After years of growing harassment, provocation, and Alt-Right infiltration, ComicsGate staked its claim as the heir apparent to the GamerGate movement from just a short while prior. Arguing for apolitical storytelling while pushing for more right-wing creators, the movement quickly became an amalgamation of conflicting ideas that appealed to a broad base often at odds with each other. In our previous episode, we discussed the beginnings of the campaign and some of the major players involved. There’s more to discuss, though, as we’ve barely scratched the surface on some of the major claims to come from ComicsGate. For instance, a common refrain is that comic book sales dropped drastically when Social Justice Warriors began pushing their politics into their stories. But how accurate is this assessment? Did comic book sales drop, and, if so, is this tied to politics?
Low Sales
Comic book sales have always been a tricky thing to unpack and largely based on estimates or preorders. There are plenty of reasons for why this is the case, but it might be best to start with some of the numbers first. When talking to most in the industry, the common consensus is that there has been a very steady decline for quite a number of years. In 1966, part of the Golden Age of comics, the highest selling comic series was Batman with an average 898,470 copies per issue sold (Miller, n.d.-a). By contrast, the highest selling comic book for 2016 was Boom’s Big Trouble in Little China/Escape from New York #1, which was helped immensely by large sales directly to a repackager, and topped out at an estimated 421,625 issues sold (Miller, n.d.-b). That drop of over 476,000 sales per month means a loss of over 50% of total sales and is fairly indicative of what the comic book industry has looked like as years have gone on, but that's not the entire story.
The cost, too, has changed. In 1966, the median cost for a comic book was 12¢, meaning the Batman comic would bring in over $107,800 (Miller, n.d.-c). With inflation, that means DC would have just over $799,600 per issue in 2016 if sales remained the same. The difference, however, is that comic book prices rose dramatically. In 2016, the median cost for a comic book was $3.99. That Big Trouble in Little China/Escape from New York comic would bring in over $1.5 million dollars. That comparison might not be fair, though, since- as mentioned before- this comic book was sold to a repackager, which helped its overall sales. Instead, since Batman was the first example, it might be worth looking at that title. Batman sold for $2.99 and topped out at 304,245 issues sold in 2016, bringing in $909,692 for that issue (Miller, n.d.-b). While the sales have dropped as years have gone on, the major two companies are technically bringing in more money than they were before. The major comic book companies could accept this and take the extra they’re making from the price jump, but if the numbers show anything, it's that there is an untapped market. Losing half your readership would mean losing half of your potential profits. Obviously the Big Two, Marvel and DC, have their movies to fall back on and make what they can from the billion dollar box offices, but that’s not all they did.
Comic book companies began collecting their stories and publishing them as trade paperbacks. As manga grew in popularity within the United States, the compact collections of American comics for a slightly cheaper price than buying the individual issues also rose. By 2020, trade paperbacks, graphic novels, and manga accounted for $835 million in sales (Chauhan, 2021). This put these collections at just over 65% of the overall sales for comics.
In fact, retailer Brandon Schatz explained to Will Be Told:
“Despite ordering extremely tight for shelf in the past, single issues turned out to be a fair burden for our relatively young shop, and not the engine that kept things running.” (Chauhan, 2021)
In more modern days, it seems, readers are far more likely to purchase a trade paperback or graphic novel with a complete story than they are a single issue of a storyline. In 1966, customers could buy an issue of Batman and get a short, but complete story. This practice is nearly nonexistent in the modern, decompressed storytelling practiced in most comic books. The readership didn’t abandon comics, they followed the easiest path to getting a full story.
Single issues are still thriving, however, in a slightly different market. Digital sales have been on the rise in recent years, and with both DC and Marvel offering fairly expansive archives on a subscription model, huge numbers of fans are reading old and new books alike for a far cheaper cost than ever before (Chauhan, 2021). As the COVID-19 pandemic took effect and more and more people were stuck in their homes, digital comic book sales rose by 33%. What we see isn’t an industry that's dying, we see an industry that’s thriving.
In 1996, North American sales were around $300-$320 million (Lisa, 2021). By the early 2000s this figure rose to $400 million. By 2010, it was $700 million. By 2015, this jumped to $900 million. And, by 2019, comic book sales topped $1 billion dollars per year in North America alone with no sign of stopping. The myth of the dying industry sticks around largely due to changes in its structure.
