After Being Blacklisted By Marvel Comics, Joe Bennett Joins Arkhaven Comics
Former Marvel Comics and Immortal Hulk artist Joe Bennett will be providing art duties for two upcoming Arkhaven Comics projects after he was blacklisted by Marvel Comics.
It was reported that Marvel Comics blacklisted the artist earlier in September with Games Radar noting that a Marvel spokesman told them that Bennett would not be working on “any future Marvel projects” and that he had been relieved of his duties for the upcoming Timeless #1.
Marvel’s blacklisting of Bennett came after Immortal Hulk writer Al Ewing announced he would no longer be working with Bennett after a 2017 political cartoon supporting Brazilian politician and current president Jair Bolsonaro, created by Bennett, began making the rounds on social media.
Ewing made his announcement on Twitter where he first described the political cartoon as “reprehensible.”
He wrote, “There’s an image doing the rounds that Joe Bennett drew back in 2017. I won’t link to it, but I have seen it, and it’s reprehensible.”
After a number of tweets, Ewing declared, “Immortal Hulk is done, but I won’t be working with Joe again. If people choose not to pick up my work with other artists in the future on the basis of my handling of this, I understand and accept. If I’ve lost your trust, that’s on me.”
In a press release, Arkhaven Comics notes they “did not hesitate to take advantage of Bennett’s unexpected availability, and promptly signed the former DC and Marvel illustrator as its lead artist on two series being written by legendary comics writer Chuck Dixon.”
Not only was Bennett the artist for Immortal Hulk, but his resume also includes Savage Hawkman, Deathstroke, and Arrow Season 2.5 among others at DC Comics.
Aside from Immortal Hulk at Marvel Comics, he’s also had runs on Iron Man, Captain America, The Amazing Spider-Man, Elektra, and more.
Dixon, who has also been subject to a Marvel Comics blacklist since 2002, welcomed Bennett to Arkhaven Comics stating, “It’s a sign of where the American comic industry is at the moment that they would let a powerhouse talent like Joe Bennett go because his personal politics are not in line with their own.”
“I’m looking forward to working with Joe on both of the projects we have in motion at Arkhaven,” he added.
The two projects in motion are Joe Bennett’s Witchstalker: Death Birds of the Amazon and Red Hornet.
Joe Bennett’s Witchstalker: Death Birds of the Amazon is described as a “dark action-adventure comic created and illustrated by Joe Bennett that is set in 1930s Brazil.”
As for Red Hornet it is “a superhero comic set in the 1980s that is intended to harken back to the traditional superheroes of the Silver Age.”
Both comics will be released in weekly episodes on Arkhaven Comics’ flagship digital comics platform, Arktoons. It was recently announced that Arktoons hit over 2 million pageviews already.
Print editions will be published in English by Arkhaven Comics while Brazilian comics house Super Prumo will publish them in Portuguese.
Super Prumo publisher Luciano Cunha expressed his excitement about Dixon and Bennett’s upcoming projects saying, “Joe Bennett has been a reference for every Brazilian comic book artist for nearly three decades. His classic style that mixes the best of John Buscema and Frank Frazetta is a beacon of light for comics art in my country.”
He added, “I’m already looking forward to reading his work with Chuck Dixon and to publish it in Brazil. There is no doubt that it will be a breathtaking adventure!”
Arkhaven Comics Lead Editor Vox Day added his own comments saying, “Arkhaven Comics was founded to be a haven of freedom and an ark of liberty for creative people who aren’t interested in having their thoughts, their speech, and their artistic creations policed by social justice warriors.”
“We’re extremely pleased to have the opportunity to work with Mr. Bennett, and we can’t to see what visual pyrotechnics he has in store for us in Witchstalker and Red Hornet,” Day added.
Are you looking forward to checking out Joe Bennett’s new Arkhaven and Super Prumo series?
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