Mark Waid can’t help himself. He has to insert himself into any comic industry drama wherever alternatives with people he disapproves of making comics are concerned. Over the last two weeks, the World’s Finest DC Comics writer has lashed out as ComicsGate was proved right about the industry again, calling people criticizing poor comic sales “alt-right” on multiple occasions. Now, he’s admitting the legion of retailers, fans, and creators who have voiced concern for the health of comics, the people of ComicsGate, are right.
The comic industry has been on a downward trend for a long time, first noted by several people who banded together under the hashtag ComicsGate after several people like Yellowflash 2, ThatUmbrellaGuy, and Diversity & Comics took to YouTube to point out Marvel and DC Comics’ replacing beloved characters with race and gender-swapped counterparts, as well as a propensity for modern writers to turn every character they write into something LGBTQ in terrible self-insert stories. The problems with Marvel and DC gained national attention once the conservative think tank, The Federalist, published an article on the topic in 2017.
Waid took bad reviews personally at the time and, in a bizarre online tirade, demanded Richard C. Meyer, who used the Diversity & Comics handle on YouTube, to be brought to him at Baltimore Comic-Con. He posted to Facebook, “If anyone sees this gentleman or any of his friends, I need you to come find me and tell me immediately. Even if I’m on a panel, come up and interrupt. Please circulate this request as widely as you possibly can through all your social media accounts. Fellow pros, tell each other. This is about attempting to lessen the harassment of women in comics, and it is important. Please spread the word. Thank you.”
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It wouldn’t stop there with Meyer. As the YouTuber gained more popularity, so did Meyer’s book, Jawbreakers: Lost Souls, which made several hundred thousand dollars on crowdfunds, scaring legacy pros like Waid in the process. He was set to release Jawbreakers and was working on a deal with Antarctic Press when Waid had a call with the publisher, convincing them not to do business with Meyer. A tortious interference lawsuit resulted, which Meyer eventually settled with Waid out of court.
With Mark Millar drawing a spotlight on the problems in the comic industry over the past few weeks, teaming up to talk with retailers about what needs to be done to change and save mainstream comics, pros like Waid took it personally once more. Instead of seeing sales declining and working to change their failed product, they decided to double down on attacking anyone concerned about the health of the comic industry.
Mark Waid made multiple posts on Facebook screeching “alt-right” at his perceived enemies. Despite no one mentioning Waid, he became particularly agitated once Millar’s term “cancel pig” entered the zeitgeist, a term describing the professionals and their shills who attack anyone who disagrees with them politically. With Waid using a term no one credible has used in discourse since 2016 to describe people who vote differently than him in the comic industry, he seems to exemplify this term.
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Now, he’s admitted that the people of ComicsGate, fed up with the terrible self-insert characters of the hack writers in the comic industry, were right.
“Yep. The mainstream superhero comics industry is having a rough time of it lately. Few people are saying otherwise, and my heart goes out to struggling retailers,” Mark Waid said. “Steps need to be taken, and even the alt-right loudmouths make some good points.”
He then proceeds to strawman people he doesn’t like because of politics, claiming it’s just a matter of taste for many comics, not that the comics being produced are of poor quality. This seems at odds, however, when one looks at a lot of the diversity shilling Marvel and DC Comics has made over the last several years.
One only needs to look at Mariko Tamaki’s Supergirl Special to see a self-insert rant on “imposter syndrome” that is very out of character for the Girl of Steel that no one wanted to read. Alternatively, there’s Tim Sheridan’s gay Green Lantern, which he knew would sell poorly, so he begged people to buy the homosexual near-porn book to “own the bigots.”
The comic industry is in trouble, and it’s because of the content being produced, despite Mark Waid’s protests. That’s why he prefaced the long-winded post with an agreement that ComicsGate, who he labels as “alt-right,” has good points.
From the looks of his recent posts, he’s been going through the five stages of grief over the woke comic industry woes and ComicsGate being on the right side of history: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Hopefully, more pros come to the last stage sooner rather than later, or comic shops might not exist much longer.
What do you think of Mark Waid agreeing ComicsGate has good points and the comic industry is failing? Leave a comment and let us know.
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The man’s a walking L factory. Nobody wants to admit they were even partially responsible for a 100+ year industry crashing and burning into the ground. But the truth hurts, and dipshits like Waid need to admit they’ve been part of the problem for years.
Fuck Mark Waid. Fuck everyone involved in the whisper network. These are the clowns who should be black balled from the industry. Let’s see what happens in 2024 with the consolidation Liefeld is talking about. Hopefully the comics industry will give itself an enema and flush the turds destroying it.