At one point, comics were found at newspaper stands alongside more mainstream magazines. How a comic book actually made it to consumers was a major driver of how a company would operate. In fact, Timely, Marvel’s predecessor, had to limit their entire line in the late 50’s because the only distributor they could use was owned by their rivals at DC (Howe, 2013, p.80). If Timely wanted to produce any more than eight titles per month, they’d have to go through the hassle of finding a way to distribute their comics without losing money, which turned out to be unattainable at the time. Stan Lee was forced to decimate his staff in order to keep everything operating. For any company that wanted to remain relevant or attempt expansion, proper distribution was key.
In the early days of comic distribution, these magazines were sold on a returnable basis, meaning unsold copies would be resold back to the publisher at no loss to the newsstand (Howe, 2013, p.393). Rumors swirled of comics sitting in warehouses, and, because damaged copies were still returnable, their covers were ripped off and returned for credit while the damaged comics sold at a reduced price- allowing distributors to make quite a bit of extra profit. Which brings us back to the data from 1966. Those numbers represent the comics sold after their returns, meaning a great deal more were actually produced. In fact, often two or three copies were printed for each one sold. If this is taken into consideration, that means the Batman comic that sold 898,470 issues probably had a print run closer to 1,796,940 copies. The comics were definitely selling, but the cost of production was massive and clearly cut into their profit. It’s no wonder, then, that direct market distribution became the dominant form of sales.
As comic stores popped up around the country, many of the store owners began arguing for better deals, and, since the erratic newsstand distribution was hurting readership, it meant there needed to be better cooperation between comic stores and comic publishers (Howe, 2013, p.499). The rise in a distribution network for direct market sales to comic stores meant more space for small print runs and a huge influx of creators working for a far more stable industry (Howe, 2013, p. 544). There are plenty of areas where comic book distribution can and should be critiqued, but finding a way to stabilize a volatile market is an important and impressive move. In the 1960s, it was not the norm for every issue of a comic book to come out monthly. Today it is odd to see a book that doesn’t follow this path of publishing.
The argument that sales are dropping across the board and the industry is tanking is just demonstrably not true. Comics are stable, thriving, and making more than they were during their Golden Age.
Politics in Comics
The other main argument often made is that comics have become too political. In fact, this specific claim is what usually precedes the argument that sales have dropped or that the industry is failing. While we’ve already discussed how this doesn’t match with actual sales figures and how “diversity” books were being handled the same as any other- including how some outsold their white, male counterparts- it’s still important to discuss the politics in comics.
Starting all the way back in the 30’s, mainstream superhero books told stories of upstanding citizens willing to help those that are in need (Howe, 2013, p. 30-32). At this time, comics weren’t a very profitable or impressive endeavor. Still in their infancy, comedic short stories and pulp adventures like Tarzan or Flash Gordon were the big hits of the time. Often, this new medium of storytelling employed out-of-work veterans or young graduates who had trouble finding paying gigs anywhere else. It’s no wonder, then, that some of the underserved, like the Jewish community, ended up taking these jobs and working hard at pumping out as many pages as they could for the little money they could actually make. After all, this was America in the middle of the Great Depression, so any money was considered good money. The runaway success of Superman at this time spawned loads of superhero crime fighters in their own colorful gear. With working class, often fairly poor, artists taking up shop in what was largely considered a lesser job compared to more high art magazine work, the push for stories that actually mattered or made a statement started fairly soon after.
At the onset of World War II, many Americans were still unsure of entering into another bloody war. In the pages of the comics, this was handled by characters like the Sub-Mariner or the Human Torch fighting against Nazis sporadically, while DC characters like Superman and Batman focused on bank robbers and aliens (Howe, 2013, p. 46-50). This changed, however, as time went on and more countries began to fall to Hitler. The Jews that made up the comic book publishers at the time were understandably nervous. That’s when Joe Simon and Jack Kirby published Captain America #1 in December of 1940. They gambled that having their hero, clad in American Stars and Stripes, punching Hitler on the cover would resonate with anxious readers, and it did. Nearly reaching the heights of Superman’s debut, Captain America exceeded everyone’s expectations and set the stage for many more war-time comics.
