Diseased #Comicsgate - The Culture Wars Hit The Funny Books!

[RockVolnutt]

Killstream with EVS, Nicky Rackets and Null:

Wait, Null?

 

[Krokodil Overdose]

I think they're more effective if not necessarily more progressive.

Claremont's X-Men understood that mutants could be dangerous and that it was reasonable to be afraid of out of control mutants. Claremont had his X-Men spend a lot of time protecting people from evil and dangerous mutants like the Hellfire Club and Brotherhood of Evil. You sympathized with the X-Men because they tried to do good despite the hate and disrespect they received from normal people.

Hell, Claremont even had a short-lived book in the early 2000s called X-Treme X-Men where that was the whole premise: an x-team working for Interpol to bring mutant criminals to justice. They even split with the Xavier Institute when the latter wouldn't give up a mutant kid who killed six people because "he wouldn't get a fair trial cuz hated and feared."

For all of his verbosity, Claremont is one of if not the best writers the X books have ever had. [Current year] Marvel can only dream of having his kind of tact. (Hell, you see it with LGBTQWERTY issues as well- he was slipping that stuff into the books long before you were allowed to talk about it directly in comics, particularly with Mystique/Destiny. Hell, his original plan for Rogue was to have Destiny be her mother and Mystique be her father.)

Yeah, I always point that out and I'm unsure if others notice it on their own. Writers get way too hooked on "Mutants are stand-ins for minority groups" that they're forgetting their writing about people who can manifest random (usually chaotic) powers around puberty with potentially more as time passes by. It doesn't help that the 2000s had Cyclops become Magneto-lite before they kinda jettisoned that or how they keep the "NEXT STEP OF HUMAN EVOLUTION" stuff which doesn't work with the metaphor or how the X-gene seems to behave. Mutant couples don't necessarily produce mutant children and if they were going to become dominate, they would've by now.

Part of this has to do with the static nature of American comics. For all that the world's ending every ten minutes, it's never allowed to drift too far away from our reality, resulting in a treadmill effect where tons of stuff happens and none of it matters (see also: death.) In the "E for Extinction" storyline, they established that the will of nature had activated an "extinction gene" in normal humans that meant they were inevitably going to die out, but then that plot point never went anywhere so I don't know if it's even canon anymore.

So really, the "evolution" and "hated and feared" plot points have aged badly in a way that other ideas haven't because after fifty years of this crap, the setting has never (possibly can never) progressed either.

Though the current crop of X-men being supremacist assholes is entirely the fault of [current year] Marvel. I'm legitimately curious if they know that this isn't how evolution works IRL, or if "evolution" is just a chant word that symbolizes their superiority over UGH CHRISTIANS.

 

[RockVolnutt]

Part of this has to do with the static nature of American comics. For all that the world's ending every ten minutes, it's never allowed to drift too far away from our reality, resulting in a treadmill effect where tons of stuff happens and none of it matters (see also: death.) In the "E for Extinction" storyline, they established that the will of nature had activated an "extinction gene" in normal humans that meant they were inevitably going to die out, but then that plot point never went anywhere so I don't know if it's even canon anymore.

So really, the "evolution" and "hated and feared" plot points have aged badly in a way that other ideas haven't because after fifty years of this crap, the setting has never (possibly can never) progressed either.

Though the current crop of X-men being supremacist assholes is entirely the fault of [current year] Marvel. I'm legitimately curious if they know that this isn't how evolution works IRL, or if "evolution" is just a chant word that symbolizes their superiority over UGH CHRISTIANS.

This is a good post. I don't blame the static nature of comics, the issue I have is more mixed metaphors. Everyone hears "mutants are oppressed minorities" as a concept and basically enters "I need to write Oscarbait" mode. We can totally do plots about the X-Men helping people get their powers under control to help society and stuff without necessarily drifting too far away from IRL. Paranoia about random unstable superpowers could still work as long as they stop trying to be "deep".

