ComicsGate

Overview

ComicsGate is an ongoing debate over the content found in comic books, with some readers arguing that comic book publishers and retailers emphasize progressive politics and diversity over quality of product, which has caused a decline in sales. The debate escalated with the participation of several prominent members of the comic book industry and "blacklisting" of certain titles. Much like GamerGate, supporters of the movement have been accused of using online trolling and harassment towards women, people of color and others who oppose their agenda.

Background

In October 2016, Marvel Comics canceled the comic book Mockingbird. For the final issue, featured the character on the cover wearing a t-shirt that reads, "Ask Me About My Feminist Agenda" (shown below).

Following the release of the comic book, _Mockingbird_'s writer Chelsea Cain tweeted, "Mockingbird is canceled. But we need to make sure @Marvel makes room for more titles by women about kicking ass." The tweet (shown below) has since been deleted.

Developments

Chelsea Cain Leaves Twitter

In response to Cain's tweet, some responded by mocking the cancellation of the book and criticizing the promotion of “feminism”:/memes/cultures/feminism on the comic cover (shown below).

On October 25th, 2016, Cain tweeted,^[1] "My ranting wasn't a plea for affirmation. Truly. I'm just done here. I'm amazed by the cruelty comics brings out in people." Cain later tweeted, "'I love you.' -text my 11yr old daughter just sent me, bc I'm in my office dealing w/ misogynist bullies on Twitter instead of…"

That day, BuzzFeed^[1] published an article about the controversy titled "This Woman Writer Was Trolled So Badly, She Left Twitter."

On October 27th, Cain posted a statement on her leaving Twitter on her website. She wrote:^[2]

"There is still a vocal segment of the comic book readership that is dominated by sexist jerks with Twitter accounts. Twitter is still a highly flawed platform that nurtures a culture of bullying. … But know that I did not leave Twitter because of rape threats or because someone had posted my address, or any of the truly vile tactics you hear about. I left Twitter because of the ordinary daily abuse that I decided I didn’t want to live with anymore. The base level of casual crassness and sexism. … If a stranger yells at you on the street? You walk away."

"I Stand With Chelsea"

Following the backlash towards the Mockingbird cover and the harassment of Cain, some within the comics industry began tweeting support of the writer. On October 26th, then-Marvel comics Editor-In-Chief Axel Alonso tweeted,^[3] "I stand w/ Chelsea Cain, condemn online harassment, and think the MU, and the industry, benefits & grows from diverse creators & characters."

Some in support of ComicsGate responded to Alonso's tweet, blaming the company and attempting to discredit Cain's complaints. (examples below).

#MakeMineMilkshake

On July 28th, 2017, Marvel Comics Heather Antos tweeted^[1] a selfie of her and her fellow Marvel co-workers getting milkshakes. Antos captioned the tweet, "It's the Marvel milkshake crew! #FabulousFlo." The post (shown below) received more than 520 retweets and 4,100 likes in less than a week.

Days after posting the photo, the tweet received some apparent negative attention, with some users claiming that this milkshake photo was an example of politicizing comic books and superhero stories, causing a decline in quality. On July 30th, Antos tweeted,^[4] "Woke up today to a slew of more garbage tweets and DMs. For being a woman. In comics. Who posted a selfie of her friends getting milkshakes." The tweet (shown below) received more than 200 retweets and 900 likes.

On July 30th, Twitter user @iwishiwashim12 tweeted,^[5] "Can we just get off of feminism and social justice and actually print stories. God DC looks better and better." The tweet (shown below, left) received more than 40 likes. That day, Twitter user @thebechtloff tweeted (shown below, right),^[6] "Gee, I can't imagine why Marvel's sales are in the toilet."

On July 30th, Marvel Comics official Twitter^[7] account posted an illustration of the Thor character Hela saying "Some people harbor the most terrible grudges.” The tweet (shown below) received more than 1,500 retweets and 5,000 likes in three days.

Blacklist

In February 2018, a blacklist^[16] of people within the comics industry was spread around social media, indicating members of the industry that work counter to the ComicsGate agenda. On February 8th, 2018, Twitter user @MateZetabaen tweeted^[11] the list (shown below).

