Former X-Men artist Art Thibert, who is currently running an IndieGoGo campaign for Chrono Mechanics Retro-fit, was the subject of criticism for appearing on a live stream with Cyberfrog creator Ethan Van Sciver and YouTube personality Cecil.
Thibert’s appearance on the live stream was clipped by Dungeons & Dragons artist Tess Fowler who took to Twitter to write, “Here is Ethan Van Sciver and some of his Comicsgate friends discussing my having cancer being an act of God I deserve.”
She specifically called out Thibert writing, “Art Thibert is here too laughing away. THIS is Comicsgate. EVS can lie & put on a happy face on his hate movement all he wants but this is who they are.”
Here is Ethan Van Sciver and some of his Comicsgate friends discussing my having cancer being an act of God I deserve. Art Thibert is here too laughing away. THIS is Comicsgate. EVS can lie & put a happy face on his hate movement all he wants but this is who they are. pic.twitter.com/omwoANodj6
— Tess Fowler (currently battling breast cancer💪😎) (@TessFowler) July 30, 2020
In the clip, Van Sciver states, “So Tess Fowler has cancer now. And Tess Fowler is unable to work. Tess Fowler tweets out that she thinks this is it. She’s never had the ability to work taken from her before. Me neither, Tess. F*** you.”
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He then states, “What am I supposed to feel sorry for you? F*** you. This is the thing. I don’t wish cancer on anybody. But you did nothing but spend your time in this wonderful, but frivolous business trying to hurt people including me. Is that right Cecil? Am I right to say that?”
Cecil then added, “Oh yea. They want to destroy you. They want you to kill yourself and not be able to feed your family.”
Cecil then cracks an edgy cancer joke, “I don’t know what kind of cancer she has. I think I got her confused with Mags. I think she had ovarian.”
Van Sciver then adds, “It is sad. It is sad. Boohoohoo.”
Cecil interjects, “Ethan’s got f***ing powers. Don’t you know this? You f*** with him and bad things are going to happen.”
Van Sciver replied, “That is God. This is a weird thing. God will strike you down. It is not within my control. It’s just something that tends to happen, Cecil.”
Cecil responds, “I’ve seen it.”
Thibert then states, “I need to hear this story. You’ve seen it? This miracle?”
Cecil answers, “Well, I just see anybody who goes against him within a short time they are begging on the internet for f***ing money, and they are destitute, there’s f***ing illnesses. He’s like the plagues of Egypt in living form.”
Following up on the video, Fowler would then go into a lengthy Twitter thread.
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She starts by accusing Van Sciver, Cecil, Thibert, and company of targeting her, “Their only goal from day one has been to harm people. No matter how they try to spin it to recruit new folks, THIS is who they are. Today they shared a photo of me on a livestream while discussing me. They’ve done it a million times before. The goal is to target. Be aware.”
Fowler then wrote, “EVS and Comicsgate have spread disinformation and outright lies about so many people in comics and their cronies just eat up the conspiracy theories. They are racist, sexist, transphobic etc. And it never ends. This is who they are. This is what they represent.”
She then claims that Van Sciver and comicsgate are serial abusers, “There are those who have gotten ten times the abuse from them that I have. If this is how they treat ME, think about what their other targets have been thru (and are STILL going thru) I’m asking you to block them and their ilk. Zero tolerance for their supporters.”
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Fowler then adds that Van Sciver targeted an unnamed woman, “EVS was just telling lies about one of their main targets YESTERDAY. Not a spin. Lies. Dangerous lies that repainted a target on her back. Its unacceptable. They pretend we are evil bogeymen out to get them and all any of us wanted was to be left alone.”
The thread continued, “EVS is currently trying to pretend that his verified account on a doxxing website is harmless fun so he can poke at people who doxxed him too. Hes repainting the site as targeting EVERYONE but thats just the price we pay for being public figures. Its spin meant to allow harm.”
Fowler then questions, “Why he can’t just focus on his indie endeavors and leave the rest of us alone I’ll never understand but he hasn’t stopped for years now. He’s accused me of targeting him. Even when I told him I don’t give two shits about him. I begged him YEARS ago to leave people alone.”
She then wrote, “But here he is. Same dangerous BS. Same conspiracy theories. Someone is going to get hurt. Ignoring it hasn’t worked. We still wind up with unhinged lunatics hounding us because of what he’s doing.”
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She then reiterated her claim that Van Sciver is a harasser, “I’m FINE. It takes a lot more than this BS to bring me down. But there are targets who are NOT fine. Who went thru sustained harassment/character smearing even worse than what they put me thru. I’m asking u to be aware & vigilant before they cause someone to be seriously harmed.”
Fowler continued, “P.S. the character assassination, the bold faced lies, the disinformation that has been spread about so many of us in comics? Its heinous. Its evil. They have tried everything to paint us as the villains who deserve whatever punishment they decide to dole out. Its dehumanizing.”
She then calls on her followers to “protect others.” She wrote, “Please please please help protect others. I repeat, I am FINE. They’ve tried everything to break me over the years and I’m still kicking. But if something happens to one of their other targets I’m going to lose it. This is me asking for your vigilance. For your awareness.”
Finally, she concluded, “Take care of each other out there. Sending you all my love. Thank you for your support here. It is very much appreciated. Please extend that to their other targets. Don’t let this evil stand.”
Fowler has previously targeted fellow comic book artists. Most recently she targeted Sean Gordon Murphy and Doug TenNapel.
She described TenNapel as a bigot and accused Murphy of hiring bigots.
