“…Fell Flat With The Wednesday Warriors who Supported The Industry for Decades…” Celebrating The Most Loathsome People in Comics, 2023!

Well, we’ve come to the end of another year and another year for the industry, the medium, and the hobby of comic books. And look- I know what you’re saying, I do. Why can’t I focus on all the positives of the industry? Why can’t we write about the critically acclaimed and under publicized comics that could use more exposure?

My answer for that is simple and sincere: enough websites serve as glorified press releases, run and written by people who positively have to walk on eggshells in regard to the greater comics world- they don’t dare call out or criticize those that deserve it, those that blatantly lie and fudge credits, lest they get ostracized and punished by the inglorious circle jerk that is the incestuous and small community that is comics.

I have no such hang ups. I’m not interested in befriending people I don’t respect and I’m not hankering either to be in the comics industry and/or promote myself, ala Rich Johnston or Alex Grand. The truth is, I do care about comics and the people who create them- quite a lot. I have to write these things. Because no one else is. No one else is calling out and questioning those with biased agendas who routinely change their story. So, don’t blame me- blame them. If they spoke up, I wouldn’t need to.

But! That’s not why you’re here, o frantic ones! So… let’s get to it. Let’s take a look at some (not all) of the MOST LOATHSOME PEOPLE IN COMICS for the past year! Your selections may differ from mine, but if we were to chronicle all of the morally compromised people in the world of comic books, we’d both be here all day! And you think you’ve got problems!

I should like to stress that these fiends are NOT LISTED IN ANY ORDER, but literally random as I decided to write them. Someone else can decide who is more loathsome than the other!

LOATHSOME: PETER DAVID

SINS: The proto-Joss Whedon, Peter David has long been a smug and slimy guy, one who benefitted from his early embrace of the “nudge nudge, wink wink, ain’t all this superhero stuff ridiculous” style of writing which gave insecure super-hero devotees the sense that he was making their tropes more hip by pointing out their absurdities.

David long had a reputation for being dismissive and condescending, leading the late Alan Kupperberg to retort, “Look in a mirror, Peter, and consider the power of words to hurt“, with a pompous attitude that was tangible in his various columns and blogs. David displayed a disturbing lack of comprehension early on when he made a pair of blatant Pretty In Pink esque Asian stereotypes appear in The Incredible Hulk on a recurring basis; portrayed as grinning, camera touting tourists, Asian readers wrote in with complaints which David responded to by being defensive. This has context for a later incident in 2016 in which a Romani activist confronted David respectfully at a panel in regard to his representation of Romanis. It did not go well.

David berated and interrupted the actual person from Romania before shouting and declaring he would not hear anything further. Facing pushback after this encounter was publicized, David wrote a blog declaring the evil of Gypsies.

Peter David is considered a “star” writer, a position somewhat fleeting in our modern era, recently announced for a new Marvel miniseries featuring Spider-Man 2099. And yet, this man, so important, so superior, continues to ask fans to bail him out of his various issues. The same press release in 2023 is asking fans to help David with his medical bills, as if he’s facing difficulties getting employed. One can’t blame him however, when you consider he initially did this before- for back taxes.

In 2017, the IRS hit David with a hefty bill for back taxes. Rather than submit what is called an Offer in Compromise and get a payment plan, Peter David went to the fans, coming off as both aloof and entitled all at once:

• “Is it possible? Well, I have 5000 Facebook followers. If they each sent $10, that would get me halfway. I have over 13,000 Twitter followers. If they each sent $10, I’d be in the clear with money to pay any taxes due on the new income.

• Do you want to get something for the money? Fine: Send a check to my PO Box, PO Box 951, Bayport, NY 11705 along with books of mine and a SASE and I’ll sign them and send them back. That’s something, I guess.” - the grateful Peter David

Fine. Send a check. That’s something, I guess. What a dick!

