We Should Talk About Ya Boi Zack

Richard from Comics MATTER w/Ya Boi Zack recently made a video that upset several fans of the channel who believe he was attacking me. We should talk about that and what I think Richard is actually doing. Diversity & Comics or Comics MATTER w/Ya Boi Zack are staples many disgruntled comic fans turned to on a daily basis for almost a decade. And it's pretty clear at this point Comics MATTER w/Ya Boi Zack is turning into something else. Wes discusses Ya Boi Zack's recent comments about the channel and how it's affected their relationship. We should talk about Ya Boi Zack.
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[@brianmurphy250]

I dropped Zack when he became an insufferable hypocrite

[@laverdadescatolica5]

Are you a woke sjw? 😀

[@goosey235]

Zack is very bizarre in the sense that he defends movie/tv people while he roasts comic people for the exact same behavior

[@linusgustafsson2629]

Zack is just one of those who don't care much when watching movies. Like he thinks it is a non-issue if your space jet catches fire in space, or if your main character decides to fix the elevator that runs on the electricity from the core that blew up. He probably also doesn't care at all if elves are black, or if Sauron dates Elven women and so on. To Zack a movie is just something you shut down your brain for and look at the action.

[@goosey235]

@@linusgustafsson2629 I agree, but that's what I'm saying - he would criticize comics for those exact same things

[@chubbbubb6870]

​@linusgustafsson2629 packs recent complaints are a couple things. 1. There is suspicion that some reviewers are not watching the movies they review. 2. They are hating on movies that really are not woke, and really not that bad. 3. They are not differentiating between diversity and forced diversity. 4. They are hating and reviewing things that are not ment for them. Things like Barbie, Snow White, Minecraft.... 5. They are calling things woke now that have been done before and where not considered woke previously.

[@ZeroSmoke.]

​@@chubbbubb6870Suspicions are just that: suspicions. Has Zack brought up evidence for this?

[@geekarchivistpearce828]

Sounds like something I heard before

[@ronynninjastar2414]

Ever since Ed Piskor died, I think he just snapped.

[@TheRiverintheRoad]

Since Comicstorian passed, Zack has lost it

[@cheesesandwich1528]

Idk. Was it that or when everyone didn’t like furiosa

[@DarthBobCat]

​@@cheesesandwich1528Those were the three strikes that broke him.

[@linusgustafsson2629]

@@DarthBobCat Well Movie Zack got angry when people complained about both Furiosa, Acolyte and Alien. Since then he just want to murder everyone who doesn't praise movies.

[@shawnsmith2006]

Don't forget Dial of Destiny, that he said was going to make a billion dollars and when it bombed he accused youtubers of of causing it to happen with their secret magic.

[@napoleonblownapart1141]

"Zack" has completely destroyed his own career (meager as it was) because he couldn't get over the fact that some people didn't like a cartoon that he really liked (X-Men '97). Pretty funny considering how he incessantly whines about middle-aged men acting like children.

[@SigmaTheWhiteFlame]

And the people he is going against, said that they were surprised and that they actually liked it. Same with Furiosa. Just because they talked about it and their initial impressions in context of the very real cultural war.

[@p_r_bl__d.diamondhands.]

Zack went crazy over people calling Furiosa a “girl boss”. Then went on a tirade about “50 year olds” whining about pop culture. You know, just like his channel.

[@RetroPages]

Which was hilarious and made it obvious that Zack hadn't listened to what anyone had actually said. As they said she wasn't a girl boss. They just understood why people might stay away from the movie because of the girl boss trend.

[@urchinblues7928]

In the storyline of Zack’s channel that was jumping the shark. Far from the days of the triumph of the first jawbreakers book.

[@ericstaples7220]

Stuff like Furiosa is made for 50 year olds, though. Stuff like Snow White is made for little girls.

[@johnnyskinwalker4095]

He became exactly like those Hollywood types calling these channel "50 years old whiners" cause of mentions of female leads. He has officially joined the enemy camp.

[@ericstaples7220]

@johnnyskinwalker4095 That's not actually what he has said. You guys are really just projecting onto him because he criticized your favorite tubers. Shows how indoctrinated you people are.

[@garfieldsbizarreadventure5758]

Zack did a project with Critical Drinker, and Zack, who failed to fulfill the book, has the gall to attack Drinker. Even tho Drinker has been lambasted by some of his own fans for Zack's failure to deliver the book, Drinker has refrained from attacking Zack. Let Zack sink.

[@oscarborjajr1176]

I am still waiting for that rambo book that critical drinker and zack did. I don't blame critical drinker because he was able to finish his book and it cool but zack on the other hand. I am still waiting for his book and also zack just finished backing his new project. How does he have so many new projects but never fully finished and have the gall to attack critical drinker and claiming he is a "birthday clown" when zack is the one acting not only a clown but a huge ass as well. Especially dissing Brandon lee crow movie and him as well.

[@JAVStyl0r]

Zack also ninja-launched that book and only did a very short campaign, 3 days IIRC. Drinker was on FNT that night and thought that was an error, he wasn't aware of any of it. From the outside it looks like YBZ was tanking it on purpose, next to zero promotion from his co-collaborators as well, completely kept them in the dark.

[@cheesesandwich1528]

@@garfieldsbizarreadventure5758 wait, what book did they ‘do’ together? I thought I knew about all the books but maybe just stopped paying attention since I still don’t have First Kill. I’ve

[@garfieldsbizarreadventure5758]

​@cheesesandwich1528 It was the spinoff Rambo book featuring Colonel Trautman. Critical Drinker is listed as his real name, Will Jordan, on that project.

[@WilberforceWooster]

A New Kind of War by Critical Drinker was fulfilled months ago by Zack (even separately if both it and First Kill were backed.) If you do not have it, you should contact Zack.

[@xkidmidnightx]

My problem with Zach is he does the same thing with comics and comic creators that he complains about other people doing with movies

[@locusmortis]

Exactly, how many videos and community posts has he done about Heather Antos, Vital Ayala, Tee Franklin and Mags Visaggio?

[@RoyalFizzbin]

This is true. It’s not his stance; it’s the hypocrisy.

[@Adorni]

But he doesn’t do Super Chats. Those are for losers and dweebs.

[@oscarborjajr1176]

Oh yeah. How dare people give them superchat while zack attacking them he make these comic books projects that art 10s of thousands of dollars but never fulfilled them and are extremely late or not coming. Still waiting for that rambo comic especially it hypocritical when he is attacking the critical drinker who they did a project together. Like what is he doing

[@CrackanutBar]

This is false equivalency Zack talking about the people who have basically destroyed the comic book industry and killed a guys is not the same thing as talking about an actress who’s in a movie for literal toddlers saying she’s pro Palestine on her personal twitter account

[@InfamyOrDeath-__-]

I think he’s lost the plot, it’s hard to believe a few people not liking Furiosa set him into meltdown mode. His views on movies are horrendous, and it’s utterly hilarious seeing him the champion of Hollywood.

[@slyc5920]

Yeah, that is what I was about to say

[@ascorvinus]

He’s not exactly the arbiter of good taste. He hated the Barry Windsor Smith Thing story from Marvel Fanfare but loved the Dave Cockrum Mega Force ripoff. 😂 I guess there’s certain things that he likes. And that’s fine. I enjoyed Furiosa a lot, but I already wanted to see it. I’d never go watch a movie on Zack’s recommendation.

[@TonyBaseballs23]

That's a crazy exaggeration.

[@theprincipalofficer_1]

Well he was on the way when he started to do films, I saw this starting then.

[@jds3k_616]

Zack watches the Beekeeper in 5 minute chunks over 2 weeks then gets mad when people are complaining about no good movies coming out.

[@raijinmeister]

Having different opinions is ok, the problem is personal attacks and turning on people who supported him in the past. You are a class act, Wes, and the only comics channel I regularly follow.

[@kerravon4159]

I un-subbed from his channel a few weeks ago, the level of _blatant_ hypocrisy was just off the charts, and he seemed totally oblivious to it. I honestly thought Richard was smarter than that but apparently not.

[@stormcrow1970]

You hit the nail on the head, Wes. Zack doesn't want to be a KZbinr. That is, in my opinion, why he's been purposefully getting people to unsubscribe from his channel. The problem is that by getting rid of his core audience/fans he's getting rid of his CUSTOMERS. Who is going to buy his comics on IGG? Not the people who have unsubscribed. Zack's campaigns will continue to do OK with the subscribers he has left. But will they ever match the ones that were being funded at six figures? Probably not. And, regardless of what Zack says, getting books out on time is actually something a comic book publisher should be concerned about.

[@j.r.hernandez]

That's the baffling part, YBZ's been engaged in anti-marketing for a while now. Would like that to stop, net drama is tiresome.

