Michelle Perez Wants to Silence Us – It Won’t Work

Jorge Arenas |

Jul 12, 2018

Writer of Image Comics’ The Pervert Michelle Perez recently decided to shoot off a series of tweets. Perez’s goal was to try and silence our site by advocating for publishers and creators to stop collaborating with us. Perez’s reason appears to be that she disagrees with a number of our opinions and that we report on the violent threats that creators like Perez have shown toward fans and other creators.

Yeah, they should TOTALLY give access to
Bleeding Cool, who has tried to destroy career after career,
CBR who has done much of the same,
and on
BUT restrict Bounding Into Comics for reporting the actual industry for what it is. pic.twitter.com/9WPgYCvZ3o

— ThatUmbrellaGuy (@ThatUmbrella) July 9, 2018

Perez made it exceptionally clear why Bounding Into Comics was targeted. Michelle claims the “site exists to basically whip up right wing antagonism.” What Michelle, of course, doesn’t say is all of our reporting is cited and uses hard evidence. Things that journalists normally are supposed to do.

@BoundingComics pic.twitter.com/qbKhGt4Inq

— Michael Moody (@MakeMineMoody) July 9, 2018

Claiming we’re building up right-wing antagonism is beyond silly. We report on the behavior of people like Perez and if it’s over the line, threatening, or violent, we aren’t afraid to condemn it and call it out.

For example, if a movie director like Peter Ramsey is foolish enough to openly support a terrorist group like Antifa, we aren’t going to be afraid to report on it because consumers have the right to know that the director of a movie that actually looks pretty good based on the trailers supports a known terrorist organization.

Perez didn’t stop there. In another Tweet, Perez’s lack of honesty and credibility is exposed when she paints me as “defending” R. Kelly.

here’s a decent example. does this sound like how reporting goes in an industry of peers? does kieran shiach do 50 articles every time someone from bounding into comics or a right wing creator posts on twitter? does he uh, throw up a spirited defense of R Kelly into the mix? pic.twitter.com/9pnl1DwvNa

— Michelle Perez (@mperezwritesirl) July 9, 2018

In no way did I defend R. Kelly. The article is about CBR writer Kieran Shiach’s constant harassment of comic book professionals and his goal of ruining their careers and driving them out of the industry. In this case he was targeting Brian Wood and advocating he be deplatformed on comiXology over an unproven accusation. I merely stated the facts about R. Kelly. He had been found innocent and has been accused of running a sex cult, which has not been proven. I don’t know about you, but I still believe in innocent until proven guilty.

Perez appears to be advocating for the abolition of due process and undermining a core principle of our nation.

But what’s even more telling is that Perez tries to insinuate that article was written by my editor. I’ll say it. They felt comfortable going after him because he’s white. I’ve written extensively about Comicsgate. Yet, I sure didn’t see my name thrown in the mix. Instead, it seems that Perez took extra steps to insulate that our editor was the sole source of the reporting.

This cowardly act of narrative manipulation only reinforces the point that they feel that they have a right to go after people under false pretenses. In their own twisted reality, if you’re of a certain ethnicity you must have a pre-subscribed political viewpoint. If not, then you don’t exist to them.

After Perez’s attempt to silence us by targeting our collaborators, Image Comics’ Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #1 writer Cheryl Lynn Eaton also advocated for attempting to silence us by targeting our collaborators.

This is an interesting thread. I think publicists need to be more careful about where and to who they grant access to avoid problems like these–and also to be certain they aren’t rubber stamping passes for outlets that no longer speak to the audiences they are seeking. https://t.co/glDvZBrRyl

— Cheryl Lynn Eaton (@cheryllynneaton) July 9, 2018

Eaton makes it exceptionally clear that only people with the “correct” opinion should be allowed a platform.

I can’t help but think of that thread and of complaints from black journalists and media reps who were snubbed at events that actually catered to black audiences. It’s time to start tailoring access.

— Cheryl Lynn Eaton (@cheryllynneaton) July 9, 2018

And it’s also time to question the reputations of media outlets to decide if said reputations are something that you want to have aligned with your company. I love tabloids, but there’s a difference between a gossip rag and a mouthpiece for an unruly mob.

— Cheryl Lynn Eaton (@cheryllynneaton) July 9, 2018

What is the point of giving PDFs to an outlet that consistently disparages your employees with hit pieces and actually calls for the decline of your company online? And perhaps distributes said PDFs online for free?

— Cheryl Lynn Eaton (@cheryllynneaton) July 9, 2018

Eaton then insinuates we are engaged in piracy. This is absurd and completely false.

It might not be the worst idea to use unique watermarks when distributing PDFs to better track piracy given how disgruntled fans talk about no longer buying mainstream comics and cheer the struggles of Marvel and DC but know each month’s events intimately.

— Cheryl Lynn Eaton (@cheryllynneaton) July 9, 2018

Michelle Perez and Cheryl Lynn Eaton targeted us because we are a threat. We are providing a perspective the comic book industry hasn’t seen in a long time. Her attempts to silence us will not work. We will not be silenced.