This fascinatingly political move would not be the last that many mainstream American comic books would take. After the gluttony of very patriotic, somewhat propagandic, superheroes took hold, the industry started looking elsewhere (Fertig, 2017, p. 13-20). While men were sent to fight in the war, many women filled the creative roles behind the scenes of the comic book world and set the stage for empowered female superheroes. The pervasive sexism of the time still existed, however, so often these characters weren’t published on covers or were drawn into very scantily clad outfits. Still, superheroes were slowly playing a role in the feminist movement. Throughout the 40s, the dominant readership of comic books were women themselves, so it is no surprise to see Miss Fury, Fantomah, Sheena, and other female superheroes begin to take form. The most enduring, though, would of course be the feminist icon herself, Wonder Woman.
After Professor William Marston commented on the untapped potential for education in comic books in an issue of Family Circle, he landed a consulting position at DC (Fertig, 2017, p.20). In his new role, and with the help of his wife and girlfriend, Marston created the Amazonian Wonder Woman as a strong role model for young girls. Becoming a near instant hit, Wonder Woman has remained a mainstay at DC and considered part of their trinity alongside Superman and Batman. By 1972, her role as a feminist icon was so well established that Ms. magazine cemented the idea by featuring the comic book character. Publisher Gloria Steinem went so far as to say Wonder Woman symbolized many of the feminist values they were trying to introduce into mainstream culture.
Even beyond comic book history’s early years, these political messages kept coming. By the 60s, several books took on political themes at their core. The X-Men, often argued to be created in response to both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, took on the role of civil rights activists (Howe, 2013, p. 119-121). They donned superhero costumes and fought for social justice, becoming literal embodiments of Social Justice Warriors. While the early run stumbled often in conveying these messages, they were firmly established as fighting for equal rights. At the same time, Marvel reintroduced Captain America to a world that lost much of its interest in patriotism. A new, jaded America was no longer interested in comic book characters waving the American flag, which is part of what informed Captain America’s run moving forward. No longer would he blindly represent America. He would stand for what America could be. The timing couldn’t have been any better considering his return coincided with the assassination of JFK. American readers entered a new world, one no longer entirely focused on what they had known before. It became clear that having an Americentric output limited market appeal. To combat this, Marvel sought out a chance to reinvigorate their X-Men line by replacing the characters with multiethnic, multinational newcomers (Howe, 2013, p. 356-357). These new X-Men actually embody the exact thing ComicsGate claimed was ruining comic books in modern days. No longer was the mutant team full of largely straight, white men. Now the team claimed an African goddess, a Native American, and a Japanese superhero in their ranks. With this new team, and the creative direction of Chris Claremont, the X-Men steadily became Marvel’s best selling book over the next few decades.
Around the same time, Captain America’s role as the model for an idealized America took a new turn after the Watergate scandal (Howe, 2013, p. 340-341). The writer of the book, Steve Englehart, felt the perfect opportunity to capitalize on the changing political landscape would be to play on Watergate as much as possible. The real life Committee for the Re-Election of the President, often mockingly shortened to CREEP, became the Committee to Regain America’s Principles, or CRAP, in the comic. Captain America sought out a criminal conspiracy known as the Secret Empire, only to find President Nixon behind the entire thing, and, disgraced, Nixon committed suicide in front of the sentinel of liberty. The fallout of this event even led to Captain America abandoning his red, white, and blue attire in favor of a darker costume and changing his name to Nomad, as he was now a man without a country.
While Stan Lee always felt comfortable calling out bigotry, as he often did in his own columns for Marvel, he often felt less comfortable speaking on other political issues. When called out for lack of representation of black characters in their comics, Marvel quickly pointed out the few they did have while also working diligently to create new ones (Howe, 2013, p. 229-232). The Black Panther’s entire existence is a political statement, as is a great deal of other minority characters. Their role in the story shows that their existence is valid, specifically as it relates to a medium where straight, white men were often the default to the point that the existence of a minority character by 2016 was seen as a threat to fragile identities. The lack of real diversity in comics was even commented on within the pages of Green Lantern at DC (Riesman, 2018a). The new, and iconic, run on the title took the somewhat novel approach of teaming a largely establishment and conservative character like Green Lantern with the leftist underdog of Green Arrow. In their first adventure together a black man scolds Green Lantern for his lack of response to all that black people had gone through, with the hero unable to find a response. From there, the series tackled many political issues with the two white stars often bickering about proper solutions.