ComicsGate Defined

On February 9th, 2018, Wikia user MechAniki01 launched a ComicsGate Wiki^[8]. They defined the wants of the movement in five points. They wrote:

1) The adoption of art styles influenced exclusively by Progressive politics, & by the awkward, stilted injection of said political messages into stories regardless of whether context demands for it or not.
2) The hiring of people based purely on their surface traits & "opressed demographic" status (Women, Minorities, LGBT) rather than hiring based on merit & afinity for craft.
3) The change or outright replacement of beloved classic characters in the interest of shallow apeasement supposedly for the minorities.
4) The elitist atitude & purge of anything that is not progressive under the mantra of "not progressive enough".
5) The rejecton of honest criticism, swept aside as harassment or discrimination.

Cancellation of Jawbreakers

On May 11th, 2018, Antarctic Press announced that they would be published Jawbreakers--Lost Souls by Richard C. Meyer, who runs the YouTube channel Diversity & Comics. The channel is frequently been a champion of the ComicsGate movement and has been the subject of controversy, as others within the comics community has criticized him for using his fanbase against them, resulting in various forms of trolling and harassment.^[10]

Following the announcement of the book, several people within the industry allegedly contacted the publisher and urged them to cancel the book. That day, comic book writer Mark Waid posted (shown below, left) on Facebook, "I have a call in to Antarctic Press. Until I hear back, I'm (hesitantly) willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that they don't really understand who or what they're getting to business with, which--though it would seem a stretch--is a possibility. If I do hear back, I'll report in. Curious as to how they feel about publishing creators whose marketing strategy is to allegedly (*koff*) encourages their fans to threaten employees and one-star-review-bomb stores, that don't order their product."

Additionally, various comic retailers announced that they would not be carrying Jawbreakers. The Twitter account for Variant Edition tweeted^[15] that they would not be carrying the book because "It does not appeal to our demographic, and we will not actively support creators who have promoted harm to friends, collegues and strangers." The post (shown below, center) received more than 30 retweets and 275 likes in three days.

Later that day, Antarctic Press posted that they would not be publishing Jawbreakers.^[12] The post (shown below, right) received more than 400 reactions, 350 comments and 60 shares. They wrote:

"After careful consideration, it is the decision of Antarctic Press to not release the comic series Jawbreakers.

"Antarctic Press is a staunch believer in Creator’s Rights and giving creators a chance to showcase their creation and allowing that creation to be judged on its merits.

"Many forces, many of them should be viewed with great trepidation about how our society acts, have led us to this decision. We do not take this decision lightly as we do believe that there should be separation between “ART” and the “ARTIST” and that separation has been blurred in our decision.

"We appreciate all our supporters and detractors in this process.

"Thank you for taking the time to read our statement.

"This statement will be removed in 7 days."

Following the cancelation, Meyer posted on Twitter that they would still be fulfilling the orders of the Indiegogo, which at that point had raised more than $200,000. That day, Meyer tweeted,^[13] "JAWBREAKERS- LOST SOULS will NOT be released by Antarctic Press We'll just fulfill the Indiegogo backers and then move on from the comics industry. Isn't that right, @JonMalin and @BrettRSmith76 ? We're done. Just going to take the L and move on with life… It's OVER. ;)" The post (shown below) received more than 80 retweets and 290 likes in three days.

Throughout the weekend, Meyer and his fans expressed their disappointment over the decision and anger towards Mark Waid due to his alleged involvement in the cancelation. Meyer shared a post by Waid, in which Waid implies that Meyer and the ComicsGate movement were doxxing store opens. Meyer denied the allegation and wrote,^[14] "Mark Waid has literally spent the entire day lying. He is now implying that employees' personal phone numbers were leaked and not the store phone numbers as is what happened in real life." The post (shown below, left) received more than 90 retweets and 340 likes in three days.

On May 12th, Twitter user @TempletonTJones tweeted,^[17] "#MarkWaid straight up lied to get a successfully kickstarted comic dropped by a publisher. Nobody was threatened. You're witnessing SJWs literally lie and slander to get rid of their competition."

Others, however, criticized Meyer and his fans' tactics, calling into question their use of "accusations of pedophilia" and "homophobic slurs." Twitter^[18] user @nightofthecrabs responded {shown below, right) to Meyer's comments, "Because accusations of pedophilia and homophobic slurs are just good clean fun. "Actual adults" don't do that. Keep digging, Meyer. Maybe you'll hit China."

Mark Waid responded to the controversy. He told BleedingCool.com^[9] that the publisher of Antarctic had received a number of complaints from stores about Meyer, stating that they would not be carrying the book and that his call had nothing to do with the decision to cancel because they had already planned on cancelling before the call.

