What creators have spoken about the Eddie Berganza scandal?
I looked to see what comics writers and artists were talking on Twitter about the scummy ex-editor at DC whom the top brass went miles out of their way to employ at all costs, providing him with many of the top titles like Superman and Wonder Woman. When I looked to see if Ron Marz - whose work on Green Lantern volume 3 Berganza served as co-editor for - had anything to say, Marz appeared to be silent, suggesting he's just too plain embarrassed to have a volume now tainted by two awful men, the other being Gerard Jones. However, Kurt Busiek did talk about the issue, beginning with the following:
He needn't apologize for posting the previous announcement in advance about Berganza, but he sure does need to apologize for condoning the notion of allowing men into women's bathrooms on the pretense that they're transgender, as though that immediately ensures they won't be crooks. Why, what if Berganza suddenly started barging into the ladies' rooms at the DC offices and claiming he was now a woman as justification? Would that be appropriate?
No, we want him to answer knowledgeably, because that's how to get informative insight. But I've got a feeling he can't do even that much, what with the kind of politics he supports. Let's also remember Kurt worked at Dark Horse under the oversight of Scott Allie when he was one of their leading editors, and he sure didn't seem to regret it.
What we want to know is his unambiguous opinion on creepy men like Berganza and Allie. To know if he actually supports ensuring a safe environment for women, and not just in the office, but also in public facilities like bathrooms. Without a firm position on the issues, he has no qualification to comment.
Not nearly as ignorant as Busiek's support for allowing transgender men into women's bathrooms. Tsk tsk.
Which Busiek failed to do when it came to Scott Allie and the public bathroom issues.
Umm, but he did once work for DC as a freelancer, if anything, for 5 years in the 2000s. And at a time when Berganza was employed very actively by Dan DiDio and company. Sure, a lot of writers could work at home, but many still visit the offices to work out various ideas and other subjects with the editors.
What about if Gal Gadot said so? Could he guess then? Gadot just verified that Brett Ratner's been taken off the Wonder Woman sequel project.
Still not good enough, and if he's joking, it's not funny in light of the allegations.
Another writer who commented was Jay Faerber, who says:
Fortunately, they have, but there's undoubtably more scum working there now who won't be booted without a major news scoop to precede it. The same obviously goes for Marvel.
Another writer who spoke up is Jeff Lemire:
If you do, then challenging query: do you also love the characters DiDio's crowd abused in the Identity Crisis miniseries from 2004? And do you abhor the misogynist angle they used in that disgusting book? There's a point we can make that, if DC could make light of serious issues like sexual assault in such a sick story, it can't be any surprise when they fail to get rid of men like Berganza sooner, and practically promote him to such high status.
There's also this awful editor who may or may not be working for them anymore named Andy Khouri:
Gee, in that case, why did this disgrace who once worked for the far left Comics Alliance website ever take the job of editing books like the new take on the Omega Men and Green Arrow? Say, what does he think of his former colleague at Comics Alliance, Chris Sims, who was harassing Valerie D'Orazio nearly a decade ago? I don't think he ever panned him for that any more than the rest of that dreadful site's staff, so why should we believe him now?
Ssuuurrreee he will. If he wanted to, he could've protested long ago. But he didn't. Don't take such an ultra-leftist at face value. Besides, as the following notes:
Obviously, he didn't condemn Harras (or DiDio), so there's an excellent point made. Let's now turn to another former DC employee, Janelle Asselin, who said:
The same could be said about his protectors, and the pretenders who're supposedly concerned. I'm sure there's grounds on which to sue them for failure to prevent a felony.
One more writer I found was a guy named David Gallaher, who said:
So long as men like DiDio are still in charge, and even Bob Harras, who apparently also enabled Berganza's behavior, I've got a sad feeling he won't be. I've also got an equally sad feeling we're going to be hearing about more writers soon at Marvel too, who turn out to be sexually abusive while the leadership puts up with it. The biggest problem is the silence of the writers, freelance or otherwise, who care far more about the jobs they can get than in protesting injustices within the medium proper.
