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Comicsgate

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Comicsgate was a right-wing campaign in opposition to diversity and progressivism in the North American superhero comic book industry. Its proponents target the creators hired, the characters depicted, and the stories told, and maintain that these elements have led to a decline in both quality and sales.[1][2][3] The name is derived from Gamergate, a similar movement related to video games.[4][5] Its members present it as a consumer protest, primarily advocating their views on social media; some have produced books intended to reflect the group's values. It is part of the alt-right movement,[6][7][8][9] and has been described by commentators as a harassment campaign[10][11][12] which "targets women, people of color, and LGBT folk in the comic book industry".[13][14] Threats of violence[15] and the vandalism of one store was attributed to the campaign.[3]

Views

Comics artist Ethan Van Sciver has been a central figure in Comicsgate.

While Comicsgate has no official hierarchy, commentator Richard C. Meyer (posting under the banner Diversity & Comics)[4][14][16] and former DC illustrator Ethan Van Sciver[4][14] have been prominent advocates for the campaign.

Members of the movement object to diversification of comics, especially the increasing inclusion of women as writers and characters.[8][5][17][14] The storylines objected to include those such as the "All New, All Different" campaign undertaken by Marvel Comics in the later 2010s, in which various white male characters that have traditionally had the superhero identities of Wolverine, Thor, Hulk, Captain America, and Spider-Man were temporarily replaced by female and/or racial-minority characters.[18][19] Comicsgate adherents have also complained about stories dealing with current social issues, and the depiction of women with less sexualized figures.[20]

They argue that the increasing diversity of comics, both among creators and in terms of characters, has led to declining quality and sales.[4][5][14] While it is true that comic sales declined in the late 2010s, this decline was across the board and not limited to, or worse for, the diverse comics that Comicsgate targets. Tricia Ennis, writing for SyFy Wire, stated that some such comics, in fact, had been notably successful, such as the Kamala Khan version of Ms. Marvel, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, and the Carol Danvers version of Captain Marvel.[2][4][14]

Activities

Social media

In 2016, female superhero Mockingbird was depicted on a comic book cover wearing a t-shirt that read "Ask Me About My Feminist Agenda". This was followed by harassment on Twitter of series writer Chelsea Cain, including a posted illustration of Mockingbird depicted apparently dead after a brutal attack with her costume torn off, with the t-shirt phrase as a caption.[19]

A July 2017 social media post by Marvel Comics assistant editor Heather Antos, featuring several young female coworkers getting milkshakes in memory of company veteran Flo Steinberg, drew attention from members of the movement.[6][14][21] Antos was described by them as a "diversity hire", "an unqualified bimbo",[22] and "the 'false rape charge' type",[14][23] and the group in general as "fake geek girls", "tumblr-virtue signalers", and "the creepiest collection of stereotypical SJWs anyone could possibly imagine".[14][23] Antos reported receiving rape threats and being doxxed, and—with her friends and coworkers—being the target of a prolonged campaign of online harassment.[19][14][22][24]

Richard C. Meyer has made the campaign a common subject on his YouTube channel and Twitter account, in which he identifies professionals whose work or personal activities he sees as detrimental to the comics industry.[6] He took credit for the firing of writer Aubrey Sitterson from the IDW comic G.I. Joe: Scarlett's Strike Force after Sitterson criticized on social media what he saw as "performative grief" about the September 11 attacks.[21] In a 2017 video titled "The Dark Roast", Meyer referred to a female Marvel Comics editor as a "cum dumpster", accused various female professionals of "sucking their way into the industry", and described a transgender female writer as a "man in a wig".[14] Meyer participated in the backlash against the character designs of Netflix adaptation She-Ra and the Princesses of Power; he called showrunner ND Stevenson a "boyish lesbian" and accused him of re-imagining the title character as himself, describing it as "utter selfishness and egotism".[25]