[@napoleonblownapart1141]

Looks like we have ourselves a *BIRTHDAY PARTY CLOWN* on our hands here, boys.

[@LlyodLlwelleyn]

Dude is out there attacking his own customers because his books are late. He then accused someone of being a “birthday party clown”, even though the accused wasn’t even being negative about the subject he was talking about.

[@ericstaples7220]

Being a clown =/= being negative about something

[@ironwulfx]

Although I loved his takes on comics, he would often talk about how he watched part of a movie here, part of a movie there, and the last part while pulling weeds from his lawn. He's not a movie person. Movies are meant to engage you for their run time. So it always pissed me off that he had some sort of angst against movies but still thought he could comment on them. Then he started going down an eccentric path, similar to Ethan Van Sciver. I decided that was enough for me and unsubbed. KZbin then tried to recommend his page to me with one of his community posts saying: "Wah wah wah! It's my channel! You're not going to change my mind by threatening to unsubscribe!" Ummm... I already did... now I'm hitting the "Don't show me this channel anymore" button. Good riddance. And God Speed.

[@lucymiau5700]

Zack just needs a time out to come clear about his future on KZbin. Currently, he uses his channel like other people their Twitter Accounts. An endless spamming of halfbaked thoughts and feelings of the day. His channel has become unwatcheable.

[@gildersleevefan67]

It's been like that for years. He'll post an interesting title, spend the first five minutes on his latest offer, come back to what the title of the video was, and then starts saying something that he hasn't really fleshed out to make a better, more succinct point. I stopped watching him years ago. Too bad because he was at the forefront of calling out the problems in the industry.

[@HeyImRosko]

He admitted he had to quit twitter a while back due to the creeping brainrot, and may have gotten backed up from non-tweeting. But I agree with you 100%

[@mikehunt1924]

He spent years telling comic creators they're "hotdog salesmen", which is true, but when it comes back against him he's suddenly making high art! Really weird progression he's made.

[@lucymiau5700]

@@HeyImRosko The problem is that he got this nitter-net "cheat code" and now he can stalk everyone on Twitter without having an own account.

[@glennpagemusic]

He's actually a really smart guy and I find even his unfocused rambling or stream of consciousness more compelling and funny than 95% of the dry-as-paint commentators out there.

[@DarthBobCat]

I unsubbed because I just got tired of constantly being spammed with him going after opinions from posts for public shaming. He wasn't even always wrong, I just got tired of it. It seemed petty. I didn't back has last comic because I still haven't read the last few I got from him. I really only like Jawbreakers, his other comics are bad to average. I realized he'd been making the same vids on repeat for years about his usual suspects, and seeing that pointed at people who I like to varying degrees made me take stock of if I wanted to wait for him to calm down. After a month or two, I was out.

[@candle-jack]

If Zack acknowledged he is personally salty about this situation regarding Film and TV reviews it wouldnt be that bad. But he is crusading on some pretense of objectivity and media integrity and people can see through it. Saying I think so and so is wrong is one thing, saying they are lying is another. The latter is clearly coming from his saltyness.

[@MushieNino]

Yeah, I can put up with personal flaws but at a certain point you just have to say 'You know what I got mad and I said some mad shit, I'm sorry. I'm going to take a month and try something different.'

[@Adorni]

Yeah, the lying accusations is really what’s sticking in my craw. Simply saying “he’s wrong” is fine. Even saying “he’s not watching the movie, I can show you” is perfectly reasonable. But when you say “this person is lying to you” you have now crossed the rubicon and are committed to causing damage to someone else’s character.

[@RetroPages]

@@Adorni His total meltdown about MauLer "admitting" that he hadn't watched the crow was like this. As though it was some major gotcha. MauLer wasn't reviewing the crow, he was talking with his panel about pop culture topics and essentially said to the others, 'I haven't seen the crow, those of you have tell us about it.' Of all Zack's recent meltdowns this one seemed the most deliberately dense and outright mischaracterization of reality.

[@feliperisseto9113]

​@@RetroPagesMauler of all people. A guy with a podcast full of lefties and libs who makes 9 hour long vídeos with a autistic level of argumentation on why he doesn't like something. Mauler is a better reviewer sleeping than Zack will ever be in his best day.

[@ericstaples7220]

A lot of us have walked away from channels like Drinker and Nerdist, because we saw they were just rage baiting for clicks. Zack isn't the first to notice this. He's just the latest to join the walk away movement.

[@Trid3nt861]

Richard went from being an anti-sjw comic person to becoming the very thing he used to rant and rail against.

[@matth8768]

you sound like a rippatard.. you have become the thing you hate.

[@napoleonblownapart1141]

And what makes it funnier is that Zac is too much of a midwit to recognize his own hypocrisy. "LEAVE RACHEL ZEIGLER ALONE!" (proceeds to post his 15th Tee Franklin video of the week)

[@Trid3nt861]

@@napoleonblownapart1141 also forgot to add in the multiple video uploads where Richard complains in an obsessive manner about Antos.

[@GartheKnightReturns]

I had to unsubscribe from him a few months ago. Dude has lost the plot. I couldn’t take the endless spamming of community posts as his personal Twitter account. He started using the same SJW tactics as the people he’s railed against in the beginning. Hypocritical behavior. I can sympathize with the Piskor family and their loss and how it potentially affected Richard. But the man made a decision. A selfish decision. He gave up. No matter what outside factors played into it he gave up instead of fighting. And yes, Josh Brolin is too old to play Hal Jordan. I’ve liked his work going all the way back to The Goonies. But he’s not right for Hal. Whatever Richard is going through he needs to change his Kotex and get on with it.

[@robertgray1365]

I unsubbed during his meltdown over Furiosa, of all things. When he started publicly ridiculing people who had fairly reasonable takes in his community posts instead of just replying to them in the comments I checked out.

[@kamenryan5538]

Same here. Those community posts got weird. Then I realized he blocked me, and I never had someone hateful exchange or anything. I'm not gonna buy more books from someone who blocks me.

[@1SpicyMeataball]

I always knew he had bad taste in movies, but I never expected him to become a sperg about it.

[@MarioWendorf]

Same

[@misterb1812]

The Drinker has his presentation down to a fine science. The guy is far more analytical than the vast majority of KZbin entertainment channel hosts/"influencers" without boring anyone. Great pacing, doesn't talk in circles and brings the comedic gold every time. I don't necessarily agree with him on everything, but most of the time his griping has merit and his praise is spot on. The only problem to indirectly come from the dude is the thousands of would-be clones trying to mimic his approach and failing miserably.

[@sixsevenfour]

To each their own. Aside from his earlier videos everything has felt very similar and boring for a while now. The videos with multiple people from the crew of UK anti-woke pundits echo chambering are even worse. He found his cookie cutter. It certainly gets him views from people that need to hear the anti woke/SJW narrative to feel alive or whatever so more power to him, it just doesn't feel like there is heart behind any of it anymore.

[@misterb1812]

@@sixsevenfour he clearly has the "GoWokeGoBroke" parrots in his fanbase., but I'm fairly certain his crowd expands much further. Bottom line I don't think he NEEDS to stick to that rhetoric to be entertaining - it's one aspect he hits on out of many. I don't generally watch the presentations\conversations with his posse', they just aren't that interesting.

[@1SpicyMeataball]

@misterb1812 See, I find him more interesting on the podcasts with G&G etc., but his reviews grate on me. I like listening to him without the persona. And he has branched out and improved beyond "getwokegobroke"schtik. (Sp?)

[@misterb1812]

@@1SpicyMeataball Some of his focused interviews\commentary on other shows are interesting (ex. Piers Morgan), just don't care for the straight up groupthink ramblings where everyone's sharing the same brain. He also held an excellent interview with Russell Crowe.

[@laverdadescatolica5]

Critical drinker? No. He’s a grifter. He’s done. Time to move to the middle and away from the RIGHT and LEFT. If ALIENS or TERMINATOR/TERMINATOR 2 came out today, they would be labeled “woke sjw films.”

[@brittlby4016]

Yeah. He’s having some sort of weird break down. I think he enjoys being contrary. I dropped Zack’s channel a couple months ago. Which is what he claims to want from dissenting followers. So win-win. We’re both happier. You on the other hand handled this “beef” if that’s what this even was reasonably and professionally.

[@HeyImRosko]

I'm on a similar timeline. It really seems like he wants his channel to implode, rather than just shut it down. Its almost but not exactly like he wants to feel victimized, then abandoned by unreasonable fans who only want the bday clowns. Its ironic, BC I do think the FNT/G&G era has about run its course. I had noticed the repetitiveness years ago and had been slowly dropping most of these style channels this year. I'd still be subbed to Zack if he hadn't decided to treat YT community posts like X. Spamming a weeks (now months) long spiral over ones bad taste in corporate films was too much

[@ianhowe338]

He literally deleted my comment for defending you. He’s really lost his mind.

