From the FAQs, Richard:

JB: Taking offense at something which should not be offensive to the person taking the offense. ("Anyone who wears a red sweater is an idiot." "Hey! I have never worn a red sweater in my life, and I resent being called an idiot!") (11/02/04)

JB: "Then it becomes 'he didn't say what he said when he said what he didn't say!'"

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Okay, my head hurts just thinking about that!

Why do some so-called fans insist on creating conflict where none exists? I enjoyed JB's work on the X-Men and I enjoyed Dave Cockrum's work on the same book. Why can't they just leave it at that? Why create this "Byrne vs. Cockrum" feud out of whole cloth?

Richard - understand the subtlety of it, too - if you say "people who do [x] are [y]" and someone says "why, SAY!  How dare you!  I never do [x]!"... that's a Red Sweater syndrome. 

One of the usual gang of idiots is spreading the idea that it's "Black people are [racist slur]" and then people say "John Byrne!  You're a racist!" and he  would say "Oh, that's red sweater syndrome - you can't be offended if you're not the target"

I used to think JB was just kind of sensitive when he claimed that people were missing his point on purpose, but now that I see it happen with pretty much every thing he says, as well as all the shit that I say, well...

I must say I really dont like reading bad things about one of my heroes. It just hurts.

But the thing is I have seen so many negative posts in boards in the last few weeks about Mr Byrne and even articles about the angry some other artists were with his words, that I think: "well, I love what he does, but I haven't been there when every new conflict got started, so I'll defend him, but I'll realize that it's a matter of faith (in someone I really admire) without any real knowledge to support his still rational point of view".

Anyway, whatever the truth is, Mr Byrne, you are still one of the greatest comic-book artists, ever. And that's a fact I can stand up for, because we can easily prove it!

Yeah, Richard - it is a subtelty - I don't think the Red Sweater syndrom has to do with just not being offended because you don't have the right - I think it implys some hidden guilt, too, or if not that, then, you know, then don't be so vocally offended.

Like, when I say some comic retailers are a-holes - well, some are!  Some have given me a hard time!  But then good comic retailers, like, say, Matt Hawes or Brian Hibbs, you know, shouldn't think I'm talking about them, because, you know, they're not bad retailers.  (Well, I've never seen Hawes' store, but he seems like a good chap.  Hibbs and I have traded money a number of times over the years)   And not that either of them have done this - I picked their names, because I "know" them, and they post here - but if they were to pipe up and say something like: "Hey!  I'm not an a-hole!"... well, first, I didn't say they were a-holes, but what's worse, you think... maybe they are a-holes, and are fessing up to it, in a backward way.

Like, to make it more clear, and stop putting good guys like Hawes and Hibbs in the line to be misinterpreted - if you come in and tell your kids, "Say, the cookies are gone...?" and one pipes up with "I didn't eat the last cookie!!!".  You know?