Marvel Comics And DC Reportedly Cut Two Stories Penned By Convicted Child Sex Offender Gerard Jones From Upcoming ‘Amalgam Comics’ Omnibus
Spencer Baculi
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In an understandable yet unfortunate-for-completionists move, Marvel and DC have reportedly moved to omit a pair of one-shots penned by former comic book writer and current convicted pedophile Gerard Jones from their upcoming Amalgam Comics omnibus.
As first brought to public attention by Bleeding Cool‘s Rich Johnston, a recent update to the omnibus’ Amazon listing has scrubbed mention of both Jones’ JLX Vol. 1 #1 and Magneto and the Magnetic Men Vol. 1 #1 from the collection’s line-up of featured titles.
While neither DC nor Marvel have yet to offer any official word as to why the two titles will be omitted from the omnibus, it’s not hard to guess that the decision more or less had to do with the fact that Jones, as noted above, is a convicted sex offender.
Perhaps best known as the author responsible for redefining both Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner’s characters in the 1990s with his work on such titles as Green Lantern Vol. 3, Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn Vol. 1, and Guy Gardner: Reborn Vol. 1 and his co-creation of the Ultraverse character Prime (as well as, strangely enough, for having provided the original translations for Viz Media’s English-language release of the Dragon Ball/Z manga), Jones’ disgusting predilections were first discovered in 2017 when, much to their horror, YouTube discovered that he had been uploading what appeared to be outright child pornography to a private channel.
In light of this horrifying discovery, the video platform directly raised the alarm to the San Francisco Police Department, who after searching his residence and uncovering, per a report from SFGate‘s Michael Bodley, “a host of electronic devices storing more than 600 images and videos depicting child pornography” arrested the writer on suspicion of possessing, producing, and distributing said abuse materials as well as sending harmful material to minors.
(Upon his eventual sentencing, the Northern California District Attorney’s office would reveal that the actual amount of materials discovered in his possession amounted to “tens of thousands of images and hundreds of videos.”)
Later formally charged with one count each of child pornography possession and receipt, Jones would initially plead ‘not guilty’ before making a surprise decision ahead of his September 2018 trial to fully admit to his crimes.
Prior to this switch Jones received an outpouring of letters from his friends, family, and industry colleagues, speaking in defense of his character, their authors under the belief that the writer was intent to use them to defend his name.
However, after his plea was changed, these statements were used not in support of his innocence, but rather his lawyer’s request that he be released on bail ahead of his sentencing – a request which the court granted.
Ultimately, Northern California District Judge Vince Chhabria sentenced Jones to six-years in prison, with an additional five years of probation to be served upon his release, and ordered him to pay restitution to his victims.
Beginning his sentence on November 30th, 2018, Jones served only four-years and one-month of his total jail time before being released, as per Bleeding Cool‘s Rich Johnston, on December 30th, 2022.
As of writing, Marvel Comics and DC’s Amalgam Comics omnibus is set to collide with store shelves on August 6th, 2024.
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