[@LaneDanley]

Richard deletes and/or shadowbans almost everyone who even mildly disagrees with him now.

[@sikax13]

​@@LaneDanleyNot unless you kiss his ass while doing it seen plenty of comments saying how they disagree with him but then proceed to fellate him right after stay up and get hearted with no problem so its more like if you mildly disagree with him while hurting his feefees then he'll shadowban/delete your comment

[@JPa-x8p]

A lot of youtubers are deleting comments and lie about the algorithm doing it. Even antisjws are doing this.

[@TheGuyInTheCheapSeats]

Good on you for taking the high road, Wes. As for Zack, all I'll say is in the middle of his breakdown, he posted, "I miss Stan Lee." Gee, Zack, is this how you want to honor his memory? By insulting and running off everyone who has a different opinion than you? By turning on people who called you friend? By blocking everyone except yes men? How was that your takeaway from the man's life?

[@OrthwormJEB]

Ya Boi Zack has definitely gone insane. All he does now is post bitter Community posts and make videos on the people he refers to as "Birthday Party Clowns". I remember he would leave some harsh critisim over Doomcock and his constant "Kathleen is getting fired" related videos and I say to myself "That his opinion on what he thinks of him." even though my feelings towards Doomcock were different from his. Several months laters I noticed him making posts on anyone criticising the thing that is popular were annoying to him (Snow White being hated due to Rachel, Star Wars Acolyte being godawful, Indy 5 being worse than the fourth one) to bringing popluar critics such as Critical Drinker, Nerdrotic, G+G, and eventually throwing Eric July udner the bus because of his friendship with AZ (aka the guy that was shouting over pronouns as many people call him). Then he would bring that attitude to his videos and that's when I had enough and unsubbed the channel. Looking at it now, he's under 100k and honestly I'm glad he's bleeding subs cause the man is showing that he needs to either take a break and finish his damn comic that peopel are saying he is late on delivering or leave KZbin. And can I point out the irony of him making posts calling Drinker, Nerdrotic, and G+G "Birthday Party Clowns" when he himself is a clown for "stalking" irrelevant comic pros on Twitter (the site he left due to it being toxic).

[@ericstaples7220]

Frankly, you're not using the term clown in the same context. He refers to tubers as clowns if they aren't giving honest criticism and are just putting on a character for entertainment. And you really shouldn't bother taking sides on this drama. Neither of these tubers care about you.

[@DamitTucker]

What finally lost my subscription was when I scrolled down my feed a noticed he was using his channel as his Twitter account. I never saw more from the "Birthday Party Clowns" then when I was subscribed to him.

[@themaker2149]

Can we just talk about how respectful west is being about this? He deserves credit for not giving in to the type of emotions that others have given into

[@MushieNino]

It's true, this is classier then zak deserves at the moment in a lot of ways. Just another good reason to enjoy this content.

[@TonyBaseballs23]

Agreed, but I think part of that is because Zack hasn't said anything bad about him. This is somebody else trying to stir shit up.

[@tomfink7505]

Agreed. This has been the most level-headed commentary I've seen anyone make about Richard's current trajectory.

[@joshuashepard583]

Amen to that. Grace should be our first and second reaction.

[@Br1cht]

When you get older you´ll realize that the dagger slides in easier with a smile and polite words:)

[@KardboardKenny]

there's a name i haven't heard in years. then again, Wes and Co are the only source of comic news i use.

[@bvdemier1]

the fact he started saying Drinker didnt watch the movies he reviews shows how small minded he became. And now he is fully black pilled. And that is where i stop listening.

[@bradhogue2029]

Classy video. And that's another reason that Thinking Critical is the best comics channel.

[@currybr]

True that.

[@joshjones9749]

The fact everyone Zack is attacking is taking the higher road makes it look all the more like he's just losing his mind.

[@JohnM-kd4dl]

Now he posted a comment implying that he is white knighting for all the poor fools led astray by the money-hungry youtubers. I could probably look past some of his complaints about content creators if he didnt maintain such a patronizing attitude toward his audience. Why is it so hard for him to understand that we all adults making a choice to click on content and subscribe and support favored creators? They might not be his preference but it is our choice.

[@ericstaples7220]

Would it be fair to say people are led astray by money hungry politicians and media outlets without it coming across as patronizing? If anything it is coming from a desire to help you wake up to manipulation

[@manicpixiefangirl4189]

Zach needs to realize that he has no business trying to discuss film on his channel. He clearly has no clue about any of it and isn’t willing to learn.

[@MarioWendorf]

I posted more than once to keep that stuff contained to his movie channel

[@draakgast]

​@@MarioWendorfbut nobody watches that channel, it muzt frustrate him to the point he forces it upon people on his main

[@LaneDanley]

Yeah, he should rename his channel to "Simpin' for Slop". He's predisposed to defend corporate entertainment at all costs now. It's very strange. He just wants to consoom. Which... whatever. But the problem is that he keeps relentlessly attacking people, and half the time his reasoning seems delusional.

[@currybr]

I unsubscribed from Zack, ending a six-year subscription. For me there are three big problems with his new approach. 1) Zack is a crappy film critic. He can't tell a good movie from a bad one and doesn't have anything interesting to say about them. 2) Zack knows squat about the film industry. When he tries to discuss the context of a film, what's going on behind the scenes, he's always superficial and usually wrong. 3) Zack doesn't just put out crappy film content, but insists on launching stupid and nasty attacks on the KZbinrs putting out quality film content like Nerdrotic, Critical Drinker and Doomcock. These attacks seem to me to come from mean-spirited envy.

[@Ultra_Light_Beam]

You are delusional. Ya Boi values being honest.

[@hatemongerofthetoxicbrood6561]

​@Ultra_Light_Beam Yes that is why he deletes comments. Deletes his own community post that makes him look dumb or deranged. Yes such HONESTY.

[@sikax13]

​@@Ultra_Light_Beamhe values being honest soooooo much that he will make shit up to suit whatever "point" he's trying to make

[@napoleonblownapart1141]

@@Ultra_Light_Beam Yeah, attempting to publicly shame and cancel his own paying customers for daring to ask for a refund for a product that was supposed to ship years ago and is still nowhere to be seen (despite him running multiple new crowdfunding campaigns in the interim) really screams "honest, stand-up guy."

[@HeyImRosko]

You left out incessantly making dozens of cranky and non-entertaining community posts every. Single. Day.

[@riotkitty]

Good on you Wes for being the bigger man and taking the high road. Sadly, Zack isn’t being one. He’s become incredibly salty lately over the most absurd things, spamming strange rambles in his community posts almost every day. Hopefully he adjusts his attitude sometime, being overly negative about negativity while engrossing in toxic positivity is not the way to go.

[@oscarborjajr1176]

Not only that but he is also attacking his audience as well by making post on his community posts about how wrong they are or tell them to unsubscribe from him and making a huge clown of himself. The guy is bleeding subscribers.

[@napoleonblownapart1141]

@@oscarborjajr1176 Considering that he has lost like 10% (maybe more) of his subs in the last few months, a whole lot of people seem to be taking his advice to heart. "It hurt itself in confusion!"

[@HeyImRosko]

Yeah, I'd been subbed since he had around 3k, was literally the first comics youtuber I followed. About 2 months ago I had to finally and sadly unsub due to the constant community posts. I could overlook his terrible movie takes and random OCD rabbitholes, but he was absolutely spamming those posts and it just became unbearable having to wade through 5-10 unfunny and immature posts in my feed at 2 hour intervals every day.

[@RetroPages]

I do like Wes describing not being bothered when criticism like that comes from a friend. One has to wonder, with friends like Zack, do you need enemies? That's probably not fair. He's just so aggressive with his "friends" lately.

[@draakgast]

​@@napoleonblownapart1141and those are just the people "active" who knows how many boomers lost their password and stopped watching him

[@MelDHuber467]

I loved watching Zack’s videos, but his channel has turned into a vortex of hate for other KZbinrs and forced positivity for movies and TV. I don’t think all of Zack’s criticisms are wrong though, in fact I think he’s made some very valid points, but he’s so pessimistic and aggressive it’s hard to keep up. I used to get a warm fuzzy feeling whenever I’d go on Zack’s channel, it was like visiting your fun uncle who had sage advice, but ever since he snapped (whenever that was), his channel has become depressing. I’m hoping that this is just a phase and that after the election he’ll chill out and reflect on everything, but if not, then sadly, I think we are all the worst for it.

[@ericstaples7220]

What does the election have to do with anything?

