Tops and Bottoms – 25th June 2025. – Never Iron Anything

(A little early).

Hey there.

Still complaining about the heat? It’s a long one this week – apologies in advance.

It’s been another week of theories that have bounced onwards from things I’ve heard on interviews. This week about the intention and ability, in varying degrees of success, at keeping a product customer clucking in addiction. It comes from an aside I heard from Philosophy Professor Jacob Holland. (Apologies that in the last NIA podcast I misattributed it to Richard Dawkins.) He spoke about the effects that the vividity of memory has on an individual. It got me thinking about the vividity of our fantasy lives. Or to be more specific I’m thinking about the time and mental investment we take in following characters on a comic page and elsewhere in this modern overblown media landscape. How much we actually believe it’s real as we read, watch, listen or play. How much do we sacrifice of ourselves and especially our bank balances?

What represents a ‘Fantasy world’ within what I am positing?

Comics? Specific to a Universe.
Something like the Marvel cinematic and TV Universe?
My Little Pony? (And similar).
Dragon ball? (And other Anime/Manga)
Associated cosplay style activities?
A particular social media app? TikTok for example?
An entrenched political or social view? Unwavering, even in the presence of evidence to the contrary?
A religion.

How much do these capture and obsess the individual? How much time do they occupy? Do they escape from reality into these worlds? Sometimes? Most of the time? All the time? Then, we wonder how far people can slip from reality. How far do people allow themselves to slip from reality. They are possibly escaping from something? In escape they can find manipulation.

How does this play into the hands of an exploitative capitalistic model? Into the hands of online and in real life spending? Because the facts are there, once they have you addicted, they also have the contents of your bank account at their fingertips. Offering new subscription models, limited edition products, Funkos and many other associated over-priced crap. This is not a new thing, but our recent unblinking attention to social media has undoubtedly accelerated its growth.

So. We go back to that original theory and a sliding scale of a reality lost.

When memories are as vivid as reality = can be Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
When your dreams are as vivid as reality = this may be some creeping form of insanity.
When our fantasy lives are as vivid as reality = We become the exploited.

It’s a wide and admittedly probably ill-considered theory but has some basis in mental health and marketing studies – two things that aren’t really that strange a bedfellows when you get to thinking about it. Much of what I describe above can also be compared to religion. The pay-to-pray sneaky models of some faiths create a type of corporate slave. And comparatively so do these big entertainment companies. You only have to see the need and greed and laser focus of people running through the New York Comic Con or MCM in London on an early entry ticket. These folks racing, fighting, and frothing at the mouth for a ‘rare’ piece of crap. Online streams are flooded with promo and cunningly paid for fan content. This is much more than when Stan Lee encouraged a fandom – but he may easily be seen as the instigator, well intentioned or otherwise. These obsessives race to kiss the toes of the new and shiny messiah. Just this time they don’t want to take him out of his box.

The suits daring to worry about the cost and if the fan can afford it becomes secondary compared to seeing the purchases as a form of an oath of allegiance to that particular fandom and others. A perceived ‘need’ is pushing the affordability beyond its breaking point. To eventually cause financial injury/ruin to an individual. Broken and lying in the street the industrial corporate succubus moves on to its next victim.

There are a lot of lonely folks out there. Being lost in your own daydream world is still about being lost. Consumer-directed product and specific IPs can create a type of financial and intellectual slavery cloaked in the image of fraternity. This addiction leads to spending. I’ve been there, as have a lot of us. Solutions for this can often fall into the realm of well intentioned platitudes. Everyone needs to find their tribe and discover constructive criticism, and in doing so discovering some cold truths. Being alone may feel safe but true friends will have your back. Maybe get a girlfriend/boyfriend? (There’s someone out there for everybody – genuinely.) You can retain individualism in a group, hold on to who you are. Try remembering that even Princes Luna is not real.

Although, on occasion in motorway traffic, I wish that Magneto was.

But keep asking yourself. Is this worth my time AND money? (One day this writer will manage it, he promises). The rosaries are far too expensive in the Papal gift shop!

Back to irregular programming. I’m guessing you skipped a lot of the above?

I managed another NIA podcast. Number 175. This time with cartoonist Jonny Cannon. We chatted at length about artistic influences and the good and bad effects they can have on us. Jonny puts a lot of thought and study in to each panel and is well worth listening to. You can find it here. More coming in a few days as myself, Eamonn Clarke and Alan Henderson explore the work of an under appreciated British cartoonist.

Small Press Underground Manga of the Week.

Good Lawd this is extreme. Not for the newbies or faint of heart and soul. It explores torture, scat, sexual abuse, masturbation and all manner of other subjects. It is impactful and strangely retro all at once. I find it hard to recommend but it has a certain edge – not attractive to many, including myself. But it is an artistic achievement. Of a type.

Tops.

I’ve been catching up on the read pile and noticed I hadn’t got to some Usagi! Still the most consistently brilliant series out there. I’m sure that by now you all know that!

Bottoms.