Members of Comicsgate have responded to professionals criticizing the movement by circulating blacklists of such creators to boycott,[4][5] including one which categorized individuals as members of the "Pravda Press", "SJW vipers", and other derogatory labels. Among those placed on such lists and criticized for their views have been Larry Hama, Mark Waid, Alex de Campi, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Matt Fraction, and Ta-Nehisi Coates.[4] Colorist Moose Baumann recounted that he received threats of violence after stepping away from Van Sciver's creator-owned book Cyberfrog.[26] Media critic Kaylyn Saucedo, artist Tim Doyle, comic writer Kwanza Osajyefo, and cosplayer/comic writer Renfamous have all recounted being the target of harassment and doxxing.[27]

Publishing

A few creators involved with Comicsgate have profited from the controversy it has produced, as with Meyer's No Enemy But Peace.[14]

Alt-right activist Vox Day wrote and published the series Alt-Hero[28] and hired Chuck Dixon to write for him.[29] Although Van Sciver has had Vox Day as a guest on his YouTube channel, both he and Meyer have since disavowed any association with him.[12][28]

Jawbreakers

In early 2018, Meyer announced that his crowdfunded comic book Jawbreakers: Lost Souls, a collaboration with freelance artist Jon Malin, would be published by Antarctic Press. Upon learning that some store owners had discussed their decisions not to stock it, he encouraged his followers to publicly post and circulate their names, locations, and employee information.[15][30][31] He accused Edmonton, Alberta store Variant Edition of "bullying and intimidating their own customers" after the female co-owner tweeted that they would not stock the publication. The store was subsequently vandalized and robbed.[3] Dublin, Ireland, store Big Bang Comics, which was not stocking the book, received threats of violence on social media.[15]

On May 13, Antarctic Press announced that they were ending their relationship with Meyer, citing his behavior. Meyer accused Mark Waid of pressuring Antarctic not to publish the book.[30] Both Antarctic and Waid issued statements denying that any threats or bullying had taken place.[30][32][33] In October 2018, Meyer sued Waid for "tortious interference with contract and defamation".[34] In a motion to dismiss, Waid's attorney Mark Zaid asserted that Meyer's own public attacks against industry professionals were responsible, pointing to comments on Twitter calling writer Ta-Nehisi Coates "a race hustler", accusing a number of female professionals of being hired solely based on gender, and referring to trans and non-binary DC writers as "a modern day carnival".[35] In December 2020, Meyer and Waid released a joint statement that Meyer had decided to voluntarily dismiss the case.[36]

Reception

Although many comics professionals have chosen to ignore Comicsgate to avoid giving it publicity,[5] it has been met with widespread criticism from readers, comics creators, and industry journalists.[11][37]

In mid 2018, Marsha Cooke, widow of writer-artist Darwyn Cooke, denied a claim by Comicsgate participants that her husband would have supported the campaign.[38][39] After she became the subject of online attacks on Twitter for this, industry veterans including Bill Sienkiewicz, Van Jenson, Tony Bedard, Jeff Lemire, and Magdalene Visaggio wrote rebukes to the movement.[38][40] In a social media post, writer Scott Snyder, who teaches writing in college and DC Comics' talent development program, said the movement launched "cruel, personal attacks" on his students that "were (and still are) especially repugnant for their sexism, racism, homophobia, and transphobia".[41] After Comicsgate participants claimed that writer Donny Cates supported them, he publicly denounced the movement, saying, "[N]o one is going to use my art to promote something that has attacked my friends."[42][43]

Writer Tom Taylor posted a brief message on social media rejecting the tenets of Comicsgate, stating "I believe comics are for everyone. There is no excuse for harassment. There is no place for homophobia, transphobia, racism or misogyny in comics criticism." The social media post was retweeted by creators including Kelly Thompson, Tim Seeley, Margaret Stohl, Jason Latour, Greg Pak, Fabian Nicieza, Benjamin Percy, and Jeff Lemire.[1] In an unsigned editorial, Paste magazine took issue with the phrasing of Taylor's statement, arguing that Comicsgate's activities should not be equated with critical commentary.[39]

Greg Hatcher, former administrator of the Comic Book Resources forums, compared the movement to the harassment that drove actresses Kelly Marie Tran and Millie Bobby Brown from social media, and noted that comic creators in earlier decades such as Jack Kirby and Stan Lee had also faced fan backlash for including political themes in comic books.[44]

