A shocking development

[Talon1load]

I don't think anyone was drawing a line with King. I can't stand his writing, so I'm not going to defend him. I just think anyone who makes threats against someone, especially over something like a comic book, should be prosecuted.

[JasonTodd428]

I don't think anyone was drawing a line with King. I can't stand his writing, so I'm not going to defend him. I just think anyone who makes threats against someone, especially over something like a comic book, should be prosecuted.

I feel the same. Sorry if my previous post was deleted because it was deemed inappropriate for some reason. (I have no idea what happened there since I wasn't online all weekend but that's a mod's call to make and I've no issue with it) I just happen to think such threats should be treated as if they are serious is all. Better safe than sorry later on IMO. I apologize if that other post was a bit to blunt but I'm blunt by nature and frankly this topic is one I feel strongly about.

[TricksterFox]

Oh, it gets better. There are people commenting on Tom King's twitter that they don't believe it, and the fact that he's announcing he has a bodyguard is another marketing stunt because no one who gets real death threats will "put on a show".

I'm not really sure what to think about the whole "put on a show" line of logic... or perhaps not-logic... but I can't blame some people for thinking this might be a ploy. Tom King has earned that skepticism and disbelief, considering his long promises leading to no payoff, and that he lied through his teeth on a TV interview about Batman #50. And considering that his "bodyguard" is just regular con security, and not the personally assigned protection that can be implied in his statement, that doesn't help either.

Making threats to creators isn't right and joking or using the fact that you got death threats is also in bad taste.
Creators and journalists get very real threats and some have their lives ruined because of it.

This very site had to reboot because of a female journalist being hounded and harassed. It is a very serious matter.

I don't know what's going on here but if a security Guard has been asked to keep a closer eye on you please don't tweet that you've had to hire a body guard.

I am not trying to make light of whatever abuse King has had to deal with but he muddys up the waters with his little augmentation of the truth.

This is a serious matter.

The site got rebooted? 0_______0

For my part, as much as I distrust and truly dislike Tom King after what he did, even I'd never try to hurt him. I wouldn't even send threats, of any kind of harm. If I ever sent him anything, or got to meet him, I'd express my anger, disappointment, and sadness over what he did, and my very low opinion of him as a writer, but seriously threaten to harm or kill him? Nope. Never. I couldn't do it. I absolutely couldn't do it.

It's true that not everyone that sends these things will necessarily act on it, but I agree that this stuff still shouldn't be taken lightly on the off chance that someone will. Most definitely. As much as I've loved the DC characters, they aren't worth causing people serious harm, or someone's life.

Was King's misrepresentation of his "bodyguard" him trying to use the situation for hype and sympathy? Was he not taking this seriously? Or was he trying to use humor as a coping mechanism against stress? Who knows? Such is the problem of already having lost the trust of others. And you're totally right, his stretching the truth makes this worse, and the fact that he did is rather distasteful.

On a lesser note, I'm also happy to know DC is allowing retailers to return Batman #50 and Catwoman #1... or some of them at least... guess we can't expect them to take full responsibility. sigh

[Elmo]

You never know, with the way things are, who's gonna go through with it. Better be safe than sorry.

By "the way things are" do you mean people are getting murdered more often ?

With the internet and the ability to be anonymous or invincible from behind a screen on any platform, people feel free to lash out against anyone and say anything without any sort of blowback .

Every famous comic writer has received death threats. Bendis, Johns, Dan Slott, Nick Spencer, controversial writers like Jeff Loeb or Rob Liefeld continue to get them, hell even industry icons got handwritten ones back in the day (although those should be taken more seriously)

It's a staple in the industry at this point and I've never seen any reason why people should take them so seriously to the point of hiring a bodyguard at comic con. However DC Entertainment is part of a corporation and they're protecting one of their big assets

[JasonTodd428]

By "the way things are" do you mean people are getting murdered more often ?

With the internet and the ability to be anonymous or invincible from behind a screen on any platform, people feel free to lash out against anyone and say anything without any sort of blowback .

Every famous comic writer has received death threats. Bendis, Johns, Dan Slott, Nick Spencer, controversial writers like Jeff Loeb or Rob Liefeld continue to get them, hell even industry icons got handwritten ones back in the day (although those should be taken more seriously)

It's a staple in the industry at this point and I've never seen any reason why people should take them so seriously to the point of hiring a bodyguard at comic con. However DC Entertainment is part of a corporation and they're protecting one of their big assets

I don't think people should be necessarily hiring bodyguards over some anonymously posted death treat (although I'm not 100% sure you can be anonymous on things like Twitter and Instagram anyway since I don't use them myself) but I do think that they shouldn't necessarily go around with a blase attitude about anonymous threats either. Anonymous threats are just as potentially real as any other one would be so I don't really understand this "its a staple of the industry" and should therefore be completely ignored attitude. Posting a death threat, whether you intend to go through with it or not, is just wrong period.

[dietrich]

I'm not really sure what to think about the whole "put on a show" line of logic... or perhaps not-logic... but I can't blame some people for thinking this might be a ploy. Tom King has earned that skepticism and disbelief, considering his long promises leading to no payoff, and that he lied through his teeth on a TV interview about Batman #50. And considering that his "bodyguard" is just regular con security, and not the personally assigned protection that can be implied in his statement, that doesn't help either.



