Tom King Retracts Statement on Jae Lee's Comicsgate Connection

Strange Adventures writer Tom King has retracted his statement on artist Jae Lee's variant cover [...]

By Nicole Drum

Strange Adventures writer Tom King has retracted his statement on artist Jae Lee's variant cover to King's upcoming Rorschach series. King's retraction addresses taking his initial statement regarding his concerns about what he believed were Lee's connection to Comicsgate, a movement that blames the inclusion of people of color, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community as creators and characters within stories for declining comics sales and a perceived decline in comics quality and has a history of social media harassment campaigns against minority creators and their allies.

On Friday, DC revealed a variant cover by Lee for the upcoming 12-issue Rorschach maxiseries written by King with art by Jorge Fornés. Later, King took to social media to disavow the cover, citing work Lee had previously done on Comicsgate-related projects. He also said that, as far as he was concerned, the main cover for Rorschach #1 -- which he shared -- stands as the only cover.

"Today, DC put out an alternate cover to Rorschach by Jae Lee, who has also done covers for Comicsgate, a hate group," King wrote. "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."

Several hours later, however, King issued another statement on social media, noting that he had spoken with Lee directly and not only is the artist not on social media, but didn't know Comicsgate existed and doesn't support their views. King also indicated that things were "all good" regarding Lee and that it was a good outcome.

"I spoke with Jae," King wrote. "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."

Comicsgate has recently been in headlines following comics publisher Dynamite Entertainment's announcement of a crowdfunding campaign involving the movement. Dynamite, which has since cancelled the campaign, drew criticism from retailers, fans, and creators, several of which announced that they would no longer work with the publisher.

Rorschach #1, by Tom King, Jorge Fornés, Dave Stewart, and Clayton Cowles, will go on sale on October 13th from DC's Black Label imprint and is rated as being appropriate for readers ages 17+. The cover price is $4.99 with card stock cover artwork by Fornés and a variant cover by Jae Lee.

What do you think of King's statement? Let us know in the comments.

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