[@99Michael]

I remember him as Diversity in Comics and stuck with him as he moved around and sofa-surfed. I respect him as a war veteran and commentator. I rarely get through entire videos these days, and the frontloading of his books in the first five minutes is a big turn-off. I often just click off rather than fast-forward through it.

[@TechnoTanuki]

Zack makes issues out of Non-issues.

[@jimjam51075]

Zack complains that everybody puts down the same thing at once, but after everybody has complained about ten more things in a year's time...he'll still be complaining about the same four nobodies. Except now, he puts down other people for complaining about the same thing at once. Zack is a contrarian. The platform has created a contrarian's nightmare because it can provide feedback. His contrarian ways have trapped him in an endless feedback loop of contrarianism.

[@joshjones9749]

I can't stand contrarianism.There's no moral backbone in it. No consistency of character. It creates a person who forms all their opinions based on what other people think.

[@orlylando]

What really turned me off about Richard is how he's attacking The Critical Drinker after he wrote a story for the Rambo book he's super late on. Maybe he is focusing his energy on the wrong things instead of criticizing other KZbinrs.

[@manofaction1807]

I miss the old D and C channel.

[@blackcat7k]

Zack has horrible movie tastes. I like when he has something to talk about comics, but movies? Hell no.

[@plasticweapon]

he doesn't even really like comics. he just obsesses over them.

[@cheesesandwich1528]

Richard fancies himself an artiste now. Hating fun is a new development. Don’t think his channel will survive.

[@kelpietales4503]

Thank you for this mature take. Did not know he started complaing about you or Neon as he (& Geeky) are like you said thay are some of the most practically neutral with fair takes out there on YT. I was regularly watching his videos and yeah, I get it's a sense of frustration about little change in the industry as well as negativity about modern media which is still lackluster to say the least. Between his seeming "breakdown" and other circles out there where people act if you have an opinion that isn't glowing praise and/or point out obvious tropes that have been everywhere you are the problem. Which as others pointed out, is ironic as criticizing how poor the comic industry and "profressionals" are is what he has been and still does. I do still get the sense so many are tired of the "culture war" and everything being either "woke" or "anti-woke" but seem like having any kind of criticism is a problem. Like, apparently he's trying to defend the Minecraft movie of all things...just take a break dude, please for your sake.

[@ericstaples7220]

Look at all these critics getting upset that they are being criticized

[@JDPetty0990]

I just wish he was more mature in expressing his point of view. It's one thing to disagree, it's another thing to be catty towards those who disagree and mute people who disagree. And the "point and laugh" posts were awful.

[@tomfink7505]

Apologies for the length of this post. Hopefully, it won't collapse under its own weight. Firstly, excellent video, Wes - I always look forward to your vids and insight (as well as those when you’re chatting with Doc, Aaron, etc.). Yours is about the only comics-related channel I still make it a point to watch (I’m subscribed, so I never have a reason to miss one). I’m a little further down life’s road than you - I’m 58 and collected pretty much from the early 1970s -- when I’d ride my bike to the store to spend my allowance money on floppies right off the spinner racks - to the early 2000s, with a few exceptions. I only said that to say, as an old comics guy, I greatly appreciate the channel. I’m sure the death of Ed Piskor had much to do with Richard’s current state of mind. He’s always had different taste in movies, which is fine, but somewhere along the way, he really, REALLY became aggressive towards anyone who disagreed with his takes on movies, television series, etc. to the point of mocking them - even other KZbinrs, which isn’t a good strategy as he risks alienating people who follow them. Making fun of KZbinrs for creating content about The Acolyte, Rings of Power, Snow White, etc. is making fun of someone for making a living. Yeah, there were a LOT of videos about them, but it's what was in the cultural zeitgeist at the time, so why not create content from it? Telling people to "point and laugh" at "middle aged men" for being mad about something (allegedly) intended (?) for teenage girls or children is curious, given that he made a fair career out of criticizing comic books -- arguably, a medium that largely is for children and teenagers. I remember when he got off Twitter, he said he was doing so for his own mental health and to avoid the drama, but he’s been using his community posts (on KZbin) to attack people (again, mostly other KZbinrs) as if it’s a Twitter substitute (sorry - I’m never not calling it Twitter), intentionally stirring the pot and, based on his posts, it’s NOT helping his mental health. He doesn’t engage people in civil conversations but claps back at even mild critiques or suggestions and blocks people who don’t blindly agree with him - a tactic that he railed against SJWs about for years. In one of his videos, he talked about a restaurant he used to frequent that he stopped going to because there was a waitress that was always giving shit to other customers. Never to him, but she created such an unpleasant atmosphere, he didn’t like the drama and the hostility there, so he simply stopped being a customer. I think with all the attacks he’s making on Nerdrotic, Eric July, Critical Drinker, etc., the same rule of cause and effect is playing out. Lastly, I’m sure you’re right about him wanting to work in comics. His channel was created shortly before Mark Waid killed his original Jawbreakers deal with Antarctic (?). I’ve backed some of his books over the years and they’ve been okay - other than “Expendables Go to Hell” (to which he owed a lot of credit to Chuck Dixon), they’ve ranged in satisfaction from “meh” to “just okay.” Nothing has wowed me. One thing about them I didn’t appreciate though was how late they all were. He seemed to have trouble working on multiple books at once (which at one point, he admitted), but for the longest time, refused to do ONE project at a time, finish it, get it out and then start a new one. As another writer, I appreciate the idea of “writing when the inspiration hits,” but it worked against him. In one of his videos, he made the claim that he didn’t think customers cared about something being late, so long as they got it, but I disagree. People are patient to a point and then, they start to feel taken advantage of. I got tired of waiting years for a project - same with Ethan (whose Reignbow Brute I backed in 2021 - the book still hasn’t come out and he’s selling action figures for it - dude, WTF?). Anyway, those are my thoughts. Thanks for all the quality content, both entertaining and informative. I always hope you and those in your circle are doing well. Take care and have a great weekend, sir!

[@HeyImRosko]

The channel was going for a while (maybe a whole year) righteously criticizing the comic industry before the Waid situation. Its why Waid scuttled his Antarctic deal, the "pros" hated him for pointing out the dross they were pumping out.

[@MRF1983]

Your comment said a lot of what I feel/ have said, but you did it in such a much more wholesome way. Right on, man 👍 For whatever the particulars in his life, I think Meyer is unhappy and juxtaposed with Wes, who talks in this video about being a happy husband and stay at home father with "the coolest job", it makes Meyer's unhappiness that much more apparent.

[@jasoncoward-aintscared]

I unsubbed because his "party clown" and "put the fries in the bag" phrases turned into white noise.

[@EmotionallyExhausted]

I tapped out when he dropped the suit against Waid. I wish him the best, but I just stopped "getting" him at that point, and I gather that things have taken a turn for the worse.

[@maxfish4270]

I can defend dropping the lawsuit as the lawyers were the only ones winning and the point against Waid had been established. Success is the best revenge and it is a shame Zack squandered that chance.

[@DeathWatch-jh3yx]

That guy is unhinged. I unsubscribed from his channel like a month and a half ago because he went non stop at Star wars theory. It’s weird.

[@sirrogerjalbert]

I thought it was funny how many times he said he didn't like star wars but he has lots of opinions about people who do

[@DarthBobCat]

Defending stupid retcons that would have driven him crazy in Marvel because, as the rights holder, Disney has the right to change things. It's so weird seeing him decide to just abandon critical thinking in favor of some sort of "well actually they can do whatever they want, so don't complain, enjoy 4/10 movies."

[@MWLynch100]

Zack is being weird obsessing over some of these KZbinrs who review movies. Especially Critical Drinker. It’s particularly weird since Drinker did a Rambo comic for him but it’s not mentioned. You’d think Drinker stiffed him but someone has said that comic was delivered while Zack’s wasn’t. He talks about him like he doesn’t have that connection-again, weird.

[@JimMorrisonsBathtub]

Can confirm. Critical Drinker's book shipped and Zack's didn't.

[@MWLynch100]

@@JimMorrisonsBathtub was it bad or something? Zack seems like he’s got a vendetta against him.

[@JimMorrisonsBathtub]

No it was really good. I have no idea why Meyer hired him to write a comic book, Drinker wrote it and did a really good job and it's the only thing from the campaign that actually shipped, and now Meyer's trashing the Critical Drinker when nothing about the Drinker has changed at all since the day Meyer apparently thought he was good enough to write a comic book for him.

[@MWLynch100]

@@JimMorrisonsBathtub so weird

[@HeyImRosko]

​@@JimMorrisonsBathtubI don't think Zack brought in Drinker. Probably was Chuck Dixon with a dash of Stallone, who was involved.

[@leonardpigg6441]

He got "Waided" and hasn't recovered since.

