This is very true. I find the best way to combat this is by 1) Embracing people who see the world differently than you do 2) When faced with an important decision, look at all the ways you could be wrong, and if you can't rule them out logically, reconsider. But as you say, after all that is done, it's also important to have confidence and the courage of your convictions, otherwise you'll never get anywhere.

I wonder if this topic of "Ego" directly relates to the last post about personality clashes between creators. Certainly a creator won't go far in this business if they can't play well with others; on the other hand, sometimes it's not ego in the sense of "thinking you're so great" but rather a basic insecurity that leads to overreaction when you perceive that your place is being threatened, or you're being told your ideas are no good, or some other form of criticism. The irony, of course, is that overreaction is probably what will actually lead to your place being threatened, so insecurity of that sort can be self-fulfilling prophecy.

Posted by CylverSaber on 2009-10-09 03:52:22
early marvel history
trying to find a way to email a marvel historian about some ?s i have (to stan lee {stanley Lieber/ Stanley Leibman?} and other historians)
1st on hulk everything looked like it was gangbusters in original series then it was cut after 6 ish's only to come back as one of a double feature 18 mo later in Tales to Astonish with no explanation, how come
then to XMen, same deal goes monthly on Nov 65 ish #14 but dies due to sales on ish #66 Mar '70, then in Dec '70 they start doing reprints in order but not all ish's one or two ish per reprint, why, then why resurrected in mid '75 with prof, cyke and new characters, was this due to focus on central theme of psycho/social allegory to civil rights movement of '60s with MLK cast as Prof Xavier and Malcolm X cast as Magneto?
Respond to email please

Posted by lazerbranz on 2009-10-09 07:17:06
Years and years later you can still tell which books were written by someone with an ego and which books were written by someone that was trying to tell a good story.

And for lazerbranz - Hulk and X-men were canceled/repurposed at the time because of sales. Nothing more.

Posted by IanZL on 2009-10-09 15:00:33
Ian, while you are correct in the case of the X-Men, in the case of the Hulk, the actual reason was that Marvel's distributor at the time would only carry a limited number of titles, and by moving the Hulk into Tales to Astonish where he shared the book with Giant Man and the Wasp, they could essentially have two comics taking up only one slot with the distributor (this was also the reason a number of other characters shared books in those days).

Posted by CylverSaber on 2009-10-09 18:59:56
Insecurity
I agree with Cylver, insecurity ends up being at the core of every rash decision and intolerance of someone else's ideas. It's the gut reaction that someone else's thoughts are a judgement on our own and that their ideas can't exist next to ours without destroying or invalidating our own.

In my opinion, self esteem, rather than ego (I'm not sure I even have a definition for ego, what with all the heavy mis-use of it these days), is the important component to surviving criticism and insurmountable odds in an industry. Sadly, though, insecurity is usually what's driving creation when people are trying desperately to prove that they are important. Then it's just being contrary and defensive that allows them to ignore barbs and critiques, usually to their own detriment.

And I agree, Tom, self-examination is great. Especially when you can get to the point where you are aware of your buttons and then primarily make decisions rather than just react.

Not that talking on the internet will lend you much help...

Posted by PseudoSherlock on 2009-10-10 09:50:49
best friend
your ego is like your own self best friend. You can always trust it when you doubt.

Posted by Sentinelxy on 2009-10-15 14:21:23