Eddie Berganza exposed as a sexual harasser
In 2012, Bleeding Cool reported the story that a sexual assault had taken place in a hotel lobby at WonderCon.Yet later on, he was given back a position he didn't deserve on the Super-books. After all the crude stories that came out under Dan DiDio's management that were insulting to women - especially in the mid-2000s - I'm not shocked they could have staffers committing offenses in real life. And even if his felonies weren't as severe as Scott Allie's, I don't think he should continue being given employment.
It was so public that, by the time I woke up in the UK, I had received multiple reports. The assailant was named as DC Comics then-Executive Editor Eddie Berganza and the person assaulted was a comic book creator in her own right, a partner of a regular DC creator, and an occasional convention reporter for Bleeding Cool.
She did not want to be named back then – she was afraid it might damage her work prospects, and wanted to move on, and we respected that. But Bleeding Cool did later name Eddie Berganza as the man responsible.
A number of sexual harassment complaints against Berganza had been made over previous years, including this one, and as a result he was demoted from Executive Editor to Group Editor, and banned from attending comic conventions for DC Comics.
The accusations were actually first made 4 years ago, and resurfaced after DC, in a planned restructure of the floundering Vertigo line, decided Shelly Bond was the one who had to go. Even if their dismissal wasn't out of an anti-women bias per se, there's something wrong when they consider somebody with a presumably decent track record sacrificial while a man lacking a moral compass is considered worth keeping. The same goes for their enablers like DiDio and Jim Lee, who're publishers today, and come to think of it, even Diane Nelson. If complaints were ever lodged with them, it's clear they failed miserably to answer, one more reason why they don't deserve their jobs.
There've been calls now for something that should've been done long ago: a boycott of DC. If these resurfaced charges against Berganza lead to an effective boycott, they'll be deserving of everything they get.
I guess this leaves the following question now: when are any sexual harassers employed by Marvel going to be taken to task? There've been reports that they too are guilty of employing some, and if so, then even Marvel's got to be condemned for their own treachery.
Labels: bad editors, dc comics, misogyny and racism, violence
...and people can't be fired, for any reason, because...?
Posted by Anonymous | 11:40 AM