"As it turns out, he was way ahead of me on this. It’s not my place to speak for him, but he was appalled that stores–the stores he makes his living selling to–were getting harassed. He’d learned an awful lot about his new partner in the previous 24 hours. He and I had a good, productive conversation, listening to one another, disagreeing on some philosophical points but agreeing on others. Again, by his request, I’m not really at liberty to go into detail about the conversation other than to make clear that (a) he’d pretty much come to his conclusions about what to do long before he and I talked, and (b) he’ll back me up when I report that at no time did I ask him not to publish the book or ask him not to affiliate with its creators[…]

"From my point of view, I think the publisher clearly had no idea what kind of a man he was helping to enrich, and I’m genuinely impressed that, now knowing what he knows, he’s taken a stand even though he’s in a no-win situation where he can piss off either his longtime customers and creators or a small but loud lynch mob that embraces doxxing and harassment as a marketing strategy."

Cooke Harassment

On August 21st, 2018, Twitter^[19] user @GromComix tweeted a video of comics artist deceased Darwyn Cooke in which Cooke discusses the changing of characters sexuality for sales purposes and tagged it #comicsgate. That day, Cooke's wife, Martha, responded to the post, "Hi guys, this is Darwyn's wife and I can guarantee he thought you comics gate idiots were a bunch of crybaby losers ruining comics. because you are." After being deleted, Twitter user @RosieMarx shared a screenshot of the exchange, adding "We don't deserve Masha Cooke." The post (shown below, left) received more than 625 retweets and 2,500 likes in eight days.

Marsha Cooke went onto explain Darwyn's comments, tweeting^[20] (shown below, center) "Hi, Darwyn was on the record following this ambush interview that his issue was in retroactively changing characters sexuality for sales promotion. His point was to create new characters, including gay ones. He regretted including gay characters in this grouping."

Additionally, Cooke responded to conspiracy theories that she had been bribed into responding to these tweets. She tweeted,^[21] "Hi again, I can assure you no one puts words in my mouth or bribed me into defending my husband but continue on with this stupidity. What are the numbers on your account for?" Within one week, the post (shown below, right) received more than 10 retweets and 125 likes.

Comics artist Ethan Van Sciver, who has been active in the Comicsgate community tweeted at Cooke, writing,^[22] "I’ve been pretty happy to mute people who are harassing me on Twitter, Marsha. Or block them. People who use my name spitefully, who lie about me and torment me and my family over political differences. It goes a long way towards peace of mind. Just mute them."

Cooke responded, "Are you going to tell anyone to apologize to me." Sciver tweeted,^[23] "Yes, SJWs in comics, apologize to Marsha Cooke for cynically using her as a shield to attack Comicsgate, and for lying to her. It was Darwyn’s dear friend Billy who claimed him for Comicsgate, and I am disgusted by this whole affair. This wasn’t fair to you or Darwyn, Marsha." The tweet (shown below) received more than 40 retweets and 300 likes in one week.

Following the tweets against Marsha Cooke and Van Sciver's response, members of the comics industry, including various high-profile creators, began to speak out against the movement. Cartoonist and writer Jeff Lemire tweeted,^[24] "Comicsgate is based on fear, intolerance, bigotry and anger. The comics creators emerging today are too talented, too smart and too loud to be beaten by these weak people. It’s time we all started standing up for one another." The tweet (shown below) received more than 2,000 retweets and 8,500 likes in one week.

On August 23rd, comics artist Bill Sienkiewicz denounced the movement on Facebook. He wrote, in part, "That said, Comics sure as hell didn't choose the so-called Comicsgate contingent to promote hateful, misogynistic and plain-old-ugly dogma. No, these 'Gaters- you guys- you brought that ugliness all by yourselves." The post (shown below) received ore than 5,500 reactions, 400 comments and 1,300 shares in one week.

Following Sienkiewicz's responses, numerous members of the comics industry echoed his sentiments. On August 26th, X-Men and Injustice writer Tom Taylor tweeted,^[25] "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 tweet (shown below, left0 received more than 2,200 retweets and 7,400 likes in four days. Others in the industry shared his words, expressing solidarity against the recent controversy (examples below, center and right).

Some users criticized the response, noting the the industry only commented after a "white wife" was attacked. Marsh Cooke echoed the sentiment. She tweeted, "Hopefully this is my last comment on the subject but I agree with everyone saying it is annoying that people didn't get on board the reality of what these idiots are doing until it was a white wife attacked." The tweet (shown below) received more than 10 retweets and 190 likes in four days.

Various media outlets covered the response from the comics industry, including Polygon,^[26] Inverse,^[27] Comic Book Resources^[28] and more.

Search Interest

External References