Over the years, comics tackled political position after political position. The Punisher, a paranoid and dangerous war veteran, popped into comics as a critique of violent vigilantism at the same time as several villains who made their names by selling out their left-wing compatriots (Howe, 2013, p. 322-323). Spider-Man tackled drug abuse at the behest of the U.S. Department of Health (Howe, 2013, p. 262). Ms. Marvel’s creation came from a marketing strategy to chase the feminist audience (Howe, 2013, p. 508-509). All of this happened in mainstream superhero books, which was nothing compared to the underground comix that dealt with drug use, sexuality, and other counterculture topics. The argument about how heavy handed the message is in modern comics compared to previous years is an entirely different subject, but one that, by nature, would need to focus on individual authors rather than industry standards. Certainly, there have been good and bad uses of political issues in comic books. There have been countless examples of pushback throughout the years. Perhaps most notable for the mainstream audiences, however, would be Stan Lee’s own words printed in Marvel’s comics.
Stan Lee on politics
Stan’s Soapbox, a column that ran from the 60s up to 2001, was a place for Stan Lee to say whatever was on his mind. Often these amounted to general musings, but occasionally they said much more, specifically on the topic of bigotry. Occasionally, Lee found it necessary to respond to criticism using this platform. In an issue of The Avengers in 1970, Lee wrote:
“From time to time we receive letters from readers who wonder why there’s so much moralizing in our mags. They take great pains to point out that comics are supposed to be escapist reading and nothing more. But somehow, I can’t see it that way. It seems to me that a story without a message, however subliminal, is like a man without a soul. In fact, even the most escapist literature of all – old time fairy tales and heroic legends – contained moral and philosophical points of view. At every college campus where I may speak, there’s as much discussion of war and peace, civil rights, and the so-called youth rebellion as there is of our Marvel mags per se. None of us lives in a vacuum – none of us is untouched by the everyday events around us – events which shape our stories just as they shape our lives. Sure our tales can be called escapist – but just because something’s for fun, doesn’t mean we have to blanket our brains as we read it!” (Lee, 1970)
What Lee underscores in this moment is that every story is political. There is no way to separate politics from storytelling. The traditional tales that ComicsGate wants to get back to tell a political story in their own right. A white, male hero standing up for those around him may seem without a message, but that’s because the message is so often used and saturated that it is overlooked. The choice to exclude a minority character or sideline them is inherent in the choice to use a white, cishet male. That doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with the choice on its own, but when seen next to the hundreds of other characters using the same exact approach, it becomes apparent how little minorities are prioritized. They are seen as a bother rather than a person, dehumanizing the people these characters represent and quietly telling them to stay in their place.
The act of remaining silent or refusing to change when faced with lack of representation or even outright bigotry is a political statement in and of itself. It is a tacit approval of the issues it ignores. This is the underlying principle to the story of Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man. When Peter refused to stop a criminal, he made a choice to remain neutral during an injustice. When his uncle was murdered by the same criminal he refused to stop, Peter learned the consequences of his inaction and adopted the mantra, “With great power, there must also come great responsibility.” Stan Lee had been making this point for decades before ComicsGate argued that comics had become too political. In reality, politics had always been there, but the advent of social media allowed hundreds of people to feel power in their anger and harassment of others. This is the same playbook adopted by GamerGate and a truly effective way to convince those highly invested in a topic being co-opted for nefarious purposes to throw support behind a catchphrase that masks a harassment campaign.
Joe Quesada’s Response
The online arguments did not go unnoticed by those at Marvel, who had been the subject of attack from ComicsGate from the very beginning. Joe Quesada, then Chief Creative Officer at Marvel Comics, tweeted the same Stan’s Soapbox referenced earlier with the message “BREAKING NEWS: This just in… from 1970?” (Quesada, 2018). Quesada’s reaction to ComicsGate, though not specifically naming the group, immediately drew the attention and ire of others. One of those engaging with the tweet was Jon Malin, an artist who had recently worked for Marvel on the Cable series and came under fire for comparing SJWs to Nazis (Malin, 2018). Malin believed SJWs were infecting the comic book industry and forcing creators to comply with their strict view of the world for fear of being called racist, homophobic, or transphobic. In his eyes, the authoritarians were those that were calling for an end to harmful representation standards and offensive online rhetoric. He claimed no harassment could be blamed on critics like Diversity & Comics because they never explicitly told followers to harass the subjects of their critiques (Trent, 2018). This ignores the fundamentals of stochastic terrorism and propaganda, but his strong anti-SJW stances made him a darling of the ComicsGate movement. His response to Quesada pointed out that Spider-Gwen co-creator Robbie Rodriguez had recently tweeted a photo of his anus to Ethan Van Sciver as a means of insulting him (Quesada & Malin, 2018). For Malin, this act could be used to show the contempt that Marvel held for ComicsGate personalities and an example of harassment by them. This thought would make sense if the behavior was condoned or perpetrated by a representative of the company. Unfortunately for him, this isn’t the case.
