I found Diversity and Comics (Richard Meyer's) Youtube Channel, shortly after I returned to reading comics after almost a decade long break from reading new issues.
It was an unfortunate time to return, the discussions around comic books were overpowered with political narratives from the recent election. Comics Professionals, with visible social media presences tend to skew towards the left. The absolutist rhetoric from some of the more vitriolic professionals was an irritant, and barrier to enjoyment.
Previously as a comic fan - I knew almost nothing about the political opinions of the people who produced comic books.
Along with Diversity and Comics, I soon discovered a host of other Comic Book pundits and reviewers - Captain Cummings, Engletine (IloveComics), Weaponized Nerd Rage, Captain Frugal, Doug Ernst, JustSomeGuy, Jon Del Arroz and on. Between the pundits and the social media posts of DC & Marvel professionials a confrontational exchange between creators and fans became the norm rather than the exception.
In July of 2017, a Marvel Editor Heather Antos posted a selfie with Marvel Comics creatives drinking milkshakes in celebration of "Flo Steinberg", with the ridicule of Antos that followed Comicsgate was in full swing.
Around October of 2017, Jon Del Arroz was leaked details of a discussion between a group of comic professionials fantasizing about provoking an altercation with Richard Meyer at a Comic Convention. This seemed to accelerate attention and interest in Comicsgate.
Up until 2018 the primary focus of Comicsgate seemed to center around an attempt to influence the primary publishers to give more consideration to a market of long term comic fans that felt underserved
and discarded. In retrospect the communications may have been too vitriolic to have been heard, and may have accelerated the contentiousness nature of the conversation.
On April 9, 2018 Richard Meyer launched his Jawbreakers Comic Book - after rejection from the Kickstarter platform. Jawbreakers was quickly funded, and in May 2018 Meyer announced he would be subsequently publishing it via Antarctic Press. That announcement was quickly walked back after what appeared to be significant criticism of Antarctic, and alleged interference from Mark Waid. Richard Meyer eventually brought suit against Mark Waid and the case is ongoing.
To examine all of the occurrences and exchanges that transpired would be exhaustive and tedious, so will briefly summarize the current state.
Positives:
After two plus years of Comicsgate - some of the principally effected creators Ethan Van Sciver, Mitch Breitweiser, Richard Meyer, and Jon Malin - have successfully crowdfunded comic book(s) and or started publishing companies.
Dozens of new youtubers and pundits have emerged and established large audiences, multiple comic news sites have been established, sites like Indiecron.com and others help independent comic creators reach audiences.
Dozens of new independent comic books have been crowdfunded and published.
Negatives:
The direct market for comics books, sales to and from comic book stores continues to decline.
Comicsgate focal points changed from fan lead discussion to creator centric discussions.
The original aims of comic book fans participating in Comicsgate oriented discussion was to effect policy changes at the large publishers, this gradually became almost entirely centered around the creation of new comics books to the point that many of the original participants became completely uninterested in Comicsgate.
Bad behavior has frequently been used to rationalize bad behavior in response - viewed from social media - discussion around comic books can look like an impenetrable morass of hostility.
The absolutism and ideological singularity of some Comicsgate fans is even more extreme than the professionals they criticized.
On a personal note, I stopped commenting on Corporate Comic publishers almost entirely beyond a general sense almost a year ago - unless a creator touched upon a very large or contentious political issue. Much of the material produced by the larger publishers is simply not made for me - it's oriented at a young adult audience and that's absolutely okay! There are alternatives from independents and smaller publishers that are more oriented towards my taste and preferences as a reader.
In retrospect I should have been more patient and looked for opportunities to frame my communications in a manner better for hearing. Looking back the conversations between parties quickly degraded to ONLY discussing the worst behaviors and communications of Comic Pros or Comicsgate. The race to the bottom was astonishingly fast. Some of this I believe was driven by social media and youtube - negative messages are at least 10x more "viral" than positive or moderate messages.
Comics fans where possible should look to bridge or overcome differences. There are enough alternative now that almost any Comic Book fan should be able to find something to enjoy. Comic Book readership on the whole appears to be in decline, Indie Creators and Small Publishers are probably better positioned to accommodate demographic changes in consumers. The larger Publishers Marvel, DC, Image, and IDW will likely face substantial challenges in the next decade and may undergo radical changes in a few short year.
I have learned that Comic Professionals are frequently silly people, prone to fight and squabble over anything or nothing. Even the professionals with which I share no common political cause with are capable of producing beautiful art and great stories. Beyond the domain of Comic Books itself most comic creators have no political influence. Their public political opinions serve more to identify themselves rather than to shape the broader political landscape. To place it into perspective the number of comic book reading voting age Americans is likely less than 0.5% of the electorate.
Finally read and enjoy what you like, it is almost certain that almost EVERY Comic Book professional you know will say something offensive or irritating to some party or another on social media. Keeping a scorecard of who to be angry at on any given day sounds like an exercise in tedium and misery - and a very poor hobby!
Heather Antos is an Editor for Valiant Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Chinese-financed company DMG Entertainment LLC. On Thursday September, Antos tweeted out criticism of the upcoming Joker movie from Warner Brothers (owned by ATT). Antos tweeted:
