Douglas Ernst Blog

There once was a time when Marvel writers and artists didn’t use the Christmas season to go on bizarre and bigoted rants against “white” people. Saladin Ahmed, however, is a sterling example of the “House of Ideas” (or was it the House of Ideologues?) under Sana Amanat and editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski.

Mr. Ahmed — for years — has publicly offered his “white people” lamentations, and yet he is a.) rewarded for his bigotry by the company’s top brass, and b.) plays the victim with a straight face.

This weekend the Marvel scribe must have watched your friendly neighborhood blogger’s live-stream on his disgusting rhetoric because he came into work on Monday with fresh rants about “right wingers” who are “trying to get me fired.”

Saladin Ahmed RW

Given that Mr. Ahmed is obsessed with white people, it is perhaps fitting that a White Stripes song spotlights what he does after professionally embarrassing himself on social media.

From Jack White’s Effect & Cause:

Well, first came an action
And then a reaction
But you can’t switch ’em ’round
For your own satisfaction
Well you burnt my house down
Then got mad
At my reaction

Well in every complicated situation
Of a human relation
Making sense of it all
Takes a whole lotta concentration, mmm
Well you can’t blame a baby
For her pregnant ma
And if there’s one of these unavoidable laws
It’s that you can’t just take the effect
And make it the cause, no

Take a bow, C.B. Cebulski. While you tweet about your “Air Supply” dreams, Marvel writers are doing everything in their power to alienate readers with bigoted Twitter accounts.

Check out my latest YouTube video for a more extensive look at what is permitted at Marvel on Mr. Cebulski’s watch.

The White Stripes’ Effect & Cause:

Tom Brevoort: Marvel’s ‘King Nothing’ gives Stan Lee backhanded compliment after industry icon’s death

November 20, 2018by Douglas Ernst1 Comment

Tom Brevoort Stan Lee tweet

Stan “The Man” Lee’s death last week left fans across the world with a heavy heart. Kind words filled Facebook walls, Instagram pages, and Twitter feeds. There were random exceptions (e.g., professional wet blanket Bill Maher), but in general millions of people handled themselves as expected when a beloved public figure exits this world and enters eternity.

Marvel editor Tom Brevoort, however, didn’t get the memo.

Yes, that’s right, one of Marvel’s very own decided it would be a great idea to remember Stan Lee’s life by weirdly turning it into an excuse to play “Who Will Have the Greatest Legacy?”

Tom “King Nothing” Brevoort tweeted:

“Stan Lee was both the best-known comic book editor in the world and the best writer of his era, the 1960s. The fact that others surpassed him in this endeavor by building on what he did changes nothing of it,” (emphasis added).

Ask yourself this question: What kind of person uses the death of an industry giant to immediately begin figuring out creative and professional pecking orders?

Ask yourself this question: What kind of person gives a backhanded compliment about Stan Lee that translates: “Yeah, he was an pretty amazing guy — in the 1960s!

People ask me why and when the movement often labeled “Comicsgate” started. Giving an exact date is a rather pointless endeavor, but readers can glean important information merely by looking into the social-media musings of Mr. Brevoort.

Sadly, the kind of creator who would downplay Stan Lee’s significance right after his death is not the exception to the rule at Marvel Comics these days. Furthermore, the kind of man who is willing to rhetorically hit Mr. Lee below the belt is also the kind of man who is willing to do so to long-time readers.

There is much more to be said, but for a primer on the origins of Comicsgate I suggest watching my latest YouTube video. As always, make sure hit the ‘subscribe’ button if the video format is up your alley.

Mark Waid runs to Orwellian Nerdist shills for lawsuit coverage, changes tune on ‘SJW’ term he loved in 2017

November 7, 2018November 7, 2018by Douglas Ernst1 Comment

Waid call

Once upon a time the term “SJW” was a form of sweet music to the ears of writer Mark Waid. The comics industry veteran literally said in 2017 that he wore it with “pride.”

Something happened, however, between then and now to change his mind: He was sued for tortious interference and defamation by the popular YouTuber Diversity & Comics, aka Richard C. Meyer, aka ‘Ya Boi Zack.’

These days, according to Mr. Waid, calling him exactly what he wanted to be called is “the language of a bully.” Interesting, isn’t it?

One would think that a respectable journalist within the comics industry would ask Mr. Waid why he was allowed to use “SJW” as a rhetorical cudgel in 2017 while standing atop a self-made moral pedestal, yet now the term is a slur that can be used against the Comicsgate movement in court.

Sadly, dear reader, Mr. Waid only goes to shill outlets like Nerdist to discuss his lawsuit. And yes, “shill” is the correct description to use for the creator’s live-stream with Nerdist, given the following: a.) the moderators rushed to delete any chatroom comments on the lawsuit while Comicsgate was simultaneously being framed as a “hate” movement; b.) the host only asked softball questions and agreed with everything Mr. Waid said; and c.) the normal comments section was disabled after the live-stream ended.

MW comments disabled

If you’re asking yourself why all of this sounds familiar, then simply step into this blog’s time machine and travel to July 26, 2013.

Fact: Your friendly neighborhood blogger was covering “Comicsgate” before it was ever called Comicsgate. Anyone who wants to debunk the industry’s current lies can often do so by mining my old coverage of “Marvel’s Orwellian message boards” and the unprofessionalism by men like *cough* Mark Waid.

Marvel Memory Holes

There is much more to be said about Mr. Waid’s hypocrisy and his lawsuit with Mr. Meyer, but for brevity’s sake I suggest checking out my latest YouTube video. Please make sure to hit the subscribe button if video content is up your alley.

Related:

Joe Quesada plays Marvel ‘Memento’ games with Comicsgate’s creation

September 10, 2018September 10, 2018by Douglas Ernst5 Comments

Douglas Ernst Joe Quesada 2015

Something happened in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018: Marvel’s Chief Creative Officer debated the existence of Comicsgate with the networks’s supposedly insignificant members. There was, however, some big problems with his performance: Mr. Quesada wanted to pretend as if he had anterograde amnesia straight out of Christopher Nolan’s Memento.

In short, the Marvel executive wanted to act as if your friendly neighborhood blogger wasn’t trying to warn him for years that the industry’s bad business practices would produce something akin to Comicsgate.

Joe Quesada tweets

Marvel’s personal boogeyman (i.e., Diversity & Comics), is supposedly the root of all that ails the industry. Spontaneous Comicsgate Combustion happened in late 2017 and a fire of bad behavior soured the relationship between creators and readers, if Marvel’s top brass is to be believed.

Wrong.

Memento GP

The fact of the matter is that Mr. Quesada and his peers had countless opportunities to right the ship. Myself and others (e.g., Dave Huber when he was writing at Colossus of Rhodey) gave Marvel a series of simple steps to avoid a large-scale consumer revolt.

We were ignored.

Regular readers know that I made the leap to YouTube with the assumption that I needed a bigger megaphone if I was ever going to help spearhead said consumer revolt.

What started on blogs eventually transformed into Comicsgate when myself, Capn Cummings, Diversity & Comics and a core group of others united behind the idea that we could create a parallel industry to “SJW Marvel Inc.”

The response by left-wing ideologues was to double down on unprofessional and immature antics — like Max “feast upon my a**” Bemis putting the “Uncle Ernst” villain into Moon Knight.

Moon Knight Ernst

Question: Did Mr. Quesada, who stayed up until about 5 a.m. EDT. talking about Comicsgate, dare to answer questions about Mr. Bemis’ lack of professionalism?

Answer: Not a chance. He stayed far, far away from me because he knows the facts are on my side and I would make him look like a buffoon.

Max Bemis Feast Upon My A

The good news about the industry’s decision to dig in its heels into a quicksand pit of stupidity is that readers finally have other options. Indiegogo campaigns like Jawbreakers: Lost Souls have been wildly successful. The products will soon ship, and when that happens the paradigm will have officially shifted.

There is no turning back, and for that we can oddly enough thank guys like Mr. Quesada, Dan Slott, Mark Waid, Erik Larsen, Tom Brevoort, Alanna Smith, Max Bemis and a whole host of ideologues.

MB Sun2

If you want to learn more about Mr. Quesada’s faux short-term memory problems, then be sure to check out my latest YouTube video. As always, make sure to hit the like and subscribe button if the format is to your liking.