A shocking development

[Chubistian]

Despite him being a real bodyguard or not, I think the primary object of discussion is death threats against creators. King seem pretty humorous about the whole deal either way, so good for him that he hasn't been affected as others before him, or maybe he just tries to remain calm publicly or keep a positive thinking. It's awful that this has become a trend, when I saw the spoiler about the wedding one of my first thought was about death threats aimed at the writer or different types of harrasment. It reminds me of what happened to some people that worked on The Last Jedi and the actor who performed as Jar Jar Binks in The Phantom Menace. Also, is important to see how some "fans" threat other fans, since there're also cases where, in order to "defend" a book, character or writer, some peole harass certain fans who are against particular choices

[joybeans]

In other news (or Newsarama to be exact):
https://www.newsarama.com/40923-dc-m...-concerns.html

For those not interested in clicking, this is the relevant passage:
"Update: Newsarama has confirmed that the "bodyguard" in the tweet sent by Batman writer Tom King (below) is in fact David Wray, a known art collector who works for ComicSketchArt LLC as line security for various creators' booth lines at conventions. So it's possible King's tweet was in jest.;"

More likely, he's a security guy who was asked to keep a closer eye on King.

[oasis1313]

That is just dumb, making death threats over a comic book.

[Restingvoice]

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".

[Elmo]

Death threats are never ever serious in the comic world. mostly just tasteless trolling

Nobody is going to straight up murder a dude over a comic he wrote

[Raijin]

And this is exactly why my name is The Anti-Geek. Behavior like this makes me ashamed of being a part of any fandom. I feel really bad for King. Anyone getting that angry over fictional characters seriously needs help.

[dietrich]

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.

[Armor of God]

This is shameful and almost makes we want to continue with Batman...almost.

[Jon Clark]

I'm wondering who to feel the most pity for here.

1) The fans who now get lumped in with some random psycho who if it wasn't Tom King would be threatening somebody else. This has absolutely nothing to do with comic fans except in the horrid event something happens to Mr. King, in which case his fans lose the chance to read more stories,

2) The people who actually think that logic and reason apply here. Someone willing to threaten to take the life of somebody they never met is not going to be swayed by pointing out how irrational that is.

[Gray Lensman]

Some fans need to understand that comics are just make believe.

Not real.

Your ship, your favourite character are nothing but made up shit. Quit taking it so seriously and go get some professional help because if you are one of the fans that take things this far. YOU ARE NOT RIGHT IN THE HEAD.

If you let fiction have this much of a hold over you. YOU ARE NOT RIGHT IN THE HEAD.

Jesus a man can't even earn an honest wage without weirdos trying to spread their crazy. All because of a fictional marriage. Some fans should be ashamed.

My usual response is to not buy things. If I am truly disgusted, I'll remember the author's name so I can never mistakenly give them any income, or, as I have done with Marvel's idiotic 'Hitlerclops' crap, stopped buy anything from Marvel as a whole. There are plenty of other things I can spend my money on, as there is always more good things to read than I have dollars to buy them with.

[SixSpeedSamurai]

A bunch of jack-wagon keyboard warriors. I'd be more upset with DC no King. But, DC is at least taking returns on Catwoman #1 and Batman #50. They should be on all the Predule books, worthless.

[dietrich]

My usual response is to not buy things. If I am truly disgusted, I'll remember the author's name so I can never mistakenly give them any income, or, as I have done with Marvel's idiotic 'Hitlerclops' crap, stopped buy anything from Marvel as a whole. There are plenty of other things I can spend my money on, as there is always more good things to read than I have dollars to buy them with.

Exactly. no one's forces fans to buy comics. If one doesn't like a writer don't support them. Especially with character like Batman who has plenty of titles under various writers, fans are spoilt for choice. it's easy to be selective.

rather than waste time and effort being a nuisance just save your money and read something else or treat yourself to something else.

[bat1987]

Death threats are never ever serious in the comic world. mostly just tasteless trolling

Nobody is going to straight up murder a dude over a comic he wrote

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

[Talon1load]

It may or may not be a reaction to a serious threat on King's part (though after that nonsense with Batman #50 I wouldn't be surprised if he did receive them) but it does bring some much needed attention to the fact that it is a problem that writers face. In my opinion people who post death threats to writers, artist or anyone else for that matter have no excuse and those threats (along with the people who make them) really should be treated seriously in ALL cases. There are far to many unstable people out there not to take such threats seriously in this day and age. It fine to not like how a writer writes or how he or she may handle specific characters but it is extremely wrong to take out your nerd rage on the writer with threats to their lives or the lives of their families etc. (And I'm using the general "your" here and not talking about you specifically.)

I agree that people who post death threats should be dealt with by law enforcement. It’s ridiculous to do over a comic.

[skyvolt2000]

I agree that people who post death threats should be dealt with by law enforcement. It’s ridiculous to do over a comic.

Exactly. no one's forces fans to buy comics. If one doesn't like a writer don't support them. Especially with character like Batman who has plenty of titles under various writers, fans are spoilt for choice. it's easy to be selective.

My usual response is to not buy things. If I am truly disgusted, I'll remember the author's name so I can never mistakenly give them any income, or, as I have done with Marvel's idiotic 'Hitlerclops' crap, stopped buy anything from Marvel as a whole. There are plenty of other things I can spend my money on, as there is always more good things to read than I have dollars to buy them with.

As with Marvel-the main ones doing it are NOT readers of the books. The main ones who feel like they are entitled to walk into a store and NOT see any book that they don't like or certain demographics.

And what makes matters worst is the push back is cherry picked.

It's all for books like Ms Marvel to endure the attacks but suddenly a line needs to be drawn when it's Tom King on Batman. Sorry the attacks on G Willow Wilson are just as bad as the ones to Tom King. Neither should be tolerated.