Mark Brooks Rumored To Have Been Told By Marvel’s Lawyers To Stop Harassing #ComicsGate Or Lose His Job

Jon Del Arroz |

Oct 18, 2022

A.X.E.: Judgment Day #1 cover art by Mark Brooks

Cover artist Mark Brooks is reportedly in serious trouble with his employer, Marvel Comics, after repeated online tirades against right-leaning creators in the industry. His continued outbursts have been an embarrassment to Disney and the mainstream comic industry as a whole, with attacks on Eric July, Ethan Van Sciver, Irene Strychalski, and others over the last year.

Last week, Brooks escalated his feud with the independent comic movement #ComicsGate by appearing on Well Read User’s YouTube live stream.

The stream began with a confrontational interview before Cyberfrog creator Ethan Van Sciver arrived, at which point Mark Brooks began ranting and raving at the popular artist and YouTuber.

Brooks called Van Sciver a barrage of names, including “narcissist,” “sociopath,” and most bizarrely, “Teenage Nazi Santa Claus.”

Van Sciver seemed to take the insults with an attitude of amusement, laughing at Brooks and urging him to dial down his hostilities several times during the live stream.

Brooks didn’t stop with insults, however, as he seemed to challenge Ethan Van Sciver, Jon Malin, and other members of ComicsGate to come to New York Comic Con and fight him.

He stated, “You, Gabe, Shane, Jon, if you want to come see me in person, come see me,” Brooks ranted. “I’m gonna assume if your standing in front of, I’m gonna take all this weight I’ve gained and beat your f***ing ass. So other than that, stay the f*** away from me.”

Van Sciver laughed in disbelief that a fellow comic professional could act in such a manner. Brooks followed up his bravado by asking, “Are you going to be in New York Comic Con in three days? Why don’t you get a ticket, come see me.”

“You want to fight me at New York City Comic Con, you f***ing weirdo?” Van Sciver replied.

“I’ll fight you wherever you want. Come on,” Brooks concluded.

This marks a drastic change from Brooks’ tone a few months ago at San Diego Comic-Con, when Brooks made a long Twitter thread about calling security after Rippaverse colorist Gabe Eltaeb took a selfie at Brooks’ public booth. He threatened to pull out of any comic-con appearance that allowed Eltaeb to attend, citing his safety.

Eltaeb spoke with Bounding Into Comics on Brooks’ latest outbursts, saying, “He made it clear he WILL NOT debate me, so that’s off the table. He’s scared to debate me for sure because I’d humiliate him intellectually like Ethan did.”

ComicsGate creators and fans have speculated that Brooks felt embarrassed by his public tirade of running away from a fellow industry professional when there was no threat of violence or hostility directed at him. Eltaeb maintains he would like to debate Mark Brooks on wokeism and blacklisting in the industry.

Brooks’ behavior has come to a head, according to a new rumor on Twitter. Twitter user @mkgeiger1968 posted, “So I was told that Mark Brooks cover artist for Marvel comics. Got a talking to by Marvel Lawyers to stop engaging with #Comicsgate or he will be fired from Marvel. This all came from how he behaved on that stream with Ethan Van Sciver and Well Read.”

Since this rumor was posted, Mark Brooks’ Twitter presence has taken a noticeable turn. Where he had gotten into arguments on a regular basis with fans and other creators, he now has only been posting about his updates on art and his time at New York Comic Con this prior weekend.

Regardless of one’s politics or thoughts on the comic industry, violent threats should never be made by professionals or fans. Hopefully, Mark Brooks and others will learn their lesson from this incident that such hateful behavior doesn’t pay.