It's especially bad since in-universe, the X-Men are aware that what they say isn't how the X-gene works at all yet say it anyways. No shit you're hated and feared when you establish mutant only groups and most of your interaction with outsiders is "WE WILL OUTBREED AND DOMINATE YOU" when they aren't even a separate group. Really the only thing that sets them apart from Magneto is they're more sociable instead of being into direct culling of "the inferior".

I can buy mutants being feared as destructive but can be refocused into becoming a boon to humanity. You just lose me when you're saying "this is just like being black in America" while they're literally spouting master race stuff. True, you do have that kinda shit IRL but it's not a heroic trait. Ironically when they had the "Uncanny Avengers", that was a concept closer to what the X-Men should be.

 

[Krokodil Overdose]

I can buy mutants being feared as destructive but can be refocused into becoming a boon to humanity. You just lose me when you're saying "this is just like being black in America" while they're literally spouting master race stuff. True, you do have that kinda shit IRL but it's not a heroic trait. Ironically when they had the "Uncanny Avengers", that was a concept closer to what the X-Men should be.

I think the metaphor breaks down a little before that. Magneto once switched the Earth's magnetic poles, causing a global EMP burst and resulting in tens of thousands of deaths. In the Marvel U, fearing mutants means your brain works properly. Try comparing that to blacks/gays/whatever and it's... not really the same, is it?

(Hell, the X-Treme X-Men plot point from above- sheltering the kid of killed a bunch of people- really puts the lie to their core argument, doesn't it? At risk of going a bit Moldbuggian here, it's pretty rich to claim "oh we're so oppressed, pity us" when you have the power to simply ignore the law whenever it suits your purposes.)

E:

It's especially bad since in-universe, the X-Men are aware that what they say isn't how the X-gene works at all yet say it anyways.

Editing to add: This is true, but it's a point that sticks with me less for two reasons: 1) the x-gene is written really inconsistently and 2) evolution itself is written in such a way that it's clearly a mechanism closer to what you find in Pokemon than what you find in real life.

 

[damian]

HE DID IT! @neural

Richard Meyer Sues Mark Waid Over ‘Tortious Interference With Contract and Defamation’

Posted by Rich Johnston September 29, 2018 Comment

Diversity & Comics YouTuber Richard Meyer has launched a civil suit against comic book writer Mark Waid. Filed on the 19th of September with the United States District Court in Austin, it claims ‘tortious interference with contract and defamation’.

Meyer is represented by lawyers Daniel H Byrne and Dale L Roberts, of the legal firm Fritz, Byrne, Head & Gilstrap of Austin, Texas. Mark Waid is being represented by Mark S. Zaid, who is the founding partner of his own firm.

This stems from events which took place in May 2018, when Antarctic Press announced they were to publish Meyer and Jon Malin‘s upcoming graphic novel Jawbreakers, originally planned for publication in August. Bleeding Cool reported then that Mark Waid phoned them up to discuss the matter. The publisher then announced they would not be publishing the comic, subsequently stating in part “It’s now bigger than we could have handled”. Meyer claimed that Waid had bullied them into their decision, though the publisher issued statements saying that hadn’t happened.



In the lawsuit, Meyer claims that accusations that he ‘held a number of socially extreme views’ are untrue, that he is not a bigot and that Waid has accused him of being a ‘serial harasser of women and minorities, and claimed that he promotes hate and intolerance.’

Meyer states that ‘later that day, Waid spoke by telephone with one of the owners of Antarctic Press, and convinced him that Antarctic Press should repudiate its contract with Meyer. Frightened for its very survival by Waid’s threats, and primarily because of his unwelcome interference, Antarctic Press caved to Waid’s pressure.’

Meyer’s case states that ‘Following Antarctic Press’s experience, no other publishers would consider publishing Meyer’s comic book. Meyer’s only option was to self-publish by creating his own independent publishing company, which he did. At significant expense, and after significant delay in publication of JAWBREAKERS, Meyer is now performing all of the tasks that Antarctic Press would have performed in the absence of Waid’s interference with Meyer’s contract. Instead of pursuing other potential business interests, including writing additional comic books, Meyer is responsible for overseeing the printing of JAWBREAKERS and arranging to ship copies ordered online through Meyer’s crowd-funding campaign.’