In 2017, Fowler was also accused by Doc Wilde author Tim Byrd of stealing from him. Byrd wrote in a blog post, “I’ve posted a good bit previously about how she took money from me to do art for one of my books and then did not deliver, instead opting to gaslight me and claim that I was a misogynistic stalker who made her afraid to open her door.”
Byrd also reported on a Change.org petition that accused Fowler of stealing from a man named Stuart Chapin, who had reportedly had Stage IV colorectal cancer.
A screenshot of the petition on Byrd’s blog claims, “Tess Fowler Guttierez, a sometime Los Angeles comic book artist, turns out to be a world-class con artist, and her artistic license should be revoked. She offered commissioned artwork to a dying man, accepted gifts and money, made him wait for over a year (he has Stage IV colorectal cancer), and ultimately reneged on everything she promised, spurning him nastily without cause and delivering nothing but grief.”
Following, Fowler’s lengthy thread, Deadpool creator Fabian Nicieza decided to have a go at Thibert.
He wrote, “Art… Thibert… C’mon. You have to be better than this.”
DC Comics artist Pete Woods would jump into the conversation saying, “My guess is that this is who he always was.”
Nicieza would continue, “I don’t know him well enough to say. The times I have spent with him, many years ago, were always fun.”
Thibert would defend himself, “Trying to back away from the bus that you just threw me under? Thanks brother, you’re a real sweet guy.”
Nicieza replied, “Sorry — I really am — but I can’t throw you under a bus that you’re riding in.”
In a separate response to Nicieza, Thibert would write, “Thanks friend for attacking my character. I would never laugh at someone who has cancer. There’s nothing funny about that. Just so you know, my wife, is battling cancer. So NO F***ING JOKE HERE.”
Nicieza responded, “hadn’t seen this until now, sorry for the late response. I’m sorry for your wife and family having to face this challenge. My family has been there and back as well. I know laughter and dark humor can be a form of therapy, but for me, that meant laughing with, no at.”
Artist Dan Panosian would weigh into the thread started by Nicieza. He wrote, “There’s low and there’s this shit. Arguing about comics is one thing, laughing and participating in mocking someone who is struggling with cancer is reprehensible.”
Van Sciver would respond questioning where Panosian was when Mike McKone wished “dick cancer” on comicsgate?”
Panosian responded, “I don’t endorse wishing cancer on anyone. I also don’t laugh at anyone’s struggle with it. My Father died of cancer and my Mother is dying of it.”
He would then defend himself against Fowler’s accusations stating, “I don’t either. And it’s a damned lie that I was laughing at Tess’ cancer. She’s been monstrous to me, and I don’t wish good things for her, but I also don’t wish her cancer.”
He added, “We’ve had cancer wished on us by people we both know, and nobody said a damned thing. #ComicsGate“
He then stated, “I am terribly sorry for your mother, Dan Panosian and pray for her speedy recovery. Full remission. Have a nice weekend.”
Thibert would also respond to Panosian, “It’s clear you don’t like CGers. Now I know you’ve been waiting for an opportunity to come at me based on who I hang out with. I have heard and seen you do worse things in my presence before, but I keep that to myself because you are a friend and friends don’t hurt one another.”
He added, “This is very hypocritical of you to believe you are better than me (or anyone) and play moral arbitrator. You had to dig until you THOUGHT you found something that you could try to hurt me with. Well, you’re wrong. I would NOT laugh about ANYONE having cancer!”
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. actor Patton Oswalt would get in on the action tweeting, “jfc the f*** is WRONG with people godDamn.”
Ironically, as YouTuber That Umbrella Guy points out, Oswalt is no stranger to making jokes about cancer.
Patton Oswalt, the guy who:
– Says OTHERS use cancer as a shield
– Jokes about cancer
-Uses cancer to attack political opponents
-says some cancer victims are cowardsHopes to cancel @EthanVanSciver @ArtThibert and other #Comicsgate folks because HOW DARE THEY! https://t.co/XzxuDNf0oV pic.twitter.com/m1vo7OItxV
— ThatUmbrellaGuy (@ThatUmbrella) August 2, 2020
In response to Nicieza’s post, former Marvel Editorial Director of Digital Media Ben Morse would write, “This is…disappointing.”
Daredevil Season 1 writer Christos Gage would respond with a Godfather meme.
Others would also take shots at Thibert, Van Sciver, and company in response to Fowler’s original thread.
Avengers Assemble producer Geoffrey Thorne wrote, “they don’t matter. i promise you. they literally do not matter. there are stacks of folks who love you as a person and respect you as an artist. these guys have always existed and they always will. they’ve never mattered.”
Magic the Gathering artist Tyler Walpole wrote, “That’s disgusting.”
Avengers: Infinity War: The Cosmic Quest author Brandon T. Snider stated, “These men are the scum of the Earth.”
Marc Lombardi, who used to promote Shadowline Comics that published books through Image Comics, wrote, “Jesus Christ…they’re the worst. I’m so sorry you have to deal with this.”
Judge Dredd: Mega-City One writer Rob Williams wrote, “Get well, Tess. What f***ing horrors.”
RWBY voice actor Shannon McCormick also added, “Tess, I’m so sorry you’re going through this. These people suuuuuuuuck.”
Thibert’s IndieGoGo campaign for Chrono Mechanics Retro-fit has currently raised 48,266 from 663 backers. It is currently still funding through in-demand.
What do you make of Thibert’s original comments? What about Fowler’s accusations and the subsequent siege by his fellow comic book creators?