[@Vicshade]

Zack doesn’t know as much about comics as he thinks. His knowledge starts from the speculator boom and after. The smugness gets to me but I’m hoping he works through it.

[@JohnM-kd4dl]

I've noticed this also. I started collecting closer to the middle of Crisis on Infinite Earths. He does remind me of the wave of people that came into comic stores for the first time with the wave of superstar artists like McFarlane and Jim Lee that made it trendy with the "cooler" kids who played sports and smoked behind the bleachers. In a way that bunch were an earlier group of "tourists" latching on to something when it was cool and rebellious to do some before the current SJW's decided it was mainstream enough to take an interest in.

[@maxfish4270]

@@JohnM-kd4dl Zack certainly puts art above story and character but "tourist" is absolutely the wrong description of Zack.

[@trumangarrick9646]

I don't think he cares about KZbin or subs or any of that stuff anymore, the channel is obviously there at this point just as an outlet to vent his frustrations

[@Exar_Kun]

I will never forget the time Zack got absolutely bodied for loving the last Jedi. It was one of the funniest things ever and I don’t think he expected that kind of response or really how to deal with it. TBH In fairness to Zack, he took it on the chin and everyone had a good laugh! Should’ve known back than though, anyone that enjoys TLJ is a huge red flag lol!!

[@MerrimanDevonshire]

Problem with Zack is that he crippled himself as a publisher with MULTIPLE failed deadlines. 😢 So... he is left with an ever reducing Google Ad Revenue steam and most likely a background of financial/personal issues that will come out in a few years. 😮

[@WarBrer247]

Ultimately, everything boils down to money.

[@freman007]

Zack is mainly a writer and publisher, with much of the physical work done by other people. But that carries with it the issue of people not meeting the schedule. Every book I've ordered with him, I've received, except the latest project because it's still in progress. I do wish he'd snap out of it and get back to roasting bad comic books.

[@OnimenoJason]

The problem is he should have the books almost done before he puts up the campaign. That's the main issue comic crowdfunders have. I understood at the beginning, people didn't have the capital to get everything done at first. But at this point, Zack and EVS have had very successful campaigns that they should already have the books ready before the campaigns go up. Iconic and Rippaverse don't have that issue. They have books ready before they put up their campaigns with both really being preorders.

[@maxfish4270]

You're too kind. Zack absolutely is allowed a different point of view. The problem is when Zack's complaints aren't supported by solid arguments. Zack framed the Josh-as-Hal kerfuffle as you not knowing Hal has ever appeared with gray hair. He claimed again and again and again and again and again Drinker and Nerdroitic didn't watch Romulus even though they have pirate cam footage from the movie in their videos, saying they only talked about things in the trailer when they discussed plenty that was not. Zack has devolved to believing any complaint that isn't about Tee Franklin is ignorant grifting and ignores or claims gaslighting whenever the flaws in his statements are pointed out.

[@megakristof3855]

I actually switched from Zacks channel to this one after 7+ years watching him. He got upset about negative movie reviews and didn't see the parallel to his own negative comic reviews. The issue wasn't the difference in opinion, it was him spamming salty community posts.

[@TonyBaseballs23]

Zack's right about the endless outrage clickbait from the usual suspects.

[@Awakeandalive1]

THIS. It feels like he's just looking for a new controversy to farm.

[@rickymcn1]

@@TonyBaseballs23 But his own channel was the exact same thing for comics. Endless videos all mocking the industry while revolving around the 5 same people. Now he constantly goes after movie critics more than those critics go after movies. He's a massive hypocrite.

[@TonyBaseballs23]

@@rickymcn1 I disagree, I just think his perspective has changed. It happens to people who are stagnant. I used to watch all of those channels too but I unsubbed from all of them months ago, for the very same reason Zack's criticizing them for. There's a point where valid critique turns into vitriol for vitriol's sake, and that's where we are.

[@MushieNino]

Yeah both him and EVS have forgotten that the point is to sell hotdogs. I'm sure they'll calm down next year or so.

[@Br1cht]

Zack uses his KZbin as therapy and that´s honestly heartbreaking.

[@krisj827]

I've been waiting on this vid. Wes, Zack is a person that doesn't like ppl that speak out against Disney but he has no problem dissing Tee Franklin, Heathet Antos and the rest. Wes, it's ok to extend grace to Zack but just know that he's not your friend. He needs help badly.

[@Leshil]

Out in the real world, Zack doesn't matter. That's the real rub for Zack.

[@danielwright8555]

I unsubscribed to Zach also. I had followed him since he started, but it just became intolerable. All the lashing out. He needs help.

[@login6671]

“He is allowed to have a different opinion than me” It’s insane that you even have to say that and yet you really do have to in this day and age.

[@omegaman2846]

This is why I like you, Wes. You always feel like you’re not only honest about how you feel, but never get sucked into drama in a reactionary way. You love comics and I love hearing you talk about comics. I still rewatch your comic debate stream you did a while back. Stay being you, brother.

[@azrael1045]

The fact that Wes is unaware is the greatest smackdown

[@Mr_Robotts]

He just went on and on and on about Furiosa and how people didn't go out and see it in the numbers he wanted, and after weeks and weeks of it, I had enough. I went back a little while ago, and he's still going on about it.

[@ClownfishTV]

I never got the feeling we were being called out. He’s just not into the Disney drama, which is fair.

[@MarioWendorf]

What do you think of everyone that is being called?

[@draakgast]

Because zack never watches the full video's he probably made mistakes, but why admit you made mistakes when "everyone us just blindly hating"

[@mikehunt1924]

I only watched Zack for his coverage of comics. His opinions about movies and TV shows have always been complete garbage. He used to quarantine his crap opinions to a separate channel no one watched. Now his main channel is just contrarian bullcrap and attacking his fans. I'm done with his nonsense.

[@joshjones9749]

At the end of the day that's what the guy has become, a contrarian. I can't STAND contrarians.

[@MarioWendorf]

I suggested in his comments section to move his new crusade to that channel and he wasn't having it

[@SlightlyPeeved]

Same

[@mikehunt1924]

@@MarioWendorf Same here. The guy has a right to his opinion and can wreck his channel if he wants to, but most of us aren't interested in listening to him sperg about for three months about how much he loves Furiosa and how everyone is a scam artist because they don't agree with this awful taste in movies.

[@plasticweapon]

"splatto del gatto". he thought that was so funny. he laughed so hard at his own joke (the kind of thing he would criticize somebody else for).

[@Jonkin715]

Ed's self-deletion took a big toll on Zak's mental health for sure.

[@WarBrer247]

Makes me wonder what the skeletons are in his closet.

[@WGPhil-uw5cs]

​@WarBrer247 that he starred in a adult video kissing a girl after she performed oral on another dude?

[@keithmichael112]

@@Jonkin715 right around that time was the first time I saw a community post that made me wonder if he mentally ok lol

[@ddw1272]

@@WarBrer247 The skeletons are that those same people tried to get him to kill himself as well

[@EricOSullivan]

@@WarBrer247who cares? What skeletons are in your closet? Is it anyone’s business? How does that matter?

[@32FONickweiser]

I wouldn't mind Richard having issues with both sides. The problem is all his arguments can be dismantled with ease.

[@casbyness]

This is absolutely 100% the core problem. He's correct in the general sense that many anti-SJW KZbinrs are grifting to some degree, but the way he expresses the point and his attempts to provide evidence or arguments to back it up are laughably weak. If the guys on FNT or EFAP invited him on to a stream for an actual debate, he'd be utterly destroyed. Someone like Mauler would take him apart in seconds. There are so many better and more entertaining ways for Zack to be doing the thing he's currently doing, but he's just not energetic, focused, or inventive enough. for example, he could spend a stream making a tier list of anti-SJW grifters - something that would be genuinely fun to watch and talk about, instead of all the impromptu lashing out his videos have devolved into.

[@32FONickweiser]

@@casbyness 100%. Mauler and Drinker debated Fallout and those 2 even got small push back for liking Andor but stuck to their guns yet everyone is still cool with each other. It's like Zack selectively listens to when everyone agrees on bad stuff but the minute a debate actually happens he pretends that his ears didn't hear it. Zack acts like he is being the "honest one in the room" but his actions sing a completely different song.

[@RealCaptainAwesome]

IDK "Zack" seems to have lost in. I supported him from his early days only missing his first comic because of bad timing, but after a video where he was shocked that he made a bunch of sales when the Drinker shouted out their colab and i mentioned that advertising is important, he blocked me.

[@JJTDK85]

If Richard would just like to make comics he can start by getting back to fulfilling them. He is late on a lot of books. If he wants to sell those books he needs to grow an audience, attacking other creators is a fast track to shrinking your audience.

