Mr Lee is a freelance artist who created a cover for this Indiegogo campaign (CYBERFROG 2: REKT PLANET) lead by Ethan Van Sciver. Apparently, King does not like Mr Van Sciver, so when Mr Lee was contracted to a do an alternative cover for an announced DC comic series, King decided to cancel him. Literally get him fired from the DC job and wreck his career. King tweeted this:
Today DC put out an alternate cover to Rorschach by Jae Lee, who has also done covers for comicsgate, a hate group. DC does not consult creators on alternate covers; I reached out to them to express my deep disappointment. Far as I'm concerned this is the cover to Rorschach #1.
So if you don't know, "#comicsgate" is a twitter hash tag used to identify a group of creators who believe comics should tell great stories without any overt politics in them. Whereas King and his group believe that all comics should be "woke". King and his group constantly make unsubstantiated claims that the other group are somehow -ists, -phobes and members of a German party from WWII that rhymes with "Yatzee". So in King's tweet, he is implying that Mr Lee is a Yatzee and thus must have his life destroyed. (By the way, Mr Lee is an American of Korean descent which makes it very unlikely he is a Yatzee). King made these accusations without talking to Mr Lee. And Mr Lee is a very limited user of social media and has no idea what any of this stuff King is talking about.
So after a couple of hours, King posted this tweet.
I spoke with Jae. He's not on Twitter, didn't know comicsgate existed, and doesn't support hate of any kind. We're all good. Best possible outcome.
Well it turns out we are not "all good". After King tried to destroy Jae Lee, here is response on Instagram.
Two weeks ago, June and I took Loki to San Diego to see a specialist. He did not survive due to complications from the surgery. This past Friday was supposed to be a day of mourning. We were back in San Diego to pick up his ashes. We were going to take him to the beach and comfort each other by sharing our favorite stories about our little boy.
Instead, a part of the internet I avoid like the plague came barging in. I had companies I'm working for calling me, friends reaching out to me. I'm seeing hate pouring out of strangers' mouths, accusing me of things I have no knowledge of.
I'm seeing first hand how fast lies are spreading. Let me be clear, I'm not part of ANY group.
We never made it to the beach. We spent the entire six hour drive back home on an emotional roller coaster.
I'm writing this because I'm angry. These irresponsible tweets are not harmless. They do not just go away. They have real world consequences. They can take away your job. Your life. Your memories. June and I were robbed of a special day. So, no, we're not "all good."
This isn't the start of a conversation. This is the end. So please, don't drag me into a world I never wanted to be a part of, nor will I ever want to be a part of.
I want to honor Loki by going back to producing art made with love. For people who enjoy it for what it is. Something that hopefully brings joy into their lives.
Mommy and Daddy miss you so very much, Loki, our love.
This kind of thing has got to stop. I agree with Jae completely. Anyway, for a deeper dive on the subject here are a few links. Enjoy!
- Bleeding Cool: Jae Lee to Tom King – "We're Not All Good"
- You Tube: Anna that Star Wars Girl: BATMAN WRITER TOM KING ATTACKS ARTIST JAE LEE TRYING TO CANCEL HIM!
- You Tube: ClownfishTV: Cancel Culture Back Fire
tags: #comics #CancelCulture