The Four Color Media Monitor

Looks like the leftists at Image are making a terrible choice for whom to make monetary donations to, and Comics Beat's only too happy to give them a platform:

Image continues its 25th anniversary celebration with a series of 11 Women’s History themed variant covers for March. And just to show they believe what they are saying, 100% of the proceeds made from these March Women’s History variant covers will be donated to Planned Parenthood. [...]

“Many of Image Comics’ staff—myself included—and an ever-growing catalog of some of the most talented writers and artists in the industry, feel strongly about supporting women’s reproductive rights,” said Corey Murphy, Director of Sales at Image Comics in a statement. “Women have come a long way in this country, and the progress that’s been made is in part due to the efforts Planned Parenthood has made in sex education and affordable, preventative healthcare. I’m extremely proud to be a part of a company that’s unafraid to take a stance in supporting a non-profit that’s recently been under fire. This month we celebrate Women’s History, the strides the women have made in the comics industry, and the difference that everyone—male and female—has made by coming together in spreading equality.”

Well at least we can vote with our wallets and not put any money into the pockets of creators at Image who're contributing to one of the most awful foundations to litter the USA. I'm not sure where Murphy gets the idea they're actually about reproduction rights. According to the Heritage Foundation:

...data show that Planned Parenthood Federation of America is the country’s largest abortion provider with affiliates performing more than 300,000 abortions per year, which amounts to approximately one out of every three in the country.

[...] Despite a nearly 20 percent decline in the number of abortions in the country between 2000 and 2011,[8] the number of abortions Planned Parenthood performed during that time increased from 197,070 to 333,964, thereby more than doubling its share of the abortion market from 15 percent in 2000 to 32 percent in 2011,[9] the latest year for which national data are available.

Planned Parenthood affiliates perform about 20 abortions for every prenatal care visit and about 200 abortions for every adoption referral based on the approximately 300,000 abortions they perform each year.

It gets worse. Undercover investigative footage revealed staff members dissecting aborted fetal tissue. What they've actually been doing is most utterly repulsive, sick and angering, yet Image staff see them as the perfect place to donate everyone's hard-earned tax dollars to? Do they even really believe what they're saying, let alone what PP is really about? Reportedly, the artists for the variants are all women, but none of them seem particularly concerned about reality of PP.

And speaking of variants, that's practically the biggest problem with this "project" Image is running: they're surely banking on the speculator market to buy up dozens of variants and then use the overspent cash to donate to PP, under the full confidence not a single collector will have any worries about the cause they're investing in.

However, a retailer in Florida recently announced he's fed up with the constant barrage of partisan politics we're facing for many years now, and said:

Publishers, get your politics out of my stores!

We live in a climate of polarity, with people being violently opposed to issues and events. Note the word “violently” and then think about what you’re bringing to our stores. With every new proclamation from either the White House or CNN we have a new round of vitriol coming from the opposing side.

I’ve always told my staff that we are the safe zone from what’s outside our doors. I’ve been touting this policy before safe spaces were a thing, not because we need to be protected but because we provide entertainment. To be crystal clear, we provide entertainment. We are not mouthpieces for any polarizing cause nor is our shelf space for rent to any organization, left, right, or center. If you want to support fighting cancer or bullying, all good. No one is fighting for worse cancers or more bullying. If you want to put Planned Parenthood or the NRA on my stands, you’re getting no traction in my stores. We are not for sale and we’re not going to undermine our store’s tranquility for your cause-of-the-month.

Get your politics off my stands. Get political figures off the covers. Get poorly disguised villains out of your books. Get back to telling stories that don’t remind people of the vitriol and bile being spewed from every direction; we have enough outlets for that. You’re not being clever. You’re not being altruistic. You’re costing me the carefully built atmosphere that has allowed me to sell your books over the last 3+ decades to people of all races, creeds, genders, and sexual orientation as well as Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, and no doubt a few anarchists as well.

Don’t screw that up.

I'm glad somebody's dismayed and has the guts to say so. What retailers angry at all the alienating politics can do for starters is refuse to stock any book knowingly ultra-leftist, along with variants they know are intended for bad charity donations. They can stop stocking and promoting the Big Two at the expense of smaller publishers whose offerings could have better storytelling, and promote the smaller items instead, some of which could be written/illustrated by women with better ideas for what makes good entertainment. They also shouldn't encourage anybody to buy variant covers that may be deliberately marketed at higher prices to compensate for the lack of talented writing and art. Certainly not when the books are unlikely to be worth much on the market in the future. Speaking of which, I've got a feeling that's just what'll be the case with creators who got charged with felonies, like Justiniano and Gerard Jones. It'll be a long time before realists feel up to buying a lot of the books they're credited to, and back issues could surely lose value on the market already.

Image has really made fools of themselves this time. All they're doing is giving a strong hint of where they really stand, yet not willing to think about the bad image it gives them.

Labels: indie publishers, misogyny and racism, politics, sales, violence