Van Sciver has faced backlash from other comic professionals for joking about suicide by Democrats,[45] comments on Reddit about a "queer globalist mess", and hosting alt-right leader Vox Day in an episode on his YouTube channel.[12][28] Van Sciver was also criticized for announcing a collaboration with cartoonist Dave Sim, who was known to have had a relationship with a 14-year-old girl. Van Sciver defended Sim until he learned more detail about Sim's activities with her, leading him to cancel the project.[46]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "The Comic Book Industry Is Finally Speaking Out Against "Comicsgate"". Inverse. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Ennis, Tricia (February 16, 2018). "Amidst harassment, indie comics publishers remain supportive of marginalized creators". Syfy. Archived from the original on September 27, 2018. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Coletta, Amanda (May 13, 2018). "Edmonton comic book store links break-in to controversial debate". CTV News. Archived from the original on November 9, 2018. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Comicsgate Is Gamergate's Next Horrible Evolution". Inverse. Archived from the original on September 12, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Comicsgate: What is it, exactly, and what's going on?". Global News. Archived from the original on November 26, 2018. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c Curtis, Neal (November 10, 2019). "Superheroes and the mythic imagination: order, agency and politics". Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. 12 (5): 360–374. doi:10.1080/21504857.2019.1690015. ISSN 2150-4857. S2CID 211425158.
  7. ^ Lacina, Bethany. "The smash success of 'Captain Marvel' shows us that conservatives are ignoring the alt-right". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved August 31, 2020 – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  8. ^ a b Varda, Scott J.; Hahner, Leslie A. (2020). "Black Panther and the Alt-right: networks of racial ideology". Critical Studies in Media Communication. 37 (1–15): 133–147. doi:10.1080/15295036.2020.1737327. S2CID 216454494.
  9. ^ Salter, Anastasia. "#NostalgiaGate? Comics as Battleground in Transmedia Networked Publics". ImageTexT. 11 (3). ISSN 1549-6732. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  10. ^ Resha, Adrienne (June 6, 2020). "The Blue Age of Comic Books". Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society. 4 (1): 66–81. doi:10.1353/ink.2020.0003. ISSN 2473-5205. S2CID 226657888.
  11. ^ a b Riesman, Abraham. "Comicsgate Is a Nightmare Tearing Comics Fandom Apart — So What Happens Next?". Vulture. Archived from the original on September 9, 2018. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  12. ^ a b c "There's An Online Harassment Campaign Underway Against People Advocating For Diversity In Comics Called #Comicsgate". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on October 14, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  13. ^ Brown, Jeffrey A. (January 15, 2021). Panthers, Hulks and Ironhearts: Marvel, Diversity and the 21st Century Superhero. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-1-9788-0923-9 – via Google Books.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Elbein, Asher (April 2, 2018). "#Comicsgate: How an Anti-Diversity Harassment Campaign in Comics Got Ugly—and Profitable". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on September 14, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
  15. ^ a b c "Previously on Comics: Comicsgate Gets Aggressive (And Other News)". WWAC. May 14, 2018. Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  16. ^ Micheline, J. A. (September 11, 2018). "Comicsgate is the latest front in the ongoing culture wars | J A Micheline". the Guardian. Archived from the original on September 12, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
  17. ^ Francisco, Eric. "What is Comicsgate? The Newest Geek Controversy, Explained". Inverse. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  18. ^ Flegel, Monica; Leget, Judith (January 14, 2021). "3". Superhero Culture Wars: Politics, Marketing, and Social Justice in Marvel Comics. Bloomsbury Academic. [W]hile there is not sufficient evidence to blame [All-New, All-Different Marvel] for Comicsgate as a whole, the coverage of [Marvel VP of Sales David] Gabriel's comments [that increasing diversity was dampening sales] online, in both journalism and the blogosphere, featured extensive commentary from fans who declared that the wholesale mantle passing to new, 'diverse' characters made them feel angry, disappointed, and even betrayed.
