Former Batman Writer Tom King Insinuates That DC Comics Artist Jae Lee Is Part Of “Hate Group”

John F. Trent |

Jul 24, 2020

Former Batman writer and the current co-writer for the upcoming New Gods film Tom King recently took to Twitter to insinuate that DC Comics artist Jae Lee is part of a “hate group.”

King’s insinuation comes after DC Comics revealed Lee’s variant cover for Rorschach #1 that is written by King and artist Jorge Fornes.

DC Comics had announced that Jae Lee would be doing a variant cover for Rorschach #1 back on July 15th.

You can see a screenshot from the DC Comics website below announcing Lee’s cover.

King specifically wrote on Twitter, “Today DC put out an alternate cover to Rorschach by Jae Lee, who has also done covers for comicsgate, a hate group.”

He added, “DC does not consult creators on alternate covers; I reached out to them to express my deep disappointment. Far as I’m concerned this is the cover to Rorschach #1.”

He then shared an image of the first cover by Jorge Fornés that DC Comics released with the initial announcement about the Rorshach series.

It’s quite unclear why King would just now be taking issue with Lee’s variant cover when it was announced over a week ago.

It’s possible he wanted to make a bigger splash on social media given DC Comics just showed off what Lee’s cover would look like.

Lee is doing a variant cover for Ethan Van Sciver’s Cyberfrog 2: Rekt Planet, which is currently crowdfunding on IndieGoGo and has been backed by over 9,000 people to the tune of $1,044,972.

You can see Lee’s Cyberfrog 2 variant below.

Van Sciver responded to King’s insinuation about Lee saying, “This is a shameful thing you’re doing. History will judge you for it.”

He also denied that ComicsGate is a hate group.

He wrote, “We aren’t a hate group. We are opposed to SJWs destroying this business with Cancel Culture while using marginalized people as shield.”

Van Sciver added, “You can’t win, because you’re wrong, and we’re right.”

Lee will also be providing covers for BOOM! Studios upcoming Dune: House Atreides series.

Maybe the most interesting part of King’s statement is it sounds very familiar to former Batgirl writer Cameron Stewart’s objections to Rafael Albuquerque’s Batgirl variant cover that referenced Alan Moore’s Killing Joke.

Back in 2015, Stewart objected to the cover writing on Twitter, “If you’re concerned about artistic integrity and creative vision – that’s what we’re doing. Keeping the integrity of our book intact.”

Stewart added, “given that it wasn’t approved by us and contradicts the work we’re doing, yes.”

He would later demand, “I’m the writer of the comic. I don’t want it on my book. Defend my vision and integrity, please.”

DC Comics would eventually pull Albuquerque’s cover.

They issued a statement at the time that began, “We publish comic books about the greatest heroes in the world, and the most evil villains imaginable. The Joker variant covers for June are in recognition of the 75th anniversary of the Joker.”

Their statement continued, “Regardless if fans like Rafael Albuquerque’s homage to Alan Moore’s THE KILLING JOKE graphic novel from 25 years ago, or find it inconsistent with the current tonality of the Batgirl books – threats of violence and harassment are wrong and have no place in comics or society.”

Finally, they concluded, “We stand by our creative talent, and per Rafael’s request, DC Comics will not publish the Batgirl variant.”

Stewart clarified DC Comics’ statement saying that Albuquerque did not receive threats, but claimed people objecting to the cover did.

He wrote, “Something to clarify, because DCs statement was a little unclear. Rafael Albuquerque did not get threats. People OBJECTING to the cover did.”