‘Nyobi’ Creator Larry Higgins Reportedly Banned from Exhibiting At East Coast Comic Expo Due Allegedly to Expressing Support for Vic Mignogna’s Right to Due Process
An independent comic book creator has reportedly been uninvited as an exhibitor at a fan convention allegedly due to his voicing of personal opinions regarding the ongoing situation surrounding Dragon Ball Super: Broly voice actor Vic Mignogna.
Larry Higgins is the creator of the independent comic series Nyobi and the upcoming Avani: Origins, as well as the host of a comic book centric YouTube channel named Rebel Komix. Higgins was planning on attending the upcoming East Coast Comic Expo (ECCE), hosted in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, as an exhibitor in an effort to promote his career and connect with current and potential fans. However, on April 23rd, Higgins took to his Twitter to announce that he had been uninvited from ECCE and would no longer appear as an exhibitor:
I was told cons are for everyone, I can tell you this is not the case. Cons are for the people who follow the same ideology and if they discovered that you are not of the left side of things you will be outed and blacklisted
— NYOBI (@NyobiComic) April 23, 2019
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on Weds I board a plane to go to the Calgary Expo , I should be pumped but I do not even to go, if it was not for having family there, I would’ve canceled. My plane/con tickets are non refundable. I may go there for a day and walk around but I am not even sure if I will do that
— NYOBI (@NyobiComic) April 23, 2019
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I been taught a hard lesson, and they made it clear I am not welcomed and this comes after all I have done here locally, for all my help, my volunteering at local shows, helping start a local show and promoting local comics all means nothing to them https://t.co/q95M039Loc
— NYOBI (@NyobiComic) April 23, 2019
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The reasoning for this ban, according to Higgins, is due to his voicing support for Mignogna and offering his opinion that Mignogna deserves due process while in attendance at the Geequinox fan convention. Higgins provided a screen shot of the initial Facebook post, made by another individual who was involved in the interaction, detailing the exchange between said individual and Higgins which allegedly prompted ECCE to take action against Higgins:
“At Geeuinox, was having a fun chat with a fellow Dragon Ball fan about all things DB. The topic found it’s [sic] way to Vic, as it does, and we were pretty in agreement that he was a creepy creeper who is finally seeing consequences for that.
Rando [Author’s note: The ‘rando’ in question is, by his own admission, Higgins] comes from behind me and inserts himself into the conversation, starts going on about how he “wants to see the actual evidence first” and dismissing twitter allegations and going down that MRA road.
I go “welp, it’s getting way to [sic] MRA-ey for my taste” and noped out of there, while buddy [sic] went back behind his table. Ugh.
Well, at least I could put a face to the name, because when I saw his name, I was not surprised.”
People want to know what happened to me, it all started with this post made against me during a convention I was attending pic.twitter.com/w9djALVuve
— NYOBI (@NyobiComic) April 23, 2019
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According to the individual who initially took issue with Higgins, Higgins was not aggressive, nor was he rude or forceful in his interaction, allowing the conversation to end as soon as the other individuals exited the situation. Kai Fowlie, an independent comic artist and Higgins’ friend, commented on the post to clarify Higgins’ (and his) position and present a different perspective on the situation:
Before you rudely ended our conversation, wanted to tell you that we are not defending Vic, enough reputable people have accused him, but hes [sic] only ever been tried by the media, not a court of law, thats [sic] all he meant by “show me evidence”
These events took a toll on Higgins, who announced on his Facebook page that he would no longer be attending any of his regularly scheduled local shows and events due to these events leaving a “real bad taste in my mouth”:
“After recent events, I will not be at any of the local shows or events I would normally be attending. This past weekend has left a real bad taste in my mouth and quite honestly my love for comics and this fandom has hit an all time low. I keep getting questions on what has happened, but understand all my social media is currently being monitor by those who would seek to harm or damage me further. This is what comics has become people. This is what politics in entertainment has done to us. It is sad that in the world of comics all we can do is war and fight with each other.
Avani will be released and shipped to all backers, that is not in doubt. I am proud of my work and am eager to get it out to the backers, the people who have supported me. What happens after that remains to be seen.”
Following Higgins’ public discussion of this issue, fans quickly took to Twitter to demand answers from ECCE, prompting Higgins to tweet a day later to ask fans for civility and to refrain from dog piling the convention on his behalf:
PLEASE LISTEN, no more tweets to @ECCExpo , this is hurting me, them, my friends my family, and alot of people inbetween. If I have your support, please do not message or tag that convention in anything regarding me, I would VERY MUCH appericte this.
— NYOBI (@NyobiComic) April 25, 2019
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As of writing, ECCE has not made an official statement regarding Higgins’ ban. Their only interaction regarding this ban is an odd deflection in response to a fan’s complaint on their Twitter page:
I think you may have us confused with another convention. We are based up on New Brunswick Canada.
— EastCoastComicExpo (@ECCExpo) April 23, 2019
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