Marvel Writer Dan Slott Polices Fan’s Twitter Activity, Blocks Them For Following ComicsGate-Affiliated Accounts

Spencer Baculi |

Aug 24, 2021

Source: Marvel's 616 Season 1 Episode 7 "The Marvel Method" (2020), Disney Plus

Marvel author Dan Slott, who may be best remembered from either his previous run on The Amazing Spider-Man, his current run on Fantastic Four, or his disastrous appearance on Disney Plus’ Marvel 616, recently admitted to not only policing who a fan followed on Twitter, but also blocked them after discovering said fan followed a number of ComicsGate-affiliated accounts.

Source: Marvel’s 616 Season 1 Episode 7 “The Marvel Method” (2020), Disney Plus

On August 20th, comic book YouTuber Joshua Quirk announced via his personal Twitter account that he had been blocked by Slott “because I disagreed with him POLITELY, then [he] responded and blocked me before I could respond,” further noting, “This is another reason Comics now days are crazy. I liked Dan, I just disagreed with one thing.”

Archive Link Source: Joshua M Quirk Twitter

In the screenshots provided by Quirk, the YouTuber can be seen responding to Slott’s assertion that “we’d be in a worse place with more American deaths than if [Donald Trump] were still in office by arguing that “the border crisis, Afghanistan, gas prices, jobs, [and] inflation all would be taken care of way better and some would’ve never happened [if Trump was still in office].

Archive Link Source: Screenshot Provided by Joshua M Quirk on Twitter

“Afghanistan would be just as bad (or worse) because of how Trump was actually dealing with the region and how Stephen Miller was screwing up the visa process,” Slott speculated in reply. “Gas/jobs/inflation/the economy–would’ve been far worse because of no vaccine rollout and far more American deaths.”

Archive Link Source: Screenshot Provided by Joshua M Quirk on Twitter

Taking notice of Quirk’s announcement that he had been blocked, Slott informed the YouTuber, “I blocked you because I checked who you were following.”

“And you are following a number of accounts that are members of an online hate group who have actively harassed people in the comic book industry who are from marginalized communities, including POC, LGBTQ+, & female creators,” he added.

Archive Link Source: Dan Slott Twitter

While Slott did not specifically name the “hate group” in question to which a number of the accounts Quirk follows supposedly ascribed, given his description that said group “actively harassed people in the comic book industry,” it can be safely assumed that he is referring to the ComicsGate movement, which has routinely been described in similar terms by numerous comic book professionals.

To that end, at the time of writing, a cursory glance of the 550 accounts Quirk follows confirms that he follows such ComicsGate-related accounts as Chuck Dixon, Just Some Guy, Heel vs Babyface, Englentine, and Douglas Ernst.

However, Quirk is also following a number of comic book accounts who have vocally positioned themselves counter to the ComicsGate movement, including those belonging to Mark Waid, Jerry Ordway, Ron Marz, and Kurt Busiek.

Source: Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy Vol. 1 #3 (2016), Marvel Comics. Words by Dan Slott, art by Jim Cheung, John Dell, and Justin Ponsor.

Pushing back against Slott’s childish assumptions, Quirk declared, “Dan I follow a LOT of people, From the Left to the Right.”

“I do interviews with Comic Creators from Mark Russell to Bryan Hill,” he continued. “I’m not a republican or a Democrat because I feel that it puts me in a box. I follow both sides to see what the other side is saying. That’s it.”

Archive Link Source: Joshua M Quirk Twitter

However, this explanation was unsatisfactory for Slott, who wrote in response, “This isn’t a question of ‘both sides’.”

“You follow a number of accounts that have actively harassed people in the comic book industry *because* they’re from marginalized communities,” claimed the Marvel writer. “That’s not a Left or Right thing or a Dem and Republican thing. It’s a right or wrong thing.”

Archive Link Source: Dan Slott Twitter

Offering a further explanation, Quirk noted, “If they did something f–ked up I’ll call them on it, but IDK who you are talking about.”

“I have over 500 people I follow and dont even see 100 of them a day, most of them are from years ago,” said Quirk. “But if you still wanna block me, go ahead, its your account man, xoxo.”

Archive Link Source: Joshua M Quirk Twitter

Acknowledging Quirk’s point, Slott simply wrote, “I get that,” and when asked by the YouTuber if they were “good”, the author again offered a simple one word answer: “Sure.”