LOATHSOME: TOM BREVOORT

SINS: The poster boy for rationalizing corporate mandates and finding ways to excuse the continued malpractice of Marvel Comics, Brevoort is almost too easy to criticize. He’s widely complained about by the Marvelite marks who never seem to realize that Brevoort is laughing all the way to the bank every time they invest the time and energy to complain on Twitter about the Marvel books they continue to purchase.

And while we’ll get to retailers soon enough, I find it extremely notable to point out that, in response to retailers’ complaints- several of them valid and pressing- the smug Brevoort wrote a brief blog piece called “Comics: Dying Since 1935“, in which we are treated to more holier-than-thou preachiness with the usual I’m an insider-and-you’re-not implications that permeate everything Brevoort does or says.

While I believe that the very real decline of American superhero comics has many self-inflicted elements, one has to consider that a Senior VP at Marvel dismissing the concerns of retailers that depend on their books in such a manner is just plain devious. But Brevoort has always- understandably- banked on the knowledge that most, not all, comic fans will keep coming back, even if they complain. He lucked into a position and, against some of his better instincts, continues to compromise and delude himself just to keep his position. In this sense, Brevoort is just another in a long line of strawmen towing the Marvel line. And he’ll never be part of the solution.

• “…people do have a point, Stan was certainly not as forthcoming in terms of sharing credit for the Marvel revolution as he might have been. But strangely, he was also far more generous about sharing credit than he needed to be at the same time.”  – Compromised Feelings shinin’ thru from TOM BREVOORT

LOATHSOME: JIM STERANKO

SINS: The living legend of groundbreaking Pop Art sensibility in the Silver Age as well as the current legend of clearly airbrushed portraits, Steranko in modern times is akin to finding out that Rock & Roll legend you always liked just got exposed for saying racist and intolerant nonsense.

The ‘Stank is an outspoken public figure on X (formerly Twitter) where his continued conservative drivel continues to dilute any inherent coolness he once claimed five decades ago. Here are some highlights, henchmen:

• “a real American hero ELON MUSK- the man who made FREEDOM OF SPEECH possible on the internet!”
• “Off my chest: Global Warming IS A FRAUD!”
• “Stan did not steal their thunder, but extolled virtues some barely had!”
• “If I said anything tonight that offended anyone, I’ll be glad to repeat it!”
  

Steranko is a leading example of allowing nostalgia and sentimental feelings to cloud your better judgement; not enough people dare to call out the short, 85-year-old toupee-wearing iconoclast, perhaps due to nervousness since Steranko once slapped Bob Kane, but really, Steranko’s shit is worse than being just disappointing: it’s bland. He’s every aging guy scared of a changing planet. From referring to the Coronavirus as “Chinese Pandemic“, from calling what happened on January 6th the “bogus ‘INSURRECTION'” and lamenting the death of Ashlee Babbitt as the loss of an American heroine, Steranko continues to tarnish his legend by being what he seemingly never was in his prime: boring, predictable, and old hat.

He also referred to Stan Lee as the “Messiah of the Superhero Phenomenon.” So, uh- yeah, there’s that.

LOATHSOME: COMIC RETAILERS

SINS: Being willing enablers when there was money to be made, but being the first to whine that the money train can’t last forever and aren’t they owed something? Also: projecting their own culture war paranoia on an entire medium. Tiring.

To be fair, the retailers do have some valid points in regard to accessibility, price and a better working relationship with distributors. However, this is diluted by the overwhelming sense of entitlement one gets when listening to any generation of these guys: I remember once, a few years ago, reading a message board exchange with firebrand retailer pimp Brian Hibbs and a fan, when that fan, responding to Hibbs complaining about San Francisco’s raising of the minimum wage, asked Hibbs why he didn’t have a better business plan. Hibbs responded by telling the fan that comic retailers did what they did for a “love” of the hobby! A “passion” for comics!

That fan (whose name I cannot recall), asked Hibbs the sobering question in response: “So why are you owed something?” And they were correct. No one forces anybody to get into comic book retailing. The risks are their own. To guilt fans, creators and publishers alike doesn’t become a person who decided to get into a very risky financial gamble because they loved comics so much and obviously couldn’t get into the industry themselves in any creative capacity. So, stop bitching.