The site got rebooted? 0_______0

For my part, as much as I distrust and truly dislike Tom King after what he did, even I'd never try to hurt him. I wouldn't even send threats, of any kind of harm. If I ever sent him anything, or got to meet him, I'd express my anger, disappointment, and sadness over what he did, and my very low opinion of him as a writer, but seriously threaten to harm or kill him? Nope. Never. I couldn't do it. I absolutely couldn't do it.

It's true that not everyone that sends these things will necessarily act on it, but I agree that this stuff still shouldn't be taken lightly on the off chance that someone will. Most definitely. As much as I've loved the DC characters, they aren't worth causing people serious harm, or someone's life.

Was King's misrepresentation of his "bodyguard" him trying to use the situation for hype and sympathy? Was he not taking this seriously? Or was he trying to use humor as a coping mechanism against stress? Who knows? Such is the problem of already having lost the trust of others. And you're totally right, his stretching the truth makes this worse, and the fact that he did is rather distasteful.

On a lesser note, I'm also happy to know DC is allowing retailers to return Batman #50 and Catwoman #1... or some of them at least... guess we can't expect them to take full responsibility. sigh

Yes this site was rebooted for the better following The Janelle Asselin controversy. [incidentally CBR's stand on the issue is the reason why once I decided to join an online comic forum I picked this one]

You are 100% correct that no-one knows the reason for the misrepresentation but my stand is that since this is a very real and very serious problem that creators face everyday one shouldn't joke or create a situation where a shadow of doubt is cast.

No-one wants a boy who cried wolf situation. Tomorrow if a comic company DOES have to hire a special BG for a creator who is getting threats we don't want the public or press to be sceptical.

I don't know if that made sense English isn't my 1st language.

I do believe that he 100% got threats and that is disgraceful. I doubt making it returnable will make those who wanted a marriage happy but it's something.

It's strange that some fans take it so far. I know someone here said that it's likely collectors who are pissed that its not going to be worth a more now. That is a real possibility however we've seen fans harass creators for far less. It's not right at all.

[TricksterFox]

Yes this site was rebooted for the better following The Janelle Asselin controversy. [incidentally CBR's stand on the issue is the reason why once I decided to join an online comic forum I picked this one]

You are 100% correct that no-one knows the reason for the misrepresentation but my stand is that since this is a very real and very serious problem that creators face everyday one shouldn't joke or create a situation where a shadow of doubt is cast.

No-one wants a boy who cried wolf situation. Tomorrow if a comic company DOES have to hire a special BG for a creator who is getting threats we don't want the public or press to be sceptical.

I don't know if that made sense English isn't my 1st language.

I do believe that he 100% got threats and that is disgraceful. I doubt making it returnable will make those who wanted a marriage happy but it's something.

It's strange that some fans take it so far. I know someone here said that it's likely collectors who are pissed that its not going to be worth a more now. That is a real possibility however we've seen fans harass creators for far less. It's not right at all.

I think you made perfect sense. Better to be safe than sorry, and at least show some kind of concern and caution. Also, better not to tweet inaccurate statements about it to everybody, even as a joke.

[Daniel22]

By "the way things are" do you mean people are getting murdered more often ?

With the internet and the ability to be anonymous or invincible from behind a screen on any platform, people feel free to lash out against anyone and say anything without any sort of blowback .

Every famous comic writer has received death threats. Bendis, Johns, Dan Slott, Nick Spencer, controversial writers like Jeff Loeb or Rob Liefeld continue to get them, hell even industry icons got handwritten ones back in the day (although those should be taken more seriously)

It's a staple in the industry at this point and I've never seen any reason why people should take them so seriously to the point of hiring a bodyguard at comic con. However DC Entertainment is part of a corporation and they're protecting one of their big assets

I'm not following your logic here. Because it happens often, it's less of a concern? If an act is unacceptable, it's unacceptable regardless of how many people are committing that act.

It's easy to not see any reason to take them seriously... when you aren't the one receiving the threats. I'm sure it is a very different feeling being on the receiving end of threats than it is reading about threats to other people.

[Tuck]

It's easy to not see any reason to take them seriously... when you aren't the one receiving the threats. I'm sure it is a very different feeling being on the receiving end of threats than it is reading about threats to other people.

We likely only hear about one out of dozens (or more) death threats creators receive. There are too many to treat them all the same. They have to assess the threats.

[TricksterFox]

We likely only hear about one out of dozens (or more) death threats creators receive. There are too many to treat them all the same. They have to assess the threats.

That's a fair point. If creators at the company receive a lot of those kinds of threats (which would be sad), then they would have to figure out which ones to ignore. If there really were a lot of those things, per person or to the company as a whole, you can't go into panic mode over all of them. You just can't. You wouldn't be able to function at all.

Still, I can't say I like King's seeming humor over the situation if it's true, which it very well might considering the reactions, or his half-truth "bodyguard".

[Daniel22]

We likely only hear about one out of dozens (or more) death threats creators receive. There are too many to treat them all the same. They have to assess the threats.

I agree.. What I'm getting at is how easy it is for someone on the outside to say "Don't worry about it, it's probably nothing", and how much different it must feel to experience those threats first hand, directed at you and your family.