywood spends a lot of money on performative marketing these days, hiring schills to appear in social media to promote all kinds of causes. Some of them are hgih functioning creators in their own right, administrators who run movies and shows and just take a time out to send a signal about diversity, or inclusion, or the future of a franchise, or whatever. They want to appear they are better than the rot that came before them.
It would make perfect sense for someone to read an article in Breitbart, talk to others about these Communists in Hollywood, look at other marketing campaigns and cook up a 10-figure scheme to shift the culture back to Conservative values. I know people who would write checks for that effort right now if it was presented to them as an option.
Is Doug involved? Could not tell you. Is there a reason to look closely and examine what's happening? Goddamned right there is. Again, Nickelodeon / Viacom - that place was a den of pedophilia and sodomy the entire time Doug was there. He made a journey to present a personal brand that directly and outspokenly opposes the exact values that were present in this place. What happened during that journey to put him here, right now, in this place, associated with this thing we call Mike S. Miller, producing these hardcover books with the intent of creating valuable IPs that will be licensed and merchandized within the Hollywood system? Why would the goal be to walk back into the mouth of the beast, why would Doug be taking losses on his works if he was financially strapped, why would he be making his own videos?
Doug's presence and relationships are significant and should not be ignored.
Again, I don't believe there is a real-life person named Mike S. Miller producing videos for a YouTube channel called Blacklist Universe. There is some direction behind this character and I want to know what it is I'm seeing and why. Is this an artist, maybe who found a patron in Doug Tenapel, carrying out an elaborate performance art piece to examine the nature of value and the human experience in today's globalized economy? Is this a social media personality invented along the same lines as Renfamous designed to influence public opinion through direct confrontation?
EVERYTHING about the thing we call Mike S. Miller is inconsistent with the forces operating in reality. There's no logical explanation for it to exist, and Doug is pretty curious too. Don't ignore their close affinity.
- Registrado
- 13 de Jun, 2019
@instythot ouch. Comparing this to Gail is a little dramatic.
All I'm saying is, when you look closely, there's evidence to suggest Mike S. Miller is not a real person. SJWs create artificial identities all the time, so do artists, so do people running ARGs, so do plain weirdos. I'm leaning towards more skeptical interpretations and it's completely possible I'm seeing something that's not there.
Wondering: have you actually watched any Blacklist Universe videos? I started after the Wenger interview and have mostly kept up.
It's not that any one video is batshit crazy, but when you watch them as a series the oddities start to add up. You start to think about what's being presented about this character, the history and environment in which it operates, what it has to say and what it said yesterday, the way it relates to the other people - and eventually you realize something's very wrong with this picture. It's not mental illness, it's more like a game you're not in on.
Don't have answers but find the whole thing captivating and am seeking ways to explain it. Would love to get other people's thoughts and impressions.
- Registrado
- 20 de Feb, 2017
That's rich coming from you.
I go back and forth, but I land on I just don't think he's smart enough to pull something like that and not get caught.
I just looked into this thread and holy fuck. Get help. Mike's been an industry for decades. I have comics from two decades ago. Their are photos of him at cons.
- Registrado
- 14 de Oct, 2015
Mike might have been in the industry for decades, but he‘s terrible at selling his own product And his own worst enemy. That is fact.
So you agree he's a real person? Careful, you'll lose your tinfoil hat....
He's self destructive, and?
- Registrado
- 13 de Jun, 2019
Pics please. Haven't seen any dead ringers for the guy in the videos.
- Registrado
- 28 de Mayo, 2019
There is NO concrete proof that the thing called "Mike" is a real person and not an actor/operative puppeteered by someone else.
There are plenty of reasons to believe he's a fabricated internet personality performance artist. I'm not saying he is or isn't, but it's POSSIBLE.
- Registrado
- 13 de Jun, 2019
The videos on Blacklist Universe are getting more and more disturbing.
The Great Controversy! SJW Click Bait! Blah!
Back BLESS THIS MESS! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/underdogmike/bless-this-mess-the-comic-strip Back Lonestar! http://lonestarcomic.com Get some LOOT...
www.youtube.com
The guy calling himself Mike S. Miller was coloring a page of art.
The video contained a lot of reasons to lean toward the actor hypothesis. On the one hand, the coloring was less than novice level, not the sort of thing anyone would pay money for. He was taking Photoshop tips from Edwin Boyette throughout the video, it was clear he's only got a rudimentary understanding of digital art techniques. The techniques - the way they were employed and the sequence in which they were employed - were very similar to ones I've seen in tutorials on the Color with Kurt channel. Like, if you followed him from the first video he did about flats through some of the troubleshooting videos - that's what the person in the video is doing.
There's also some anatomical problems with the drawing being colored. I'm familiar with the art in Injustice, there's lots of torso shots and they're much more accurately rendered. The drawing itself seemed like an attempt to replicate the style more than original work produced by the illustrator for Injustice. It's possible he hired someone from Fiver and gave him a copy of art from Injustice as a visual style reference, this is about the level of quality one would expect.
On the other hand, this was a Lonestar drawing. A colorist was hired to work on Lonestar 2 and Monster Hunt. If this is true, why would the thing we call Mike S. Miller be working on the colors at all? Sure, one explanation is that the book is very late, maybe he spent the money he was going to pay the colorist and now has to color it himself.
But if that's true, why showcase the fact that's happening? What possible reason could someone have for broadcasting production problems to an audience of backers who are financially supporting him? I was trying to think of another professional situation where it's a good idea to do this and couldn't come up with any.
This question brought me back to the performance art hypothesis. Why would the artist be working on his own colors, using digital techniques he doesn't understand, on a piece that's poorly rendered, on a work for a crowdfunded campaign that's about a year late? Let's pretend this is the real Mike S. Miller for a minute. Putting that level of incompetence on display could be another signal that this isn't reality, we're not dealing with a professional who intends to publish an actual comic book.
What I thought this could be is a statement about the declining standards of the entire comic industry. He's intentionally working distortions and bad color palettes into the mix to immerse audiences in modern techniques for designing comics. Bringing in non-industry professionals, working with tools that are strange and unfamiliar, presenting C-level illustrations as though they are good - there's a message here.
The other detail that made me think this can't be for real is Edwin. We know about Edwin's background, he's supposed to be a construction contractor. Why is he giving Mike detailed instructions on how to operate Photoshop? Like, that's not a hammer, that's computer software - how did he reach the level where he can instruct industry professionals on how to use their systems for creative work?
There's always been something about Edwin that's not on the level, an agenda that he's not talking about. He's also the person who ran Indiecron, tried to turn it into a marketing vehicle, he's also the person who is supposed to be so spiritual.
If you watch a lot of the videos on Blacklist Universe, one of the things you learn is the thing we call Mike and Edwin like to read scripture at the end. There's no scripture in this one, they just fawn over the colors while Edwin gives instructions. It left me wondering if there is some Biblical message we are supposed to be getting from this, possibly related to the nature of work in the industry. I'd have to think about the Psalms and what kind of inspiration they may be suggesting by moving away from a literal reading of the text in this particular context.
Anyways, I know a lot of other people look at it differently, but I see a lot of evidence to suggest the person we are seeing is not Mike S. Miller. If it is him, this is some kind of elaborate performance art piece. I'd really like to see better photos of this person from DC Comics and try to disprove these theories.