Good morning, folks! We’re back for the start of another week. The seasons may change, the weeks may change, but it’s comforting to know that the comics industry will always be a fucking joke.
You think I’m kidding of course, but…well, if all the Ellis/Stewart stuff from the last few weeks weren’t enough, IDW’s new President, Jud Meyers, managed to get himself placed on Administrative Leave five days after starting the job. The details of what he did are not publicly available as they have been for many others, but both Tess Fowler and Alex DeCampi appear to have some stories. A whole entire mess.
Speaking of Tess Fowler, she was in the thick of it all week as Ethan Van Sciver put her in his sights, laughing about her having cancer alongside Comicsgate personalities such as Patrick Thomas Parnell, Adam Post, Cecil Jones, and Art Thibert. When many other creators rightly condemned this, Thibert in particular attempted a spirited defense, explaining that he wasn’t laughing at Fowler’s cancer, but in fact at the mention of Magdalene Visaggio. It was all right by his reasoning, because it was just a little transphobia. Somehow, he thinks this is better.
As if all of that weren’t enough, last week the Columbus Dispatch newspaper pulled the comic Six Chix over author Bianca Xunise’s one-panel commentary on the state of being a Black woman dealing with both anti-Black racism and a pandemic in the United States today.
So apparently the angry responses got my comic dropped from some newspapers and an apology that I did not approve of is running in its place. For the record I do not apologize for this comic and this is censorship. https://t.co/rfIAMP6wO9 pic.twitter.com/TcLwcxJS1o
— Scary Bradshaw ?? (@biancaxunise) July 30, 2020
The choice prompted a furor, and it wasn’t helped by a ridiculous, poorly reasoned letter that utterly failed to understand the point. Like I said. Comics industry. A fucking joke.
Just…lol, Marvel. Ell oh ell.
There are at least some good things happening, though! Ben Passmore, creator of comics like Your Black Friend and BTTM FDRS, has signed with Pantheon for a new graphic novel! Congratulations to him, and it’s wonderful to see such a great creator thriving.
Additionally, we’d be remiss if we didn’t shout out our own Zoe D. Smith, who won the Gilbert Seldes Prize for Public Scholarship for her two-part essay series, 4 Colorism! Congrats, Zoe!
Gilbert Seldes Prize for Public Scholarship goes to Zoe D. Smith for “4 Colorism, or, the Ashiness of it All” and “4 Colorism, or, White Paper/Brown Pixels,” Women Write About Comics @wwacomics https://t.co/1cQXmYNSOc
— Comics Studies (@cssorg) July 31, 2020
Lore Olympus is back for Season 2! Here’s a recap of the first season if you’d like to catch up, although really, you should just read it.
Finally, here’s a great spotlight on comics creator, editor, and all around badass Christina “Steenz” Stewart, ahead of her comic Heart of the City being carried in her hometown newspaper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. I’ve worked with Steenz personally in the past and stuff like this is just very cool to see. Congrats!
That’s all I have for you. Go forth and try to make the new week a good one!