Good morning! It’s June.
In a move both terrible and inevitable since their sale to content farm monster Valnet back in 2016, CBR has laid off the majority of their senior editing staff. Valnet had the usual corporate speak about culture etcetera, but the stories filtering out seem to highlight that the editors fired were standing up for writers against unreasonable demands handed down from Valnet’s corporate structure. It’s a shame, but as I said, not entirely unexpected. Valnet’s tenure has consistently worsened the quality of the once Eisner-winning site, and remains an object lesson in how fraught the landscape of comics journalism is. Fare thee well, CBR. You’re not dead yet, but you might as well be.
Oh, the Eisners have honored Thomas Woodruff’s request to withdraw from their awards ceremony this year, marking a close to this particular chapter of scandal for the awards, though by no means an end to the overall trend. Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud as hell of the ones we’ve won here at WWAC, but even those weren’t without controversy, and as long as the judge selection process overlooks matters of marginalization in assembling panels, these sorts of things will continue. Popverse ran an interesting piece about the judging process from an insider’s perspective, and this quote remains of particular interest:
One of the issues raised in the conversation around Woodruff’s nominations is the fact that this year’s (and many previous years’) Eisner judging panel has consisted of all-white judges. Popverse’s source commented on this, saying “The issue of it being an all-white panel was raised even before the voting and this controversy arose. The response was, essentially, that the judges were men and women, interfaith, geographically spread out, LGBTQ+, various professions, etc. There was diversity, though it may not have been in all the areas needed.”
I have to say, “we did a diversity, what more do you want from us” is not exactly the reassuring statement one looks for in these situations. Here’s hoping some folks in charge pull their heads out of their asses.
That’s all I got! See you next time.