Retailer Phil Boyle ruined any valid points he had once he, predictably, began to complain about “woke” issues. While there is no doubt that some aging comic fans refuse to read stories that don’t regurgitate the same shit they liked in the Eighties, Boyle’s bias prohibits him from being really heard, which is a shame- for him, and retailers like him. Believe me, if “gender swapping” a character sold a million copies, these fuckers would never open their mouths.

• “Character swapping, gender-bending, and changing sexual orientation of beloved characters fell flat with the Wednesday Warriors who supported the industry for decades.” – Whitebread Champ PHIL “FABULOUS” BOYLE

There are many reasons why MANGA and DIARY OF A WIMPY KID outsell mainstream super-hero comics from the Big Two: they’re accessible, they’re fun, and the resistance of Marvel and DC to adopt some of their components is certainly adding to their problems. Not that Marvel and DC care, mind you- they’re an intellectual property farm, at this point. But retailers?? They’re learning the hard way. You aren’t owed anything. And, speaking of retailers…

LOATHSOME: BUDDY SAUNDERS

SINS: The comic equivalent of the very real wealthy conservative Texan that influences politics and reform more than the uninformed citizen realizes, Saunders has largely flown under the radar for decades, largely due to the general lack of interest or awareness from the typical comic book fan. Also, unlike the previous and generalized retailers mentioned above, Saunders continues to be highly successful in these fraught economic times. He also continues to be outspoken, to a massively ignorant audience simply looking for cheap slabs.

Saunders is an outspoken conservative, routinely putting out in bold terms his horrid and offensive views to a readership who either agrees with his rantings or skips over them to find codewords for sales. This past October, when Gaza invaded Israel, Saunders wrote a song parody in the style of John Lennon’s “Imagine”, where he changed the lyrics to “Imagine there’s no Israel” and “Just imagine there is no Islam, it isn’t hard to do…“. He also had a field day when Roe V Wade was overturned, decrying complaining women as being in “hysterics” over this life-changing decision, due to his utter lack of empathy for anyone that isn’t a White, elderly, failed Science Fiction author.

It’s worth noting that, in November of this year, enough people complained, and Saunders wrote that MyComicShop would now give the option of sending their newsletter to customers without Buddy’s political rants. Ah, progress.

• “If you are a regular reader of my Banter, you are aware that in addition to talking about all things comics, I sometimes expand my focus to social issues. When I do so, I get very little feedback, but what feedback I do receive tends to be evenly distributed between those who welcome my comments and those who do not.

• My past efforts to accommodate both points of view left me unsatisfied, especially in view of the trends I see occurring in our nation, trends I wish to address as a citizen exercising his free-speech, just as do other business people, including sports figures and people in the entertainment business.

• At the same time, I want to accommodate those folks, for whatever reason, who prefer not to see my musings.

• To accomplish those twin goals, Conan will soon be sending out an email to everyone who receives our weekly emails. In his email you will be given a choice of two different weekly emails. One email sent each week will be all about comics and comics only. A second option will be just like the first, but will also contain my thoughts on various issues, all delivered from a decidedly conservative point of view.” - Buddy Saunders, defiant but bowing to his son’s obviously better wisdom, Oct 31st, 2023, newsletter

Of greater interest to the comics reader of course, is Saunder’s involvement in the comics rating conspiracy of the 1980s’, today largely forgotten. Along with fellow comics asshole Steve Geppi, Saunders attempted to pressure DC and other publishers into instigating a ratings system for their comics, similar to what was happening with the Parents Music Resource Center and ratings on albums. The Eighties were a time of the “moral majority” way of thinking and “Satanic panic” and Saunders was emboldened, regularly writing into The Comics Journal and other publications decrying the filth that were being published, and outright refusing to carry comics if he disagreed with their merits.