As Quesada pointed out, he agrees that this behavior was not acceptable, but it was also an action taken by someone who had not worked for Marvel in quite some time (Quesada & Malin, 2018). If an employee had done or said something inappropriate, which he acknowledged has happened, it would be dealt with internally and privately. Alternatively, Malin freely associated with Richard C. Meyer, who is often seen as a leader in the ComicsGate movement, and had repeatedly engaged in behavior such as calling female writers he didn’t like “cum dumpsters”, belittling minority creators by suggesting they got their jobs on no merit other than being a minority, misgendered trans creators, and claimed many of the women in the industry “sucked their way to the top”. Meyer’s abhorrent actions were well known by this time and vehemently defended, including by Malin hisself. Malin was quick to respond by saying Meyer was a critic and, as such, the complaints against him are complaints against criticism. The behavior in question, though, does not constitute criticism, nor does Meyer offer evidence to support his claims. These are personal attacks, ones that strip accomplishments from minorities. Malin both condones and defends these actions. In fact, a year after this exchange, Malin joined a livestream with both Ethan Van Sciver and Richard Meyer where Meyer claimed Zoë Quinn, and others like them, force their opponents into suicide through Twitter (Van Sciver, 2019). He expanded on this to say that “they want to hear about your wife and kids crying at your funeral” and that “these are the worst people the human race has ever produced.” Van Sciver responded by saying that, while this sounds like an exaggeration, it absolutely isn’t. This is the rhetoric that Malin tacitly approves of by continuing to associate with Meyer and by defending his actions as normal criticism. Quinn’s life became a series of harassment lobbed at them online, and Meyer chose to use this person as an example of the exact opposite. The acknowledgement that social interactions online that are abusive can cause mental anguish and lead to real world harm is an acknowledgment that Meyer understands his responsibility and the consequences of his actions, which would indicate he knowingly incites harm.
Alternative News Sites
The use of misleading or outright fictional claims about the comic book industry serves the ComicsGate movement well. For Meyer to defend his and his followers' actions, the victims of their abuse would need to seem like a far greater threat so that the harassment could be seen as justified. Similarly, any emotional turmoil from online interactions has to be one sided, with ComicsGate as the victim. Perhaps most importantly, information would need to be presented in such a way that confirms ComicsGate’s belief system. Some of the best sources for all of this were the alternative news sites that cater to ComicsGate narratives, such as Bleeding Fool, Bounding into Comics, or ComicsGate.org.
The comic book news and gossip site Bleeding Fool, which parodies a similar site by the name of Bleeding Cool, helps to offer alternative information for anti-SJW and identity politics groups. Jamison Ashley, the founder of the site, recalled its origins by stating:
“One day I was on the Bleeding Cool message boards commenting on a story they were running where the writer was praising the forced diversity of one of that month’s inclusive comics du jour. And I posted that I thought [while] it was commendable that X-Men #94 (published in 1975 and which introduced many of the most well-known X-Men) was EXTREMELY diverse, Marvel didn’t feel a need to promote it as a “diverse comic book.” They just told a solid story and it became a hit. I was shadowbanned by Bleeding Cool within an hour of making that comment. That was the day Bleeding Fool was born and it would allow people to sound off without fear of being censored for ‘wrongthink.’” (Hair, 2019)
The point Ashley is trying to make is that during the marketing for Uncanny X-Men #94, Marvel’s marketing did not focus on the ethnic backgrounds of the main characters. The reason he chose this particular issue is because it is the first one printed with what has been labeled the “All-New, All-Different” team by the company after their successful introduction in Giant Size X-Men #1. X-Men was a strange series that floundered for a while in the 60s and nearly fell off completely until this new team was introduced. With this new group of characters and longtime scribe Chris Claremont at the helm, the X-Men became the top selling book and a juggernaut of a franchise, all of which came about when Marvel was looking to diversify its lineup. Marketing materials may not have played up the diversity as much as Ashley thinks, but the decision based on appealing to a broader audience was definitely there.
