Recently, information has come to light via artist Tess Fowler about improper actions by regularly-discussed-here writer Brian Wood. Fowler has disclosed that Wood was sexually inappropriate, professionally abusive and generally unacceptable towards her at a convention, and that several other women in the comics industry have shared similar stories with her. Yesterday, Fowler and other women in the comics medium and industry spoke out about the pressure to remain silent for fear of professional repercussions, and justifiably criticized men in the comics community for not doing enough to prevent this sort of thing from happening, and for being silent in general. Since the news about this first broke, Brandon and I have been talking off and on about how to react to it, and we have made a decision, at least for now:

For the foreseeable future, we will not be discussing Brian Wood’s books on C!TB because we will not be buying them.

A few caveats:

First, this isn’t to say the comics themselves are bad, or that you should feel bad for continuing to buy and read them. Darryl Ayo recently talked about the issue of talented artists disappointing you, and the idea of something being “problematic.” Briefly stated, bad art isn’t problematic. It’s good art by people who disappoint you that is problematic, and that’s something Brandon and I have been debating. We like a lot of Brian Wood’s work very much, but it has of late become too personally uncomfortable to continue buying it, and so we won’t. And since our only site mandate is to talk about stuff we like, well… you know. For now, at least.

Second, we recognize this isn’t a matter of “WELL I GUESS SEXISM IS SOLVED.” The comics industry, society and we ourselves have a long ways to go, and this is just one small action. Broader, consistent action by everybody is needed to change the community for the better, and our ongoing ways to try to grow will be a part of this. In this instance, it simply became impossible to see women we admire and respect begging for men to stop being silent and continue as we usually did without at least trying to show solidarity that yes, things are fucked up, and yes, we will be there with them trying to make it better.

Not being journalists or actual critics, and unlike many comics sites and writers, we have the luxury of picking and choosing what we cover here at C!TB. It’s incredibly easy for us to do something like this. Harder decisions will come, and I promise that we will try to make the right ones. I can assure you, we’ll mess up and have to apologize in the future, but hopefully this site will continue to grow with us. Thanks for indulging us.