Saunders was already a major figure in the Eighties, owning five stores in the lucrative Dallas-Fort Worth market. He wrote an open letter to the industry, saying that he expected comic book stories that “would make a Boy Scout proud” and that he “hope(d) that comic writers might one day discover that not all authority is evil, dishonest, and not to be trusted.”

This is significant because Saunders and Geppi’s influence seemed to reach DC and Paul Levitz especially, who then broached the idea of a ratings system internally. This led to Alan Moore and other notable creators like Frank Miller speaking out against DC’s compromising response to the censoring retailers; and while it is simplifying a complex series of problems and broken promises to say that this led to Moore quitting DC Comics, the truth is that it is widely accepted that the DC censorship/ratings issue was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Moore. So, in a sense, we have Buddy Saunders to thank for accelerating Alan Moore’s departure from mainstream comics.

In March of 2023, The Comics Journal did a softball interview with Saunders, where they refused to address Saunders on his past deeds and comments and glossed over his numerous attempts to enforce censorship on comics. Because of course they fuckin’ did.

MOST LOATHSOME: THE RASCALLY ONE, ROY “HOUSEROY” THOMAS

SINS: John Cimino. Not trimming his eyebrows.

A despicable man who criminally lacks awareness on a staggering level, The Forever Boy’s sins are legion. From spending decades declaring numerous times that he never created anything at Marvel “because I knew I wouldn’t own it” to suddenly reversing that view notably after Stan Lee died and left a gap in the lucrative convention circuit, Thomas continues a reign of bland terror into his Eighties, as pop culture has finally stumbled onto awareness of him and his link to Stan Lee, a relationship he’s been all too keen to play up as much as humanly possible.

Thomas is now prepping a “Wolverine 50th Anniversary Tour” for 2024, to maximize any awareness he has with a character that was created by Len Wein, John Romita Sr. and fleshed out by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum. Thomas’s one unchanging claim was that he directed Wein to create a “Canadian” character- and that Cockrum gave him the name of “Wolverine“, which was also the name of a character submitted to Marvel for a contest, nine months before the more famous character we’ve had to tolerate in excessive amounts actually appeared.

Thomas is also the first to go to excessive lengths to paint Jack Kirby as “bitter” and “angry”, yet Thomas has been well known as a frequent whiner and complainer whenever he feels his contributions are slighted, dating back to the Seventies.

His outraged letters to the fan press were so well known that, in The Comics Journal #44, from 1979, a letter from someone named Bryan Uhlenbrock states:

• “…we find more of the same: bruised egos. Roy Thomas leads off, grousing as usual about something someone has said about him. This is the last time, though… we won’t have Roy Thomas to kick around anymore. At least, he won’t kick back. From now on, he’s just going to ignore us. Good. Fine. Just one favor, Roy- don’t tell us you’re going to ignore us… just do it. I like to think that a pro should be somehow above all that… but once a fan, always a fan, I suppose.”

Personally, I find it heartening that people were calling out Thomas for this in the year I was born. Thomas also has the audacity to write outraged and pretentious statements to various comic websites, comparing himself to Siegel & Shuster (!) over DC not paying him for characters he co-created that were the children of obscure Golden Age characters (!!!)- compare THAT with what Jack Kirby dealt with, and Thomas’s palpable disdain and lack of consideration for Kirby and it’s just staggering.

• “But you know me… I’m not the type to go quietly into the good night. Besides, as long as DC Entertainment continues to deny me payment and credit for one of my co-creations (just as they did for years to Tony Isabella before FINALLY admitting, well, yes, maybe he HAD created Black Lightning after all), there is absolutely nothing “good” about DC’s policy. It is about as transparent a credit denial as one can imagine… and hiding behind the genes of the Gambler, Sportsmaster, and Huntress doesn’t make it any better. As far as I’m concerned, they should be ashamed of themselves… but instead, they’re probably treating themselves to a pizza with the money that would’ve come my way.”