The claim mentioned by Ashley that they were shadowbanned by Bleeding Cool is plausible The site itself had already been known for many accusations of shady business and ethical practices, including the decision to interview and platform Vox Day (MacDonald, 2018). Though popular, Bleeding Cool was never seen as a mainstream source of journalism. Whether or not his specific comment was the deciding factor is nearly impossible to ascertain, but ultimately irrelevant in the grand scheme of how comic book reporting is handled by mainstream outlets. Regardless, Ashley’s offense led him to building a news and gossip website specifically for a conservative base that opposes what they deemed liberal bias. He went so far as to copy Bleeding Cool’s own logo and changed the title to Bleeding Fool. This would be the site dedicated to showing the leftist nature of comic book media. In actuality, however, the content published by the site is often contrarian for seemingly no purpose or filled with homophobia so thinly veiled it might as well be a window. The bias in their writing is on full display, proudly touted as a reason for their existence.
From their website:
“While poking a bit of fun at some of the more highly revered comic book websites, we’ve decided it’s time to respond to either their boring ‘unbiased’ reporting with something a bit more nuanced and interesting, or respond to their decidedly progressive liberal politics with opinions from the libertarian and closer to the right side of the aisle. Sometimes things may get a bit extreme, but we always welcome diversity of ideas here and anyone with a free Disqus account is welcome to push-back or sound-off in the comments sections (as long as they’re not a name-calling jerk).” (Bleeding Fool, 2019)
A scroll through their contributors showcases several high profile names with troubling histories (Bleeding Fool, 2019). Ethan Van Sciver, Avi Green, and even Breitbart are all promoted contributors in some capacity. For Breitbart, most of the articles attributed to them are actually repostings from their own site by different authors. Ethan Van Sciver’s name is listed, but no actual article seems to be written by him, or, at the very least, those articles have been removed. Other authors have a varied history with some posting very matter-of-fact pieces about interesting comic news, such as Christina Wiggins coverage of a Disney+ episode that highlighted a young transgender girl and its ties to charity (Wiggins, 2019). The comments on this article alone decry transgenderism as a “deathstyle”, claim Walt Disney was a pedophile, and label the entire episode “sick” or “child abuse”. The audience cultivated by Bleeding Fool rarely shows a dissenting opinion, but, instead, creates an environment for a bubble of extremism.
Another author, Avi Green, adds directly to this hyperbolic writing and paints an interesting portrait. In fact, a great deal can be learned about what Bleeding Fool deems appropriate by their association with Green and the causes he fights both for and against. Decrying what he considers “far left” and “woke” politics in the media, a common fixation seems to be his obsession with LGBTQ+ stories. In his article on PBS Kids’ TV show Arthur, Green blames the cancellation of the long running series on a 2019 episode featuring a wedding between two men (Green, 2022). According to Green, the series drifted too far into leftist politics by featuring gay characters, much like the spinoff show had an episode with two lesbian women before its cancellation. Green also ties this to The Simpsons recently having Mr. Smithers come out as gay and questions how long the show will remain on the air.
Searching the term “homosexual” on Bleeding Fool finds article after article written by various contributors, but predominantly by Avi Green, with the general consensus being that whatever gay character is introduced or portrayed is bad. For instance, in an article about one of Batman’s Robins coming out as bisexual, Green argues that the political left is promoting homosexuality the same way Nazis promoted the Aryan race (Green, 2021a). This implies that the political left, or those okay with printing LGBTQ+ characters, are Nazis. In another post on his own blog, Green espouses:
“First, I think it did cause harm in the long run to censor homosexuality as much as sex scenes in general for as long as it happened in the Silver Age. Mainly because, how would it be possible for anybody who disapproves of abnormalities to comment on how and why they feel it's a bad influence?” (Green, 2019a)
