Clickbait sites are doubling down on the stupid in hopes to get traffic and the latest is speculation that Disney is closing Marvel based on a description of a Marvel SXSW panel. Like the usual game of telephone, the utter bullshit narrative spun out of control brings the comics blogosphere closer to nothing but “what character are you quizzes” and “top 10” articles.

We once again won’t link to the stupid, that’s what they want.

Dubbed “the dummbest comics conspiracy of the week” by Joe Quesada, the article is a conspiracy theory attempt to connect non-existent dots hopping from a ComicsPro speech, ignoring actual data and facts, to a panel description. The idiocy says that Marvel’s SXSW panel is actually an attempt by Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski and Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada to make a case that the success of comic intellectual property wouldn’t exist without the actual comics. All of that under the headline “Joe Quesada and C.B. Cebulski Fight for the Survival of Comics at SXSW” and sub-headline “The Marvel big wigs will argue that all of Disney’s success exploiting Marvel IP wouldn’t be possible without the comics that inspired them.”

Or, it could just be a panel about how today’s biggest films have been inspired by comics and an exploration of the connection. You know, something shops have been asking more for?

Clickbait much?

But, the above all seems to ignore actual data (sales rebounded in January and sales is still higher than its been for years), facts, and falls back on opinion, and utter bullshit, that makes up so much of “comics journalism” today.

Again the lesson is, ignore the clickbait and support sites that traffic in facts not fiction.