Matt Ligeti of Comic Book Yeti Will Not Cover Alterna Comics and “Comics That Directly or Indirectly Attack Minorities”
John F. Trent
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Matt Ligeti of Comic Book Yeti took to Twitter to declare that Comic Book Yeti will not cover “Alterna Comics or any comics that directly or indirectly attack minorities or marginalized voices.” (Archive link: http://archive.is/jh6ve)
Hey, so, a few folks have reached out to ask if I’ll cover certain comics with publishers or creative teams tied to hate groups.https://t.co/dPCTbs5lMC does not cover Alterna comics or any comics that directly or indirectly attack minorities or marginalized voices.
— Matt Ligeti The Comic Book Yeti (@ComicBookYeti) July 24, 2019
Ligeti would follow that Tweet up by declaring that Alterna Comics is a “platform of hate.”
Getting your comic published is hard. For those of you who can’t leave the publisher for one reason or another, but don’t agree with their politics, I’m sorry.
But Comic Book Yeti will not give a platform to hate. Hate has enough of a platform already.
— Matt Ligeti The Comic Book Yeti (@ComicBookYeti) July 24, 2019
He would then add that he blocks members of ComicsGate.
This is also why I immediately block any CGers or others who show up in my mentions or are rude and hateful to people I respect.
I’m not here to be a spokesperson. I’m not here to debate them. I’m just too busy for their intolerant, privileged, toxic nonsense.
— Matt Ligeti The Comic Book Yeti (@ComicBookYeti) July 24, 2019
However, he wouldn’t be done there. Ligeti would go on to describe ComicsGate as a hate group.
Congrats!
And yeah, they’ve found their niche amongst C*micsG*te and they’re taking it to the bank.
— Matt Ligeti The Comic Book Yeti (@ComicBookYeti) July 24, 2019
He would double down on this view in a subsequent tweet.
C*micsG*te. They do everything they can to woo them. Since no other publishers are, it pays off well for them.
— Matt Ligeti The Comic Book Yeti (@ComicBookYeti) July 24, 2019
Alterna Comics publisher Peter Simeti would respond to Ligeti’s accusations writing, “A year ago, a tweet filled with hurtful lies like this would have stressed me out, my heart would be pounding, and I’d feel sick to my stomach. But today? It’s just all so incredibly boring.”
A year ago, a tweet filled with hurtful lies like this would have stressed me out, my heart would be pounding, and I’d feel sick to my stomach.
But today?
It’s just all so incredibly boring. https://t.co/4egKKnAOv8— Peter Simeti 💬 (@petersimeti) July 24, 2019
Simeti, an Asian American, and his company Alterna Comics became the target of a number of individuals after he posted Alterna Comics’ Social Media Code of Conduct that instructed their freelancers to “not use block bots/blind blocking/block chains or any other kind of program or practice that is used to block thousands of people, blindly en masse.”
Following the release of the Social Media Code of Conduct, former Comics Alliance writer and CBR writer Kieran Shiach would post a photoshopped image of Alterna Comics’ logo, but change Alterna to “Alt-Right.”
— Kieran (@KingImpulse) August 30, 2018
In January of this year, Alterna Comics would also face accusations of “white supremacy” and being a “publisher that trades in the alt right” from John-Paul Atley. However, Atley claimed he was accusing them of white supremacy because they published a comicsgate book.
As my colleague, Spencer Baculi reported at the time, Atley appears to have confused Antarctic Press with Alterna Comics. Antarctic Press had initially agreed to publish Richard Meyer’s Jawbreakers book before they received outside pressure from Mark Waid.
Simeti has also publicly stated that he does not belong in any “movements.” However, he has noted that he does “appreciate the massive amounts of CG folks that 100% respect my stance.”
I’ve never been a part of any “movements” in my life. It doesn’t mean folks haven’t clumped me into them though, when they thought it would benefit their own agenda. I do appreciate the massive amounts of CG folks that 100% respect my stance. It’s been nice, honestly.
— Peter Simeti 💬 (@petersimeti) October 11, 2018
Following the accusations of “white supremacy,” Simeti would find himself the victim of a SWATTING attempt in February. During a YouTube livestream, police arrived at his house with weapons drawn after they had received an anonymous call. The anonymous caller pretended to be Simeti and told the cops he had stabbed his girlfriend and he was suicidal. The anonymous caller also gave the police Simeti’s name and address.
According to the police, an anonymous caller pretending to be me, called up and said that I had “stabbed my girlfriend and that I was suicidal”.
They gave the cops my name and address.
The sergeant gave me his card and I’ll be giving them a call tomorrow.
— Peter Simeti 💬 (@petersimeti) February 13, 2019
Matt Ligeti won’t be covering comics from an Asian American publisher in Peter Simeti, who was the victim of an actual SWATTING attempt. Let that sink in.
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