This type of rhetoric, which paints homosexuality in an almost entirely negative light, is not reserved exclusively for expressions of sexuality. Green writes about transgenderism often, with the claim that “there's no chance they would ever depict transgender ideology negatively or as a poor example (Green, 2017).” For him, biological sex is the only thing worth acknowledging as he will frequently misgender characters and even refer to them as scientific and chemical experiments. The mere existence of transgender characters, he believes, is entirely part of a leftist plot and acknowledgement of their preferred pronouns is a purely leftist media push. Green also asserts:
“It's degrading to women to make it look like "non-binary" is a mentality they should emulate, and come to think of it, to men as well. Not to mention that the culture of cutting away the hair on the sides to look vaguely like a mohawk is denigrating as well.” (Green, 2018)
Green frequently refers to nonheteronormative or cisgender people as having a mental disorder and anyone that discusses what it is like or how it is portrayed is merely pushing identity politics (Green, 2018). This, of course, obscures the fact that transgender biology is a fact, with phenotypic expressions evident and a much wider expression of gender identity, even on a genetic level, regularly observed (Kreukels & Guillamon, 2016). Avi Green’s obsession with homosexuality, expressions of gender, and it’s positive portrayal in the media goes back a long way. In 2006, Green wrote a blog post titled They want us to tolerate the abnormal, the perverse, the sick in which he discusses a character coming out as gay and states that this makes them mentally ill (Green, 2006). Following this assertion, he claims that if any dare voice an objection to homosexuality as anything other than acceptable, they would be smeared as a fascist before declaring his disgust for what he sees as a character destruction. Green’s anger at any and all things gay is not the only defining characteristic of his writing, nor the writing at Bleeding Fool. Further into his rant on homosexuality, Green writes:
“This is but part of the creeping homosexualization of comic books, and it's really insulting. Mainly because it's never depicted as a problem, and probably not even asked, if at all. We're just supposed to accept it, regardless of whether it's sane or not. And what next, will Islam be presented in comics as the next thing we're told to tolerate and accept, regardless of what it's like?” (Green, 2006)
Green, and others at Bleeding Fool, have dedicated a great deal of time defining, decrying, and defiling Islam. When discussing Marvel Comics editor Sana Amanat, Green focuses almost exclusively on her religious background (Green, 2019b). Upon learning that she was related to Huma Abedin, former deputy chief of staff to Hillary Clinton while she was Secretary of State, Green immediately asserts that her work at Marvel was leftist propaganda. While discussing Abedin’s ties to The Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Green points to an article from World Net Daily that states this to be a journal promoting Sharia Law. This is a conspiracy theory that had long since been debunked at the time of Green’s post (Kessler, 2016). While Abedin was tangentially tied to The Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, the publication was considered a sober academic journal with differing views on what it is like to be Muslim in various areas around the world. The need for Abedin to be seen as radically in favor of Sharia Law only served the purpose of scaring Islamophobes and riling a conservative base against the Democratic party. Green’s use of this long-since debunked conspiracy points to his laxed journalistic integrity and extreme religious and political bias. The truth didn’t matter, but the optics of the situation allowed him to tie Sana Amanat to someone accused of religious tyranny, and, thus, accuse Marvel of a similar conspiracy.
The mere existence of a Muslim creator or character is enough to draw the ire of some. The comic book Yasmeen published through Scout Comics earned the title of Islamic propaganda for simply having a Muslim character and not explicitly stating that some terrible things have happened in the name of the religion (Green, 2021b). In fact, Richard C. Meyer’s positive review of the comic brought immense pushback from Avi Green, who claimed Meyer was being naive. The comics tells the story of a 16-year-old girl who survived two years of slavery under ISIS and must deal with establishing a new normalcy after this traumatic event while starting a life in America. To Green, though, the comic is only propaganda the supports the actions of ISIS by simply having Islam as part of the main character’s background. It doesn’t matter that the abduction and slavery are portrayed as horrific because he views having a Muslim character the same as promoting that religion, and, therefore, the extremist actions of religious zealots. Even the term Islamophobia is defended by Green, as he states it is “actually a badge of honor for anyone who’s a realist.”