Update: The Press of Atlantic City's got a podcast discussion of the recent sexual abuse scandals in Hollywood, and their conversation includes Berganza.
DC just sent out the following statement: pic.twitter.com/lfTjiII71t— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) November 12, 2017
I don’t know if I should have made that public — the e-mail said it was being sent to the press today, so I assumed it was public.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) November 12, 2017
If not, apologies to whoever was going to announce, and I expect it’ll be public soon anyway.
He needn't apologize for posting the previous announcement in advance about Berganza, but he sure does need to apologize for condoning the notion of allowing men into women's bathrooms on the pretense that they're transgender, as though that immediately ensures they won't be crooks. Why, what if Berganza suddenly started barging into the ladies' rooms at the DC offices and claiming he was now a woman as justification? Would that be appropriate?
I’m going to assume the people asking me to explain DC’s decision-making process are asking rhetorically, rather than expecting me to answer knowledgeably.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) November 12, 2017
No, we want him to answer knowledgeably, because that's how to get informative insight. But I've got a feeling he can't do even that much, what with the kind of politics he supports. Let's also remember Kurt worked at Dark Horse under the oversight of Scott Allie when he was one of their leading editors, and he sure didn't seem to regret it.
And I’m going to assume the people asking me to fill them in on the whole story have Google.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) November 12, 2017
What we want to know is his unambiguous opinion on creepy men like Berganza and Allie. To know if he actually supports ensuring a safe environment for women, and not just in the office, but also in public facilities like bathrooms. Without a firm position on the issues, he has no qualification to comment.
If you’re going to comment with assumed authority, you should probably familiarize yourself with what’s actually going on.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) November 13, 2017
And an ignorant one, showing that you don’t know what you’re talking about.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) November 13, 2017
Not nearly as ignorant as Busiek's support for allowing transgender men into women's bathrooms. Tsk tsk.
Well, for one thing, you think there’s some question over whether he did stuff he himself apologized for and promised to do better on, and you suggest possibly firing people who no longer work there.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) November 13, 2017
That’s two points where it’s clear you’re trying to say what should be done...
…without bothering to learn anything about the subject.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) November 13, 2017
Which Busiek failed to do when it came to Scott Allie and the public bathroom issues.
I don’t work at DC. I work for (or, technically, with) DC. I don’t see what goes on in the offices, so it’s all news to me.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) November 12, 2017
Umm, but he did once work for DC as a freelancer, if anything, for 5 years in the 2000s. And at a time when Berganza was employed very actively by Dan DiDio and company. Sure, a lot of writers could work at home, but many still visit the offices to work out various ideas and other subjects with the editors.
I couldn’t begin to guess.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) November 12, 2017
What about if Gal Gadot said so? Could he guess then? Gadot just verified that Brett Ratner's been taken off the Wonder Woman sequel project.
In comic-book time that’s only a few weeks.— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) November 12, 2017
Still not good enough, and if he's joking, it's not funny in light of the allegations.
Another writer who commented was Jay Faerber, who says:
Eddie Berganza gave me my second gig in comics. A short Wonder Girl story for an anthology. But it was a foot in the door at DC. And he later hired me to take over as regular writer on The Titans, a lifelong dream for a Titans fanboy like me. But... 1/— Jay Faerber (@JayFaerber) November 12, 2017
...I never heard any of the allegations against him when I was working there. Haven’t done any work for DC in many years, but in that time, I heard the rumors. Pretty much everyone in comics has. I just hope DC ends up doing the right thing. 2/2— Jay Faerber (@JayFaerber) November 12, 2017
Fortunately, they have, but there's undoubtably more scum working there now who won't be booted without a major news scoop to precede it. The same obviously goes for Marvel.