Meyer also states that because of Waid, he has been blackballed by the comics industry. That he ‘could not even find a U.S.-based artist for his next book, and has resorted to contracting with one he located from the Philippines’ and that he can’t exhibit at comic conventions or appear on panels, and states this is a ‘direct result of Waid’s interference with Meyer’s contract with Antarctic Press and false statements.’

Meyer also states that ‘Waid has falsely stated that Meyer published a list of comic book stores, with the first and last name of the comic book stores’ employees, in response to the stores’ decision to not carry JAWBREAKERS. In doing so, Waid suggested that Meyer was encouraging his followers to harass or threaten the comic book stores’ employees.’

Whereas he claims that ‘Meyer had only identified the stores identified in the leaked chat transcript that had agreed not to carry JAWBREAKERS and the individuals who were part of that conversation.’

Meyer claims that as a result of all this, ‘Waid intentionally induced Antarctic Press to breach its agreement with Meyer. Waid’s interference proximately caused injury to Meyer for which he seeks damages in excess of $75,000.’

And that for defamation, ‘Waid intentionally published statements of fact to his followers and the general public regarding Meyer, including falsely stating that Meyer published the first and last names of comic book store employees to encourage his followers to harass and threaten them, as well as characterizing Meyer as a racist, serial harasser of minorities, and as affiliated with white supremacists.’

Meyer is demanding a jury trial but that judgement, peculiarly, be requested against ‘Defendant Chris Waid’. Who this is, and his relationship to Mark Waid, is not made clear.

Mark Waid’s lawyer has responded to inquiries made by Bleeding Cool earlier today.

“Mark will aggressively fight this frivolous lawsuit with every legal means available but at the end of the day what will have the greatest favorable impact for him are the actual facts. Mr Meyer’s’ lawsuit will further reveal to the world his true nature. Ironically his own litigation will likely increase the professional isolation he alleges Mark has caused,” said Mark S. Zaid, a Washington, DC attorney who represents Waid. Mr Zaid has handled high-profile defamation cases and is well-known within the comic community for representing CGC and serving as an Advisor for the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide.

Zaid was also repeatedly named a ‘Superlawyer’ for his work with national security whistleblowers and is a strong First Amendment advocate. He is best known for suing Libya for the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan Am 103 which resulted in a $2.7 billion settlement, the largest of its kind against a foreign government for terrorist activities.

Daniel H. Byrne is a founding partner of Fritz, Byrne, Head & Gilstrap, his areas of expertise include real estate, securities, fiduciary, governmental, financial institution, employment, and bankruptcy litigation.

The full court document runs below.

Spoiler

https://web.archive.org/web/2018093...id-tortious-interference-contract-defamation/

Coincidently Marvel has been taken out of his Facebook profile:

 

[Krokodil Overdose]

Wait, this happened on the 19th and we're just now hearing about it? Is there a delay on this stuff, or has our collective :autism: been underperforming?

W/r/t the lawsuit itself, the obvious pitfall I see is Antarctic denying everything. @AnOminous , care to give non-binding professional input?

 

[RockVolnutt]

And the Judge will beat him up for making fun of Riri. The Judge's name? Albert "Martin Luther King Jr." Einstein.

 

[damian]

Comment section is filled with a bunch of Rick & Morty fans:

Wait, this happened on the 19th and we're just now hearing about it? Is there a delay on this stuff, or has our collective :autism: been underperforming?

W/r/t the lawsuit itself, the obvious pitfall I see is Antarctic denying everything. @AnOminous , care to give non-binding professional input?

They kept quiet until today, when Waid broke silence. I expect YaBoi will make a video soon.

EDIT: Repeat screenshot.

 

[Creep3r]

Comment section is filled with a bunch of Rick & Morty fans:
View attachment 554833 View attachment 554834 View attachment 554835 View attachment 554836 View attachment 554837 View attachment 554838 View attachment 554839 View attachment 554840


They kept quiet until today, when Waid broke silence. I expect YaBoi will make a video soon.