[@SolidGoldCEO]

I think a lot of the CG guys need to admit they don't have the creative motivation to keep making books.

[@shadowspider9]

@@SolidGoldCEO Or a good plan. They talk about changing the culture but you aren't going to change the culture when your books are only able to reach and audience of 10K max. They need to start trying to get their books into places the general audience will see them.

[@devanbarrios9216]

​@@shadowspider9to add to your point, take a look at Mark Pelligrini and Tim Lim; they focused on the quality of their books (Kamen America and Black Hops) and found a audience. Right now, Kamen America is making a big splash in Japan. This was all possible because of their dedication to the craft.

[@shadowspider9]

@@devanbarrios9216 Interesting. I am aware of Kamen America but not Black Hops. Have to check that one out. Thanks.

[@linusgustafsson2629]

On the few videos he does about them, it often feels like he paid someone to draw, and they were drawing slower than agreement, or he asked for a script, and got a half-assed one and had to ask for adjustments and so on. So I think Zack is rarely to blame for the delays, and he is just suffering from what every publisher suffers from until they cut ties to people who aren't professional enough.

[@TheKenthor]

Much respect for this measured and reasonable response. I lost all respect for Richard as a commentator when he starting muting his viewers over differing opinions. I have my disagreements with some of his opinions, which he seems to confuse for facts, and thats fine. Muting people who aren't outright abusive is low and I believe he does it a lot.

[@AdventuringMind]

Zack is sad case. I loved most of his takes but his dabbling with censorship was what made me unsubscribe from his channel.

[@TheKenthor]

@@AdventuringMind Same for me. That's crossing a line.

[@dbsommers1]

Yep. It was my first shadowbanning and it took me a couple of months to catch on. I discovered its happened to other people as well.

[@aliasjones6381]

Same

[@DubleDubs]

This video is the perfect contrast to his current content. You offered your opinion cool and professionally. I remember if he had a criticism of another KZbinr that was in the same vein as him he'd express it much like you've done here. Now he just slings insults at people who have more grace toward him than he does for them.

[@MRF1983]

Very succinct and well put. Wes isn't bitter, Meyer is.

[@draakgast]

​@@MRF1983yes, and people are noticing by his youtube "tweets"

[@MRF1983]

@@draakgast He deleted a bunch of them again. Some other people Meyer's shadow-banned and I have started a text message group where we play a game. We check his channel periodically throughout the day for inflammatory community posts, and we screencap them. At the end of a day or a few days, he deletes however many of them, and then we swap the screencaps of deleted posts like trading cards and whoever collected the most before he deleted them wins.

[@draakgast]

@@MRF1983 lol

[@MRF1983]

At 6:33, "... at this point I'm 46 years old, I'm married, I have 3 kids, I'm a stay at home dad, I have the coolest job in the world; I can take a few slings and arrows here and there and it doesn't really bother me all that much and it certainly doesn't bother me when it's coming from a friend." Wes, I appreciate your approach in this video, but I think your giving Meyer more slack than he deserves. I don't think he has the kind of positives in his life that you talked about having. That puts you in a much healthier head space than Meyer and that's also probably why you're better at handling "slings and arrows" as you put it. Meyer is using his channel not just to attack fellow youtubers for doing the exact same thing with general pop culture that Meyer's done for years with comics, he's also demonizing his own viewership/ customer base. He singles out viewers' comments in community posts and blasts them. One such was a customer asking for refunds of books that Meyer is years late fulfilling. He presented it like that viewer was making unreasonable demands in the attempt to damage Meyer's "veteran owned business" (Meyer's exact words). Meyer selectively presented parts of the customer's communications with him and he had shadow-banned him so that he couldn't respond to Meyer's portrayal of what happened. John Del Arroz got in touch with the customer to get their side of what happened. Turned out the guy had been in communication with Meyer for some time trying to get their money back because of Meyer's failure to provide him with what he paid for when he promised to provide it. Simple as that. Meyer's been making and deleting many such cowardly community posts for some time. He's done a 180 on so many of the standards he set with comic industry pros over the years. Whatever the reason(s), he's become petty, vindictive, spiteful and hateful towards his audience and peers. I'm glad to see a youtuber like yourself actually addressing Meyer's heel turn at all, but I don't understand why he's being given such leeway/ consideration by the community he's demonizing. You say that you have a degree of personal association with Meyer and that you give him the benefit of the doubt that if he had issue with you that he'd communicate that to you, but the viewers/ customers he's burned/ demonized don't have that. Meyer's been bragging about purging people from the channel, blocking them from commenting, making community posts with their comments and taking away their ability to respond. Meyer has become exactly the same type of nasty comic industry pro that he's castigated for years.

[@thereseemstobeenanerror1219]

To give him the benefit of the doubt he's probably he suffered some type of personal tragedy. And is just having a breakdown being unable to deal with it.

[@DeflatingAtheism]

Oh yes, “my comic books aren’t war bonds in your culture war.” The fact is, people are willing to pay a little more to get a little less, if it means helping to build a parallel economy. If I buy a jar of pasta sauce off PublicSqr, I know I might be spending twice as much for a product that might have been sitting on a shelf twice as long, but it’s worth it to me to support independent businesses that don’t have economies of scale on their side. To pay Zack now for a comic book that might be delivered years later, he’s the beneficiary of a tremendous amount of goodwill- it would be nice if he recognized it as much.

[@freman007]

Del Arroz has his own issues with being seen as a toxic individual. Just ask Larry Correia.

[@napoleonblownapart1141]

@@MRF1983 I once had a lifelong friend who had a full-blown mental breakdown, during which he attempted, with no small degree of effort on his part, to ruin my relationship with my then-girlfriend, whom I had been with for several years by that point. He eventually got better, but my relationship with her was put into irrevocable retrograde by his actions and our friendship, which had began in elementary school (this occurred in our mid-20s), was permanently damaged (read: completely and utterly destroyed), because there are certain things that you simply cannot take back, even if you have a "good excuse." Point is, even if "Zack" does have the excuse of being unwell mentally, he is doing things right now that he is never going to be able to undo. There is genuine malice in his present actions, and that will stick with the people he is attempting to hurt, even if it isn't the "real" him.

[@MRF1983]

@@freman007 I've heard that, someone told me he's like the Keemstar of his corner of comics youtube. Just the same, he gave that former backer/ viewer of Meyer's a forum to speak his piece about his refund request. Meyer blocked/ shadow-banned that person and made a community post and video where he lied about the circumstances of the person's refund request by leaving out details. That's exactly the kind of piece of 💩 movie he called comic industry pros out for years ago. I'll give John Del Arroz credit due for that specific situation. That feeds into my point about being grateful that Wes is addressing Meyer's heel turn to any degree. When someone like Wes speaks up and addresses something, his reputation/ credibility means it will carry water with people. Meyer is silencing dissent on his channel and Indiegogo, regular folks who don't have any platform are just 💩 out of luck if/ when he decides to alter or completely fabricate the circumstances of a given situation. As far as any "beef" with Wes goes, Meyer seems to be just attacking in all directions. If anything, it looks like how he used to go after comic industry pros years ago. As far as attacks on Rippa/ Eric, Nerdrotic/ Gary, Heel vs Babyface/ Az, Critical Drinker/ Will, etc.; it seems like some mixture of jealousy and bitterness. They all seem to genuinely like each other and have fostered their own community, while Meyer chooses to lone wolf. Meyer made a community post that he shortly deleted talking about other's crowdfunded books as "Veggie Tales" books and said that Mags, Vita and Tee Franklin's books all come out on time, implying that the crowdfunders' books are of the same quality. He's bitter of other crowdfunders' success because he feels their books are inferior quality to his.

[@ianhowe338]

This isn’t the first time Richard has said shit about you though. He went on a whole rant when you and Aaron made fun of Oswalda Cobblepot, the Lady Penguin. He’s decided that anyone who criticizes Hollywood is “grifting for superchats.” It’s absolutely bizarre. His entire business was built, not on the strength of his books, but on the sense of solidarity his customers felt towards him. Largely for doing the same exact thing Geeks + Gamers and Nerdrotic do; lambasting the mainstream media. For some reason he thinks it’s okay to crap on comics, but not on Hollywood movies. He’s decided it’s his mission to save art from a bunch of KZbinrs who used to work at Walmart. He’s very caught up in what people did for a living before KZbin, for some reason. It’s weirdly elitist. Like, how dare someone that used to work retail disparage Furiosa! I saw that movie. It was a spin-off of a franchise that can barely support itself. It was full of bad CGI. It was a desperate money grab. But Zack has convinced himself that it failed because some KZbinrs screamed, “Look, it’s another girl boss movie.” He somehow can’t grasp the fact that normies don’t know that the critical drinker and Nerdrotic exist. Those guys have zero influence. Literally, zero. People go to those channels to have their opinions validated; not to receive their opinions. Not ONE person who was excited for Furiosa saw a Nerdrotic video and refunded their ticket. Not one. I actually think the dude is having some kind of issue and he’s just lashing out. So, I wouldn’t hold it against him. But I deleted his channel. He started using the community posts like his own personal Twitter. I’d look through my videos for the day, and there’d be a dozen community posts from this guy. It’s bizarre. Like, he prides himself on staying off social media then uses KZbin as his own social media platform…

[@MarioWendorf]

I called it "screaming at ghosts" and is way too consistent on his part

[@sirrogerjalbert]

My favorite community posts was when he went from complaining about 40 year old men to 50 year old men when he realized his age

[@InfamyOrDeath-__-]

@@ianhowe338 Yea I totally agree with that, what he’s doing is just bizarre, the issues in comics are 10x worse in Hollywood, but he just doesn’t see it, it’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.