  19. ^ a b c Pitts, Leonard, Jr. (December 28, 2018). "Comicsgate: Alt-right fan boys go after women in world of comics". The Miami Herald. Archived from the original on December 29, 2018. Retrieved April 24, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ "Comedian Jim Jefferies confronts Diversity and Comics creator over offensive remarks". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 11, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  21. ^ a b "The Latest Trend in Comic Books Appears to Be Harassment of Women and Queer People". Hornet Stories. April 3, 2018. Archived from the original on October 1, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  22. ^ a b "A Brief History of #Comicsgate: Tragedy and Trolling -". capelesscrusader.org. October 28, 2017. Archived from the original on June 11, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
  23. ^ a b Berlatsky, Noah (September 13, 2018). "Perspective | The Comicsgate movement isn't defending free speech. It's suppressing it". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 13, 2018. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  24. ^ Jasper, Marykate (July 30, 2017). "A Marvel Comics Editor Is Being Harassed Because She Posted a Selfie With Her Coworkers". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
  25. ^ Abad-Santos, Alex (July 18, 2018). "The fight over She-Ra's redesign, explained". Vox. Archived from the original on November 27, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  26. ^ "Moose Baumann on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  27. ^ Gramuglia, Anthony (August 28, 2019). "Alt-Right Fandom Attacks, Doxxes People Who Disagree With Them". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on August 28, 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  28. ^ a b c "Alt-right publisher founds ComicsGate comic imprint". September 4, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  29. ^ "Never Meet Your (Super) Heroes". Reveal. September 22, 2018. Archived from the original on September 24, 2018. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
  30. ^ a b c Johnston, Rich (May 13, 2018). "No Enemy But Peace - Richard Meyer, Antarctic Press, and Jawbreakers". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
  31. ^ "Indie comic 'Jawbreakers' canceled due to Comicsgate links". The Daily Dot. May 14, 2018. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  32. ^ "Antarctic Press Cancels Jawbreakers in Wake of Controversy, Retailer Boycott". CBR.com. May 13, 2018. Archived from the original on September 28, 2018. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
  33. ^ "Richard Meyer Sues Mark Waid Over 'Tortious Interference With Contract and Defamation'". Bleeding Cool. September 29, 2018. Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
  34. ^ Baker-Whitelaw, Gavia (October 1, 2018). "Comicsgate figurehead Richard Meyer is suing Marvel/DC writer Mark Waid". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on October 1, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  35. ^ "Mark Waid's 11/02/18 Motions in Richard Meyer vs. Mark Waid". Newsarama. Archived from the original on November 8, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  36. ^ Seifert, Mark (December 22, 2020). "Richard Meyer Has Voluntarily Dismissed Lawsuit against Mark Waid". Bleeding Cool.
  37. ^ Ennis, Tricia (September 7, 2018). "Widespread creator outcry won't be enough to end Comicsgate". Syfy. Archived from the original on September 9, 2018. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  38. ^ a b Byron, Ada (August 24, 2018). "Legendary Comics Artist Bill Sienkiewicz Pens Scorching Rebuke of 'Comicsgate'". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on September 13, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
  39. ^ a b "ComicsGate Won't Be Defeated by Well-Intentioned Tweets Alone". Paste. August 27, 2018. Archived from the original on September 17, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  40. ^ "Marsha Cooke, Ethan Van Sciver, Comicsgate, and Darwyn Cooke's Legacy". Bleeding Cool. August 25, 2018. Archived from the original on October 2, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  41. ^ "Scott Snyder on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  42. ^ Cates, Donny (December 28, 2018). "Untitled". Twitter. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  43. ^ Johnston, Rich (December 29, 2018). "Donny Cates Comes Out Against Comicsgate Over Venom Argument". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  44. ^ "Social Justice Warriors, part 2: Looking at ComicsGate and Feeling the H.E.A.T. - Atomic Junk Shop". Atomic Junk Shop. June 30, 2018. Archived from the original on October 2, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  45. ^ "Ethan Van Sciver Apologises For Suicide Jibe, Vows Not To Vent On Social Media Anymore". Bleeding Cool. May 11, 2017. Archived from the original on November 1, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  46. ^ Johnston, Rich (January 11, 2019). "A New Year's Ballad of Dave Sim and Ethan Van Sciver". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on April 25, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
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