ComicBooks Subreddit Bans Eric July’s Rippaverse Comics For “Supporting Comics From Hate Groups”

John F. Trent |

Jul 12, 2022

Eric July’s launch of his Rippaverse Comics was banned by the ComicBooks subreddit, which touts over 2.5 million true believers.

Twitter user UncappedTurtle shared a screenshot showing the subreddit banning July’s promotional video for Rippaverse Comics titled “Welcome to The Rippaverse.” Not only was the promotional video banned from the subreddit, but the user attempting to share it was also permanently banned.

An error message on the post reads, “Sorry, this post has been removed by the moderators of r/comicbooks. Moderators remove posts from feeds for a variety of reasons, including keeping communities safe, civil, and true to their purpose.”

A message from a moderator then stated, “You have been permanently banned from participating in r/comicbooks. You can still view and subscribe to r/comicbooks, but you won’t be able to post or comment.”

It continued, “If you have a question regarding your ban, you can contact the moderator team for r/comicbooks by replying to this message.”

The user did indeed contact the moderator team and asked, “I’m curious, why was I banned?”

A moderator responded, “You broke rule #1 as pertaining to supporting comics from hate groups.”

Rule 1 on the r/ComicBooks subreddit reads, “Rule 1: Be Civil: Racial, sexual, homophobic, or cultural slurs will result in a permanent ban. Do not disparage the differently abled or threaten or incite harm against other users, creators, or industry professionals. Any form of bigotry or support of hate groups (such as comicsgate) is not permitted.”

It continues, ” Please be respectful of people’s pronouns. Intentionally continuing to use the incorrect pronouns after being corrected is a violation of Rule 1. While debate and differing views are encouraged, please keep all discussion on-topic and do not resort to personal attacks. As a general rule, don’t be a jerk.”

It goes on, “Individuals of every demographic are important and deserve representation, both in media and as creators behind media. Deliberately propagating forms of erasure, belittling the wants and needs of other individuals, and similar complaints about ‘forced diversity’ have no place in this community.”

“Posts with comment patterns meeting certain negative criteria (such as excessive amounts of rule-breaking comments) may be locked at the moderation team’s discretion,” the rule concludes.

The ComicBooks subreddit is no stranger to banning comic book creators for having different views than the moderators of the subreddit. The subreddit previously banned Florida Man editor and Bleeding Fool editor-in-chief Chris Braly when he shared a link to the IndieGoGo page for Florida Man.

Like the Reddit user attempting to promote the Rippaverse, Braly was informed he was banned for “comicsgate support.”

A moderator informed him, “Comicsgate support is not tolerated on this subreddit, such as pro-comicsgate websites like Bleeding Fool and comicsgate-lead crowdfunding campaigns like those from Chris Braly.”

The ComicsBook Subreddit ban does not seem to have affected the launch of Rippaverse Comics’ first book, Isom. The book has currently grossed $1,009,086.39 from 10,385 total purchases in just its second day.

July also responded to the ban writing on Twitter, “It’s all good. We do not need the folks that wish to protect the old guard. They can’t stop us and we’re going to win.”

As for Isom’s story, the campaign details it follows Avery Silman “a common rancher, but that wasn’t always the case. After obtaining some unique abilities, Avery spent a brief stint being a hero under the moniker Isom in the city of Florepark, Texas.”

The description continues, “Realizing that it wasn’t for him, he walked away from this life. But after responding to a call from his sister, some violent altercations ensue and has Avery reconsidering his approach.”

The book is written by July with art work by Cliff Richards and former Superman: Son of Kal-El colorist Gabe Eltaeb. Eric Weathers provides his skills as the letterer.

The book, which is 96-pages long, and other add-ons such as t-shirts and trading cards available as part of the campaign are expected to ship to backers in August.

July recently thanked his supporters writing on Twitter, “Your response to the launch of this comic book universe has been something we couldn’t have prepared for or anticipated, yet we hit $1,000,000 in just over one day. Thank you so much to everyone for your support. We’re just getting started!”