Comic Book Resources has been the focus of much attention in recent weeks, after the outrageous levels of abuse, both online and off, received by a contributor, Janelle Asselin. You might remember that Ms. Asselin had the temerity to criticize the cover of a forthcoming comic book.
What followed was a nightmare of abuse and vitriol, leveled mostly by men comfortably insulated by anonymity, against a publicly identified woman they did not know. That abuse may have built steam on CBR, but it flowed far and wide across the internet.
The story received much coverage, including from The Stake.
Today, Jonah Weiland, executive produce and publisher of CBR, addressed this situation and how his website would be handling it in the future:
There has been a negativity and nastiness that has existed on the CBR forums for too long. Two weeks ago, that long-growing ugliness became more pronounced than ever. CBR published an article by guest contributor Janelle Asselin, critiquing the cover to DC Comics’ upcoming “Teen Titans” #1. Some of you liked the article, some of you didn’t. We encouraged readers to share their feedback in the CBR Forums.
Unfortunately, what happened next was unacceptable — so-called “fans” around the Internet, on various message boards and social media, including the CBR Forums, attacked Janelle personally, threatening her with rape and assault. These same “fans” found her e-mail, home address and other personal information, and used it to harass and terrorize her, including an attempted hacking of her bank account.
All over a comic book cover critique. Just think about that for a second.
If you’re one of the people who participated in any of these reprehensible acts, my message is simple: You are not welcome anywhere on CBR, and in our opinion, you have no place in the comics industry.
But you know what? I’m responsible, too.
I failed to do all I can to make the CBR Forums a safer and better place by adequately dealing with this behavior. And while we employ an army of volunteer moderators, the thread was not properly moderated.
(emphasis Weiland’s)
Read the full letter from Mr. Weiland. It’s a lesson in how to be responsible for your mistakes, and responsive to cultural change. Along with the letter comes a new set of Community Standards and Rules to govern what kind of behavior is acceptable in CBR’s forums.
The level of abuse that Ms. Asselin received for her article has opened a lot of eyes, both within the comics community and out. But it’s not a surprise to many of us who pay close attention to the culture of comics. As a culture, comics has work to do. Work that is not unique to comic books nor even to this one instance, but that nonetheless clouds the amazing and diverse group of creators and fans who spend their money and time on a story-telling medium they love.
There will always be trolls and abusers in the comics community, and everywhere else for that matter. A certain population will always refuse to give away their self-proclaimed ownership of things they do not own. They will fight to protect that self-proclaimed ownership in ways that are abhorrent to see, and even worse to experience (I’ve never experienced anything close to what Ms. Asselin has, but personal troll attacks are never easy to read). That these individuals will always exist is no reason to harbor them.
By taking away the safe-spaces, though, the impact of these abusers can be diminished. That’s what CBR is doing, and hopefully more sites of CBR’s caliber follow suit. If we can reduce the trollish sense of cultural insulation-of safety from consequences due to like minded behavior and anonymity-perhaps comic book culture can spend less time worrying about sexual assault threats, and more time thinking about a thoughtful critique of gender representation and industry expectations.
Which is all Ms. Asselin wanted to talk about in the first place.