[@phillipv.4582]

Checks out. Had to cut him loose myself. It's funny that he's chose this hill to die on when his movie and television takes have been horrendous since I first discovered his channel in 19. 🤦‍♂️

[@HeyImRosko]

This 100%! I had unsubbed for exactly the same reason. I left before he defended Oswalda, that is absolutely insane.

[@theblueoctopus4494]

For a military guy he's sure thin skinned. I was calling him out on him saying that Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny was going to make a billion dollars at the box office (Spoiler alert: It didn't) and he blocked me!

[@Trevor-08]

Embarrassing for an infantryman to be so thin-skinned.

[@yeez13]

Want to know something wild? In every comment section I mention my first notice of this “recent behavior” being his weird overt defense of Dial of Destiny, I’ve had THE SAME GUY reply to them all and try to convince me that Zack “was being the reasonable one” in his interactions with his fans noting his hypocrisy. To be charitable to Zack, he did tell his fans not to judge something before it comes out since he knows people tend to do that out of instinct (because of the people producing it). But the second he went “DoD is gonna make A BILLION DOLLARS” and we all made fun of him for being so delusional??? 1. Makes a video about how we shouldn’t be too harsh on him for his obvious bias towards Dial of Destiny because it’s an Indiana Jones movie 2. Decides to make this bizarre political video about the Occupy Wall Street Movement and how “THE CULTURE WAR ISNT REAL YOU GUYS!!!!” as a way to escape from criticism (perhaps even rebrand?) from his painfully BAD TAKES about Indy 5 3. Reviews the movie once it comes out and basically confirms what we knew all along: he’s bargaining with it by said “it’s okay” when we all know he’s too afraid of giving his fans the satisfaction of him being wrong about “not judging it before release” WHEN WE ALL KNEW IT WOULD BE SUBPAR! Zack really did get worse afterwards and I noticed he began deleting comments noting his increasingly contrarian “views” when he started hearing the term “Grifter” thrown around more and more in comments…

[@draakgast]

​@@yeez13he's actively shadowbanning people like desparate, it's like a dog trying to catch a firehose stream

[@theoldgods8229]

Zack has the worst opinion of movies and tv shows, he should have stuck with comics because now his channel and crowd funding attempts are in free fall

[@jimbobbyhutchinson313]

@@theoldgods8229 even before he went off the deep end I would watch some reviews and shake my head. But I continued to watch because he was entertaining. Now its just sad. He's attacking people for doing the exact thing he did for years.

[@corruptionpoint8498]

Zack is burning everything down because he's lost relevance. The people he's lashing out at have no interest in fighting him, so he's just shouting at clouds.

[@joshjones9749]

Truth is there are channels that have picked up the mantle of what Zack used to do (including this channel) and do it with much more professionalism and COMMITMENT. The truth is, Zack has served his role in the culture war. Its hit movies now and there's much more qualified voices covering it. Before he knew it, there were much more qualified voices covering comics that came up when he wasn't looking.

[@claytonmorris9040]

he gone after so many people it really sad

[@slyc5920]

He's talking bad about Kneon?! Why?! And we appreciate you for that. Thank you for your service and I appreciate this video.

[@ddw1272]

I don't know that he has actually called out Kneon by name. I know he has talked about people criticizing Children's entertainment as if it was made for adults, but i also remember him specifically carving out an exeption for Clownfish in a much earlier video because their channel was always Disney focused. If he had called out Kneon by name, someone please correct me and let me know

[@slyc5920]

@@ddw1272 see I know he called out people who talked about that but I guess I didn't tie the two together. Zach just needs to take a break because he's doing himself no favors right now.

[@donkeysaurusrex7881]

Clownfish will make half a dozen videos talking bad about a movie and cheering it’s failure where Kneon up front admits he hasn’t seen the film and has heard it is good. If Zach’s being honest about Birthday Party Clowns Kneon is one of if not the worst.

[@slyc5920]

​@@donkeysaurusrex7881 So I know you are definitely full of it. Because when they have made it very clear if it is a rumor or say they have no interest in watching it and have said, they have heard that it is bad. So you are full of it. Come back to me with facts and we can talk like civilized people. Because Zach has done the same behaviors, half the people get on him because he is very hypercritical. If you don't like ClownfishTV cool, just don't lie bro.

[@slyc5920]

@@donkeysaurusrex7881 More than half... Bro. You are FULL OF IT! haha They just released a video about Gamestop, last night about Disney and other times talking about the comics industry or Disney.

[@ggmf]

Beautiful take on the matter. I hope everyone can lift each other up instead of putting them down and come to a peaceful coexistence in society and in day-to-day relations. It's something that been lacking for quite a while. May God bless all!

[@O_G_HELLBOY]

Kudos for taking the high road Wes.

[@waxywaxenheimer4169]

I just feel bad for him and hope he comes back to his senses.

[@LandOfTheGeek]

Zack went off the reservation a while ago with his bad movie takes, doesn't look like he as common sense anymore!

[@Jenner2057]

Yeah I unsubbed from Zac couple years ago. He just kept bitching about negative movie reviews and I wasn't interested. That and the fact all his comics are ridiculously late. That sorta chapped me as well.

[@Jonderlei]

I remember when he took that break in January to finish some books and I actually really missed his channel during that time but now my god,I ducked out early cause when someone starts screen shotting their comment sections for content thats usually a huge redflag . I check back in every now and then to see if things will get back to normal but I always regret it. It seems like hell just praise anything if the people he doesnt like dont like it,ive seen him sticking up for games like concord and star wars outlaws and then delete them shortly after making 15 posts about it. The thing is alot of stuff he says I dont even disagree with but he just takes it to such a ridiculous degree. I do watch content like that quite a bit but out of the group hes focused on I usually just watch FNT,ive had my problems with some of them before feeling they were being disingenuous or just looking to hate and have unsubbed at times . Ive even unsubbed when a show comes out that I really want to try to enjoy like when I was still trying to hang on to star wars and I came to the same conclusions as those people did once I was done watching it all. He shits all over Drinker when he doesnt like stuff but then he made a post about liking the terminator show so far and that bothered Zach too and when ya see that it just seems like he wants to be mad at them regardless the guy also has a playlist of recommending things but lets ignore that right.Wants to act like no one likes anything but I hear Gary talk about things he likes every friday but the vast majority of new shit is shit so its going to be talked about and mocked. I hate the vast majority of shit getting released now but also can get obsessively into new shit like how I was when I found Invincible at the end of 2023 or how im feeling on all this Wukong stuff after playing that game.

[@variously270]

Jon Del Arroz seems to be stirring things a lot lately

[@sheablack311]

JDL is a dark sad jealous person, with delusions of grandeur. A real sorry excuse for a Christian. I only mention the Christian thing because he claims to be so devout.

[@brittlby4016]

Hah! Lately? Bless his heart, that IS what he does. That said, Zack could make himself less of a target by not being a spastic lunatic so reliably of late and pushing out books on time.

[@kelpietales4503]

I gave up on following that guy when he seemed so reactionary and unable to do the most simple research, similar to Fandom Pulse site. He apparently said Exceptional X-Men author Eve Ewing got the job out of nepotism from being related to Al Ewing when that isn't the case at all. Even his close following of the Neil Gaiman sex scandal accusations feels like him using as an excuse to live out a vendetta against Gaiman more than anything.

[@My9thMyJoy]

That guy comes off as a nut. He keeps talking about “Christian nationalism” in the context of comic books and I don’t want that in there anymore than I want leftism. Just give me my comic characters as they are.

[@ItachiUchiha-ut6xj]

Zack has completely gone off the deep end. He has become almost everything he used to hate.