When I see shit like this on youtube comments and social media, I honestly start wondering if the internet really is making people dumber...

 

[RockVolnutt]

Photos of Mark Waid and Mark Zaid.

 

[damian]

Mark Waid's Lawyer (What an unfortunate looking fellow):
https://markzaid.com/

YaBoi's Lawyer (Reminds me of that 'Most Interesting Man in the World' guy, but older and less interesting):
http://www.fbhg.law/daniel-h-byrne/

 

[Slowboat to China]

Hell, Claremont even had a short-lived book in the early 2000s called X-Treme X-Men where that was the whole premise: an x-team working for Interpol to bring mutant criminals to justice. They even split with the Xavier Institute when the latter wouldn't give up a mutant kid who killed six people because "he wouldn't get a fair trial cuz hated and feared."

Oh boy, could I sperg about X-Treme X-Men. It had some pretty rough spots (what the fuck was that Khan the Conqueror arc?), and it never really lived up to its potential, but even on his bad days Claremont could tell an X-Men story. It was less about "look at the oppressed minority" (which just doesn't bloody work, as y'all have pointed out) and more about "these are people who are born into a really weird, awkward position, how are they going to use these insane powers they have?" Some of the mutants were reluctant heroes. Some loved it. Some got a power boost from Sage and then PTSD'd like a mofo after seeing what being a superhero actually entailed.

And that's something people can connect with, no matter what color or sexuality you are. You wonder what you would do if you were in that situation. It's not about what it means to be black or white; it's about what it means to be human. That's good, strong stuff.

Which is exactly the problem with a lot of the comics we're getting nowadays. It's all surface-level shit. Color, sexuality, gender, culture, who's more oppressed and why you evil white men all deserve to be beaten with baseball bats or guitars. That's not fun or thought-provoking, and it's sure not something you're going to reread unless you're masochistic or jonesing to feel like the world is out to get you.

For all their sperginess and occasional bouts of cringe, that's something I think CGers have grasped. Story first, message second. Give me a story, not a sermon.

 

[Krokodil Overdose]

Mark Waid's Lawyer (What an unfortunate looking fellow):
https://markzaid.com/
View attachment 554853

YaBoi's Lawyer:
http://www.fbhg.law/daniel-h-byrne/
View attachment 554852

It's Pat vs. Col. Sanders

 

[AnOminous]

Wait, this happened on the 19th and we're just now hearing about it? Is there a delay on this stuff, or has our collective :autism: been underperforming?

W/r/t the lawsuit itself, the obvious pitfall I see is Antarctic denying everything. @AnOminous , care to give non-binding professional input?

Waid has already admitted what he did. It's pretty much a textbook case. Defamation is a little more difficult a case because you can more or less admit you said someone was a Nazi but claim you didn't really mean it as more than just saying you really hate their politics and it was hyperbole, or whatever.

HE DID IT!

The complaint is well drafted. It could easily have ballooned into a 100+ page rambling diatribe about every single thing that happened, but kept it to the facts directly relevant to the tortious interference claims.

FRCP 8(b)(2) requires a complaint contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief[.]" Most complaints don't. It's nice to see one that does.

 

[The Doktor]

This lawsuit is the message the industry needed. The discovery phase of this is going to be really really interesting if it goes that far & Waid doesn’t settle ASAP.

 

[RodgerDodger]

Waid has already admitted what he did. It's pretty much a textbook case. Defamation is a little more difficult a case because you can more or less admit you said someone was a Nazi but claim you didn't really mean it as more than just saying you really hate their politics and it was hyperbole, or whatever.



The complaint is well drafted. It could easily have ballooned into a 100+ page rambling diatribe about every single thing that happened, but kept it to the facts directly relevant to the tortious interference claims.

FRCP 8(b)(2) requires a complaint contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief[.]" Most complaints don't. It's nice to see one that does.