While the majority of the posts on Bleeding Fool specific to Islam are written by Avi Green, he is not the sole source of the content. For instance, Alexander Adams, a defender of ComicsGate, was interviewed by Bleeding Fool’s founder on how the movement was a reaction to cultural entryism, a term he defined as the use of art as a social tool (Ashley, 2019). In his view, the media is being used to carefully craft a narrative that promotes a particular ideology and ComicsGate is the most abundantly documented case of such an event. Interestingly, Adams also points to the massacre of the Charlie Hebdo staff as the moment he became interested in the impact of politics in culture. The incident that he is referring to is when two French Muslim brothers from the Islamic terrorist group al-Quaeda forced their way into the Charlie Hebdo offices and killed 12 people (Bilefsky & de la Baume, 2020). The motive of the attack is largely believed to be the magazine’s controversial depictions of the Prophet Muhammad. This incident that Alexander Adams uses as the defining moment for his interest in politics is a terrorist attack carried out by two Muslim extremists. He dives a bit deeper into his views on Islam in his book, Culture War: Art, Identity Politics and Cultural Entryism (Adams, 2019) by dedicating large chunks on religious extremism and, specifically, how Muslim extremists force censorship on the West. Adams claims a focus on identity politics and a perceived double standard when it comes to anti-religious sentiment and hate speech as strengthening the agenda of “Western Islamists.” The idea is that the principles of identity politics breed a victimhood narrative that undermines Western society and this is all part of the lefist’s Marxist agenda, which is co-opted by Islamic extremists. Adams states:
“The leftist sees anti-colonialism as the goal; the Islamist sees anti-colonialism as a stage in a process towards establishing a Eurasian (or worldwide) caliphate. The leftist’s secular outlook prevents him from understanding the depth of feeling the Islamist has and the literalness of the Islamist’s stated beliefs. For the leftists there is comfort in the belief that the real enemies of peace and prosperity are capitalism and Western democracy, so strong is their attachment to the victim narrative.” (Adams, 2019, p. 348-360).
Repeatedly, Adams and others within ComicsGate refuse to acknowledge the inherent socioeconomic differences between races within our society. Focusing on representation within media or the struggles of the underserved minorities is seen as a weakness and portraying a victimhood that others must accommodate. This tactic is the same as similar ones used during the era of GamerGate. While ComicsGate and GamerGate proponents claim to be tragically oppressed for perceived grievances, opposing views showing the plight of minorities and historical complications are downplayed as whining about being a victim. The same idea can be traced to the defensiveness with which the groups interact with criticism. As Abraham Riesman (2018b) points out:
“In angry tweets, as well as rambling YouTube videos, members of the inchoate Comicsgate movement have derided female and minority characters, creators, and fans — all while claiming to want a return to an imagined past of apolitical comics. Many of them have special ire for trans people (“SJW Mags Visaggio Takes Advantage of Trans-Tender [sic] PRIVILEGE To Get Hired And Make Money,” reads the title of one Meyer video about trans writer Magdalene Visaggio), accusing them of faking their trans status for fame and profit. A Comicsgate news-hub called Bounding Into Comics emerged, where progressive creators and critics are regularly accused of harassing or silencing conservatives. For those who followed Gamergate, the defensive positions are all too familiar: whenever someone says something extreme or incites targeted harassment, other reactionaries will either say it was all a joke or that that person doesn’t represent the larger movement.”
The game that is played begins when a ComicsGate follower harasses someone online, and when the subject of the harassment fights back the aggressive stance they take is showcased as an example of the harassment the ComicsGate community has to endure. It’s easy to win over a few people with grand claims that the stories they don’t like are actually because of the diversity introduced and not because those stories just don’t speak to them the way some others do. Compound that feeling with a sense of victimhood, while claiming that the opposing side sees themselves as the victim, and there’s a recipe for recruitment. The feedback loop that is established tricks enough people to follow further down the rabbit hole and be radicalized by the movement. Alexander Adams correctly defined this phenomenon in his own book.
“extremists cannot be accommodated within a secular society by way of reasonable concessions because [...] extremism is essentially unreasonable in that it rests on belief not reason. A[n] [...] extremist can never be satisfied because he lives in a perpetual state of discontent and anger. He abhors doubt and seeks to eradicate it. [...] Every day he is constantly provoked by his failure to remake reality.” (Adams, 2019)
Interestingly, though, this particular passage is actually about the Islamic extremists that he has built much of his political interests around.
We will take a look at some of the more wild events to come from ComicsGate next time, including more lawsuits, some publishing allies, QAnon ties, and an announced partnership with one of the most problematic figures in comics.
You can find more information, including all of the sources for today’s episode at ComicallyPedantic.com. You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram by searching @PedanticCast and @DerekLChase on both platforms. New episodes come out most Sundays on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and at ComicallyPedantic.com. This show is entirely listener supported. If you’d like to support the show, help us stay ad-free, and possibly be mentioned on air you can check out the Patreon link at the top of ComicallyPedantic.com. If you have any comments or questions you can send them in text or audio recording to comicallypedantic@gmail.com. Please indicate if you’d like your name or question read on the air.
We will be back soon with another deep dive into the culture of comics, but until then you can find more exciting adventures at your local comic shop.
References
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