The writer behind DC's upcoming Rorschach series, Tom King has issued a formal apology to Jae Lee, the artist announced to be creating the variant cover for the DC Black Label series. The apology comes in response to King accusing Lee of ties to ComicsGate, which King labeled as "a hate group."
For the unfamiliar, 'ComicsGate' is the name taken by a collective of artists and fans who, inspired by GamerGate, rally against what they deem "forced diversity" and political correctness in comics, often singling out marginalized writers as targets for their harassment. In a nutshell, the group posits that the industry is promoting people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community, and creating new characters or changing existing characters' traits to placate a progressive audience. The group (often associated with the alt-right in language and tactics) has largely been denounced by the comics industry at large, with Dynamite the latest publisher losing talent for associaing with the campaign are hemorrhaging.
In the now-deleted original tweet, King expressed his disappointment in DC's choice of variant artist, and stressed that creators are not consulted as to who is commissioned for variants. "As far as I'm concerned, this is the cover to Rorschach #1," the tweet concluded, with an image of series artist Jorge Fornés' original cover art. King never made it explicitly clear what he was referring to in his original tweet tying Lee to ComicsGate, but it likely relates to Lee having recently provided work for independent comic creator Ethan Van Sciver, a major voice for the ComicsGate campaign, largely known for his rhetoric on social media. Van Sciver is also seemingly a supporter of the 'Fandom Menace' movement based on his Twitter bio, which has also been criticized by many as an online hate group, organizing criticism of supposed "SJW" culture in Star Wars films.
The animosity was seemingly short lived, with King sending a follow-up tweet just a few hours later. That tweet - which has also since been removed - said that King and Lee had spoken, that Lee had never even heard of ComicsGate, and that he "doesn't support hate of any kind." King wrapped up his message with "We're all good. Best possible outcome." But it seems fences haven't been quite as mended as King thought, with a lengthy Instagram post from Lee saying otherwise. Two days after King posted the now-deleted tweets, Lee wrote that the day the news broke, he and his wife were planning to memorialize their recently-passed dog when he got a barrage of calls from companies and friends reaching out. Dealing with the backlash, Lee wrote that he couldn't give his dog the proper send-off:
"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."
So with the ball back in King's court, today he posted yet another tweet, apologizing on public record and explaining that, while he'd originally kept the tweets up, he'd now be taking them down as a way to make amends.
King admits he made a "critical mistake" with his original tweet, that he's "profoundly sorry" for implying a link between Lee and ComicsGate, and that he is still trying to make inroads to an amicable solution with Lee. As of the time of this writing, Lee, who generally isn't very active on social media, has yet to issue any sort of a response to King's latest missive and the olive branch King is extending.
So with Lee yet to respond and accept the apology, be it privately or publicly (or address ComicsGate directly). All fans know is that Tom King's Rorschach #1 will be releasing October 13 and fans are welcome to get any cover they choose.