I think he might have a legit defamation case simply because it was not simply a Waid’s intemperate words in calling Meyer a Nazi, etc, but that he took affirmative and malicious actions to defame him. His contacts with Antarctic Press and that Facebook Group really do go beyond simply mean words. It looks like a deliberate and malicious campaign to defame someone for purposes of damaging their reputation, their employment, their business, etc. While you are right that the defamation case is harder to make, it does seem rather clear cut for a defamation case. They have clear Malice.

Also is. Chris Waid perhaps Waid’s actual legal name? Or as we have long openly wondered, perhaps Waid really is so batshit insane that he has a relative acting as legal guardian?

Comment section is filled with a bunch of Rick & Morty fans:
View attachment 554833 View attachment 554835 View attachment 554836 View attachment 554837 View attachment 554838 View attachment 554839 View attachment 554840


They kept quiet until today, when Waid broke silence. I expect YaBoi will make a video soon.

EDIT: Repeat screenshot.

That gives me a great deal of respect for Meyer. He both stood up for himself, and he was humble and professional about it. He has kept silent on it all, and not stirred internet controversy. This was between himself and a Waid. Waid is the one that made it public.

I kind of suspect that the only statement we will get from D&C is a polite statement affirming ongoing litigation and declining to publicly discuss it or in any way act in bad faith.

 

[AnOminous]

I think he might have a legit defamation case simply because it was not simply a Waid’s intemperate words in calling Meyer a Nazi, etc, but that he took affirmative and malicious actions to defame him. His contacts with Antarctic Press and that Facebook Group really do go beyond simply mean words. It looks like a deliberate and malicious campaign to defame someone for purposes of damaging their reputation, their employment, their business, etc. While you are right that the defamation case is harder to make, it does seem rather clear cut for a defamation case. They have clear Malice.

That's why they're leading with the tortious interference claim. For there to be tortious interference with a contract, there must be:

1. a contract between the plaintiff and a third party (Meyer and Antarctic);
2. known about by the defendant (it was discussed in public and Waid was explicitly upset about the contract);
3. the defendant interfered with the contract (in this case by inducing a breach of the contract);
4. intentionally (Waid stated his intention of doing exactly this and reiterated it after having done it);
5. harming the plaintiff (Meyer had to go to considerable expense and trouble to carry out the publication of his book);
6. and the defendant's conduct caused this harm (no alternate explanation has been offered for why Antarctic breached their contract the very day of Waid siccing a mob on Antarctic)

 

[Jub-Jub]

I'm going to drop the Rekieta law video talking about the issues from 4 months ago in case people want to see it. I've linked it to a timeframe where he reads Mark Waid's statement because it makes me laugh. The whole video has good information about tortious interference and defamation. He's also apparently going to livestream the documents tonight.

EVS livestream about it

 

[damian]

That's why they're leading with the tortious interference claim. For there to be tortious interference with a contract, there must be:

1. a contract between the plaintiff and a third party (Meyer and Antarctic);
2. known about by the defendant (it was discussed in public and Waid was explicitly upset about the contract);
3. the defendant interfered with the contract (in this case by inducing a breach of the contract);
4. intentionally (Waid stated his intention of doing exactly this and reiterated it after having done it);
5. harming the plaintiff (Meyer had to go to considerable expense and trouble to carry out the publication of his book);
6. and the defendant's conduct caused this harm (no alternate explanation has been offered for why Antarctic breached their contract the very day of Waid siccing a mob on Antarctic)

Don't forget history of intimidation towards YaBoi:

*cough* https://archive.li/e007i

 

[Least Concern]

Also is. Chris Waid perhaps Waid’s actual legal name? Or as we have long openly wondered, perhaps Waid really is so batshit insane that he has a relative acting as legal guardian?

Occam's razor cuts in the direction of it just being a case where underling who typed the paperwork had a brain fart.

I think the part that might be difficult for Meyer is proving that Waid specifically was to blame for the deal going sour. If there really were several other pros also berating Antarctic's staff over this, can Meyer really make the case that Antarctic wouldn't have pulled out if Waid in particular hadn't also contacted them?