Another writer who spoke up is Jeff Lemire:
I love DC Comics and their characters and love working with them. But Eddie Berganza should have been fired a long time ago. I believe and support all of the women who spoke out. But more of us should have supported them before this weekend.— Jeff Lemire (@JeffLemire) November 13, 2017
If you do, then challenging query: do you also love the characters DiDio's crowd abused in the Identity Crisis miniseries from 2004? And do you abhor the misogynist angle they used in that disgusting book? There's a point we can make that, if DC could make light of serious issues like sexual assault in such a sick story, it can't be any surprise when they fail to get rid of men like Berganza sooner, and practically promote him to such high status.
There's also this awful editor who may or may not be working for them anymore named Andy Khouri:
I wholly condemn the deplorable behavior of Eddie Berganza towards his former DC co-workers. In response to those events, the highest levels of management took action that was, in my view, manifestly wrong. I applaud the brave women who came forward then and now.— Andy Khouri (@andykhouri) November 14, 2017
Gee, in that case, why did this disgrace who once worked for the far left Comics Alliance website ever take the job of editing books like the new take on the Omega Men and Green Arrow? Say, what does he think of his former colleague at Comics Alliance, Chris Sims, who was harassing Valerie D'Orazio nearly a decade ago? I don't think he ever panned him for that any more than the rest of that dreadful site's staff, so why should we believe him now?
This is the best job I’ve ever had. I love the people I work with. I love the work we do. I believe the DC of today is a special and safe place. And I will do everything I can as a co-worker and friend to ensure no one’s actions cast doubt on that again.— Andy Khouri (@andykhouri) November 14, 2017
Ssuuurrreee he will. If he wanted to, he could've protested long ago. But he didn't. Don't take such an ultra-leftist at face value. Besides, as the following notes:
Will doing everything include condemning Bob Harras for shielding Eddie Berganza all these years— Cuber (@BaybleCuber) November 14, 2017
Obviously, he didn't condemn Harras (or DiDio), so there's an excellent point made. Let's now turn to another former DC employee, Janelle Asselin, who said:
I loved my job at DC until that year that things went south. I never would’ve left if it hadn’t been for DC’s lack of respect for the women who came forward. My career and life could be very different if Eddie Berganza hadn’t been what he was.— Janelle Asselin (@gimpnelly) November 13, 2017
The same could be said about his protectors, and the pretenders who're supposedly concerned. I'm sure there's grounds on which to sue them for failure to prevent a felony.
One more writer I found was a guy named David Gallaher, who said:
I stand with them. I am mortified by the scope and depth of this behavior. I applaud DC for taking the first of many steps here.#EddieBerganza is not the first sexual harasser at DC Comics. In the coming months, I'm sure many more will be revealed. But I hope he will be the last pic.twitter.com/DMYlmB6U81— David Gallaher (@DavidGallaher) November 12, 2017
So long as men like DiDio are still in charge, and even Bob Harras, who apparently also enabled Berganza's behavior, I've got a sad feeling he won't be. I've also got an equally sad feeling we're going to be hearing about more writers soon at Marvel too, who turn out to be sexually abusive while the leadership puts up with it. The biggest problem is the silence of the writers, freelance or otherwise, who care far more about the jobs they can get than in protesting injustices within the medium proper.
Update: The Press of Atlantic City's got a podcast discussion of the recent sexual abuse scandals in Hollywood, and their conversation includes Berganza.
Labels: bad editors, dc comics, misogyny and racism, moonbat writers, violence
The condemnation of sexual harassment in big business is long overdue, but it has a taint of hypocrisy to it. People have known for years about the guys doing this; they are rushing to condemn now only because of the changing climate of opinion. Berganza is not being fired because he has done anything new, but because it is no longer politic to keep him on.
The rush to condemn is always directed at the people on the other side. If you are a country club republican, you condemn Roy Moore. if you are a Trump-type golf club republican, you attack Franken but ignore Moore. It is not whether you are a sex abuser, but whether you are one of us or one of them. And that is why so many of the condemnations of Berganza, of Weinstein and the others, have a whiff of partisanship and game-playing to them. If it helps clean up the industry, that is great; but not all of the people leading the charge are virtuous.
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