[@billypowermax2264]

Zack liked the Last Jedi

[@DeflatingAtheism]

Really, is it just that he’s pulling his punches with Disney? I remember him criticizing people who correctly state that Disney is underwater with their LucasFilm purchase, claiming you can amortize such an expense over a long period of time. You can’t amortize that $4B expense when your projects are losing hundreds of millions of dollars at a go, and you’ve alienated your established fanbase, and Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids don’t care about Star Wars anymore. It’s not just that he’s giving bad takes; Zack is giving takes we know he’s too smart for.

[@billypowermax2264]

@@DeflatingAtheism Do you like the Last Jedi ?

[@DeflatingAtheism]

@@billypowermax2264 I never saw it, and never would. I watch these sorts of channels because I’m interested in the meta-discussion of the politics injected into these franchises, while I’m not at all interested in Star Wars, Marvel, DC, Dr. Who, etc. I’m certain there are a lot of people like me giving a lot of view time to these channels.

[@billypowermax2264]

@@DeflatingAtheism You my friend

[@Makini90]

I do think the loss of Benny Comicstorian, and Ed Piskor's death did take a toll on him, but I also think that the Furiosa hoopla also affected his view. I follow the "Birthday Party Clowns" he refers too and honestly I think he comes off as delusional. Especially with Critical Drinker whom he did a project with.

[@brion0220]

I wish he would just UNSUBSCRIBE from the channels he doesn't like any more, instead of whinging about them on repeat. You know, like any sane person would do. I think he gets off on complaining about them.

[@franklee6746]

Zack got used to badmouthing people in comic books to the point he started just badmouthing everyone, and the further he stretches to find something to criticize the more cringe he has become. That appeals to an increasingly lower IQ audience who live off pointless drama, but it's bad for him, makes him look like a fool, and it isn't ever going to get him closer to where he wants to be in life. His comics aren't that great, his campaigns don't make very much money anymore, and he is mostly irrelevant to comics and the fandom. And there is no future in criticizing critics. I think he basically wants to quit all of it, because despite having an incredible opportunity to start, he's completely failed. Amd if he had good friends around them, one of them would tell him that.

[@DeflatingAtheism]

He criticizes people who criticize movies without watching them, but the irony is (WAIT FOR IT) he’d know how misplaced his criticisms are, if he actually watched the videos he’s criticizing!

[@shawnsmith2006]

He did start coming up with other careers, like stand up comedian, playing guitar and doing stuff with ai, all while having thousands of dollars from people who paid him for comics and still waiting for them.

[@maxfish4270]

@@DeflatingAtheism Zack watches the videos he criticizes. Unfortunately he does not understand them. He starts with a hate-grift premise and twists his points to match,

[@Marty_Moriarty]

I unsubscribed from Richard a while back. 4 years ago I first heard of a KZbin channel called Nerdrotic because it was mentioned by richard. Multiple times saying complementary things. I checked it out and I liked Gary's style of humor and takes on pop culture. Gary is doing the same thing now he was 4 years ago but for some reason Richard has a problem and calls him names along with others that have similar channels. My take, I think Richard is jealous that other people are more successful and profitable in an area where he personally got attacked and had many difficulties. Now I just wish he would STFU and finish the books he still owes me so I can be done with him for good.

[@davidgantenbein9362]

Strangely enough, Gary‘s video was about the only thing I have seen that made me somewhat interested in Furiosa. Despite Richard blaming KZbinrs for the failing of Furiosa, Richard himself didn’t do anything that convinced me to give Furiosa a chance (and he ignored all the hard facts that made Furiosa fail long before KZbinrs made a video about it).

[@Marty_Moriarty]

@@davidgantenbein9362 agreed on all points. Gary liked Furiosa and said so many times. Richard was wayyy outside the fence in left field with his takes on that one.

[@jds3k_616]

Zack spent two weeks crying about Furiosa flopping before he finally saw the movie.

[@maxfish4270]

Complete disagree that Zack is jealous. He's socially awkward, convinced himself live streams are terrible, and he can't take criticism.

[@rplewis]

Zack has become good at digging holes directly beneath himself.

[@mondu999]

I agree. Im completely baffled by Richard's attacks on fellow youtubers. Could it be shrinking American comic book industry?

[@Ultra_Light_Beam]

I mean, he explains himself pretty clearly.

[@thereseemstobeenanerror1219]

​@@Ultra_Light_Beam Why you here

[@hthrun]

When I noticed Zack change was when Ethan Van Sciver and others in Comicsgate kept encouraging him to go on livestreams. They told him it would be good for selling his book. He started making videos about how he was doing better without livestreaming and was passive agressively going at EVS. He kept drifting from that point on.

[@OnimenoJason]

It's really going to kill his comic business. He doesn't need to run a stream like EVS does, but he needs to go on streams that will promote him seriously to drum up new interest. His channel didn't grow for the longest time. The problem is, with his Birthday Party Clowns campaign and recent twist, he's losing subscribers which are probably the only people buying his books. Which, if you look at how they've performed, the last Jawbreakers book haven't cracked $100k even with tie-in sales. People that could promote his books like Gary and Critical Drinker that have audiences that far surpasses his, he's actively burning those bridges. He knows this because his fans are telling him all the things he has done wrong and he just keeps lighting the matches. Oh well. The more failed campaigns will be a huge wakeup call.

[@JohnM-kd4dl]

I believe Wes is right that Zack's heart isn't into youtubing anymore but also may barely be in comics anymore. That's fine to pick a different path but I don't respect him trying to tear down other channels on his way out.

[@HeyImRosko]

I think YT nuked my comment for name checking a certain actress who portrayed Carl Manvers. Short version, Zack's movie takes are heavily influenced by whether or not he is attracted to the actress in it, going back to 2019 when despite all his arguments against the comics he praised the Capt Mrvl film. I think the current spiral is based in him crushing on Furiosa actress and possibly even the gross zeigler girl. He'll go scotched earf on all teh haterz dissin his imaginary gfs. (I also think he likes Antos, and his unrequited negging eventually turned to genuine anger)

[@kevintanza6968]

I had a similar theory. I honestly think he has a crush on Anya Taylor-Joy and that is why he got obsessed with Furiosa.

[@JohnM-kd4dl]

​@@kevintanza6968I also appreciate Anya as a beautiful up and coming actress but she is not yet up to carrying a movie like this. Her version of Furiosa was passable but paled in comparison to Charlise Theron's characterization.

[@HeyImRosko]

@@JohnM-kd4dl a while back in an Arthur Adams fan group on FB someone said she is a living AA drawing, and I can never unsee it (not necessarily a complaint)

[@kevintanza6968]

@@JohnM-kd4dl She seems like a lovely girl but I think that movie had some issues that explain its commercial failure. Not even related to the movie itself.

[@HeyImRosko]

@@kevintanza6968 for real. The trailer didn't hit it all like Fury Road for one. Fury rd trailer was like "damn, I NEED to see this, it looks nurtz!", the only thing that stood out in Furiosa was Anya's eyes.

[@portland-182]

Nice to see some adult handling of 'an internet beef', rather than automatic escalation. People who have different takes on a subject, can also be friends, something that a lot internet users don't seem to understand. Test Pilots tend to start in their late twenties or early thirties, as they need some decent flying experience, before they will be considered. Presumably a 'top test pilot' has some years experience as a test pilot, to become a 'top test pilot' let's say 5 to ten years. If Hal Jordan was a flight prodigy, he needs to be at least 35-40 years old in terms of 'real world' logic. In the comics he seemed on the younger end.

[@dan-bw9xv]

The only issue is with Zack himself I watch his content and it's pretty clear he what's a more positive outlook especially with loss of Ed and Comicstorian. However instead of just enjoying things and having that more positive outlook he's somehow positioned himself to be believe Drinker and that space are trying to destroy art and hate everything. Which is only made worse when Zack gives examples of his issues with those people and it just comes off as bad faith like him saying Drinker fakes reviews ??? Even with you it doesn't seem like Zack is saying I don't agree with X opinion he frames as if the person is saying or doing something unreasonable. Zack can do whatever content he wants I just can't stand him framing people like Drinker, you or Clownfish in dishonest way because he can't enjoy stuff without getting annoyed that people have critism of the things he likes.

[@maxfish4270]

Being positive is a great idea. The problem is doing things such as defending the Alien Romulus final boss by saying people in the UK don't get enough sun to be happy about anything is the exact opposite of being positive.

[@dan-bw9xv]

@@maxfish4270 Yes in Zacks crusade for positivity he's seemingly doesn't see he's comes off aggressive over nothing.

[@wallybiii]

I don't enjoy his channel nearly as much as I used to. I watched every video in its entirety since about 2018 but now I find myself tuning out of about half the videos.

[@MRF1983]

Ironically, it sounds like you're describing a comic book's run.