• “Hi, Jerry and Joe–and H.G. Peter. The more things change, the more, it seems, they stay the same.” - The pretentious and lacking in awareness ROY THOMAS, letter to Bleeding Cool, April 2019. You can’t make it up!

Also, Thomas’s continued campaign to disparage Jack Kirby boils down to one thing: Kirby never took to Thomas. Thomas was an obsessed fan turned pro who worshipped the transparently shallow Stan Lee, whom Kirby saw through. For Thomas to publicly declare that he was outraged at Kirby for taking away “MY idea” in regard to a Fantastic Four story in What If? tells you everything you need to know about this petty, nebbish little man. He is coasting right now on a new fan perception he never enjoyed prior but with that newfound respect comes a sense of responsibility Thomas has never possessed. A fan-fiction writer to the end, Thomas continues to produce alternative histories. A villain, through and through.

LOATHSOME: JOHN MORROW

SINS: I say this with no sense of malice: it’s a bit of a reach to include Morrow on this list, as he is, essentially, on the periphery of the comics industry. With total readership of his magazines declining to under 800 apparently, he occupies a position in the niche market for nostalgic and aging collectors that feel modern mainstream comics no longer speak to them. I don’t judge that, I mean, I watch TCM because I like old films, but I also don’t publish a magazine devoted to cinema in which I routinely allow and enable falsehoods and agendas to prosper due to my hesitation to alienate any potential sources for future issues.

That is the problem of John Morrow, a man who I don’t think is malicious insomuch as I think he is misguided. Let’s look at a recent sampling from the long-running Jack Kirby Collector. We are treated to a transcript of the most recent Jack Kirby tribute panel at the San Siego Comic Con. Morrow is on said panel, which includes Mark Evanier- who routinely insulted Kirby as a terrible artist until discovering Kirby lived within driving distance of him– and Marv Wolfman who, with Len Wein, sold hundreds of pages of stolen Marvel artwork that included Kirby originals at a convention in 1969.

So, if I know this about Evanier and Wolfman…? Certainly, John Morrow knows this about Evanier and Wolfman. And this is literally what he says on stage with them, in March 2023:

• “I’m just like- I- I- I’m not worthy!” – star-struck John Morrow, publisher of a magazine devoted to Jack Kirby, to two guys who disparaged and ripped off Jack Kirby, in 2023

LOATHSOME: MARK EVANIER

SINS: Evanier would likely be delighted just to be included on this list since his entire career has been predicated on being an add-on, an attachment, a leech. One of the most cringe-inducing, disgusting and immoral people to ever work in a disgusting and immoral industry, Evanier has long dined out on his association with a benevolent Jack Kirby, changing his tone and his statements whenever it suited his then-current needs.

Evanier comes off as a true sociopath, using his blog- where he is entitled, of course, to share his opinion, to rationalize and dismiss any and all criticism of his friend Gerard Jones- a comics writer who was arrested for possession of literally tens of thousands of images and videos of young children being raped and molested– think about that, for a moment- by writing mind-numbingly insensitive statements that positively weren’t reading the room when it comes to child pornography:

• “A lot are reminding each other about “innocent until proven guilty” which is fine, but I’d take it one notch farther. I would remind you that we do not have to decide whether we think he’s innocent or guilty at all. We’re not a jury and we haven’t heard the details or seen any evidence. We will probably never see or hear all of whatever there may be.”

• “More and more these days, I find myself telling people, “You don’t have to have an opinion about everything.”

• “Since I don’t know precisely what he did beyond what was stated in the previous sentence, I can’t say if that was a fair and just sentence…and again, I don’t have to have an opinion on that. The judge in his trial had to have an opinion. Gerry and those around him have to have their opinions. So do others who were in or out of that courtroom. I don’t.”

• “Jones is presently serving time in prison and is wrestling — I’m not sure that’s the proper word — with various issues of atonement and rehabilitation and introspection and addiction and overcoming that addiction…and he’s doing it the way most writers would: By writing.”

