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Even after decades in the comics industry and reaching the heights of success, DC president, publisher, and chief creative officer Jim Lee says he's still not immune to the negativity of some fans. Nonetheless, he tries to maintain boundaries around how he responds to feedback and even which responses he pays attention to, saying he leaves constructive criticism to his editors.

"The relationship between the creator and editor is a special one, because your editor is your mentor, your travel guide, your therapist, your cheerleader. I think really good editors kinda do all that. So their criticism is gonna be tempered by all those different responsibilities they have," Lee says on the Masterplan podcast. "The fans, especially on the internet, have none of that, and in fact can dissociate you as a person from the work, cause they don't know you. And they can say 'This sucks,' or 'This is amazing'."

Like all creators though, Lee still has a reaction when he sees his work and the work of others dismissed uncritically, saying "negativity always hurts." Few comic creators are as well known as Lee, and very few have the level of following and awareness for their work, and fans are certainly not shy about voicing their opinions no matter whether they like it, or sometimes especially if they don't.

"Obviously I will see comments online about whether they like my work or don't like my work, but I've been in the business long enough that I kinda discount it. Empirical data is that people do like my work, because the work sells, right? And so people are voting with their pocketbooks, with their hard-earned money that they spend," Lee explains. "But it doesn't make you immune. Everyone's human. So negativity always hurts, and I don't think I'm inhuman in that way. But for the most part, I try to put it in a separate box, and go like, 'You know what, you can't control what people think about the work. Just, are you happy with the work, and are you inspired by creating the work. Finding that inspiration can be challenging, especially if you've been in the industry for a long time and done a lot of different projects. So to me it's a self-imposed series of challenges and goals that I have both creatively and intellectually, conceptually."

Related: Jim Lee shares his private health struggles (he's okay now!) that led to Batman: Hush 2 delays, and a rethinking of his work-life balance

Brent Anderson, himself a highly accomplished artist, once gave Lee some advice for dealing with critics, telling him that artists need to decide for themselves whether their work is worthwhile, because you can't please everyone.

"I remember a creator, Brent Anderson, actually said to me, early days, very good advice. He said, 'Ignore that stuff, what the fans think, because if you accept both the praise and negativity, meaning if you accept 'Your work is amazing!' you've gotta also accept the fan that says 'Your work is horrible.' You can't just pick one person's opinion and not the other," Lee concludes. "You have to hold both to be true. And so it's better to believe none of it, and decide for yourself whether it's good or bad. I thought that was very smart and liberating."

Lee recently wrapped up work on Batman: Hush 2, with another Hush sequel already in the works for an unannounced release date.

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