• “Reading what’s posted so far left me with the sense of a man who’s trying real, real hard to have his life make sense and to understand why he’s where he is. I don’t mean he doesn’t understand why he was arrested and tossed in prison. I’m impressed that he seems to understand that with crystal clarity: It was because of an addiction…a couple, actually.“

• “But he’s trying to grasp the reasons for those addictions and I’d like to see him achieve that. It might be a learning experience for us all.” – MARK EVANIER on GERARD JONES

Listen, I can understand loyalty to a friend. In fact, it’s one of those traits I value. I have friends that I would take a bullet for. But, if I discovered any of them dealt in child pornography– I assure you, not only would I not defend them, I certainly wouldn’t browbeat other people with guilt for daring to be disgusted by them, which is what Evanier disgustingly does here.

And Evanier’s efforts to blame “addiction” on Jones’s actions is as abhorrent as his patronizing comment about “a learning experience for us all” is disgusting- this is a man who also publicly declares his support for noted creep Woody Allen and will not hear any accusations against him or his character- why should anything about Evanier surprise us? He is the same man who, in his seventies, recounted with glee how he once got Dick Ayers fired from a much-needed job, repeating with tangible breathlessness (possibly due to his immense obesity and general poor health) with, “The Fans… the fans meant ME!” like he just won a beauty pageant. He’s always been deplorable and gross, and his output of work largely consists of banal, journeyman type writing and riding on the back of Jack Kirby which is the only thing he shares with actual comic book creators, come to think of it.

LOATHSOME: AGING MERRY MARVEL MARCHING SOCIETY MEMBERS

SINS: We see them everywhere. The Barry Pearls, the Al Bigleys, the guys who do those admittedly enjoyable Silver Age cover galleries at 13th Dimension: guys nearing sixty (and up!) who desperately hold on to their childhood passion for MEGO figures and Marvel reprints. Nostalgia is very powerful, but it’s because of men like these that the usual propaganda continues to run rampant; it’s because of men like these that the myth of Stan Lee and the House of Ideas continues to prosper. Which enables things like the continued 21st trajectory of recycling the same old things, and the same old myths.

One would think with this generation inevitably shuffling off, those myths would die. Unfortunately, the inherent lack of curiosity in the geek community means the foundation these old creeps reinforced will undoubtedly remain sturdy in the years ahead.

Which leads us to the All-Time Champ of loathsomeness…

MOST LOATHSOME: STAN “THE MAN” LEE

SINS: Retaining his unprecedented influence five years after his untimely and tragic passing, the old master himself continues to permeate the world of comics: a new line of comic books featuring characters created by committee but credited to ol’ Stan! A much-heeded Disney+ documentary which displayed the blatant arrogance of Marvel’s corporate overlords by continuing to perpetuate the oft disproven lies of Lee! Seriously, its 2023- no one advised them against putting out that film like that before it was released??

Lee is disgustingly rationalized to a disturbing extent by fanboys who proactively warn against “Stan-bashing” while enabling and promoting Kirby and Ditko bashing. For such an influential public figure, daring to question or criticize the career and output of Lee is tantamount to treason with much of the comics world; fans and pro alike will work overtime to dismiss and negate any evidence-based content that displays proof that Lee was absolutely not the creative powerhouse behind the Marvel Universe but a necessary tool in its development- itself far from shameful- for the simple reason that their psyche simply couldn’t take it. Really- the dopamine behind the same repeated tall tales is intoxicating to these man-children, the narrative too important to disrupt, even when some of them know it’s not 100% true.

For these reasons and for these cretins, Stan Lee remains a prominent loathsome figure in comics in 2023… and likely beyond.

Again, this was not the entire list of loathsome comics people, but 2024 is almost upon us, and an entire new wave of terrible people with terrible behavior will present itself. When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time, Maya Angelou said. I believe everyone included on this list deserves their slot due to their high volume of shitty acts. Have a safe and Happy New Year!

with thanks to G. Shin, Bryan Uhenbrock, and Maya Angelou for that quote.