DC Comics artist Ethan Van Sciver, who is the current artist on Hal Jordan and The Green Lantern Corps and recently provided art on the Dark Nights: Metal one-shot Batman: The Dawnbreaker #1, has once again been threatened with violence. This time from a comic book news provider.
Van Sciver had previously been threatened with violence before a fan signing at Gotham City Pizza in Orlando, Florida. Fortunately, nothing during the actual signing took place, but Gotham City Pizza was vandalized the next day.
Now, Van Sciver has received another threat from Doom Rocket editor Jarrod Jones and Chunk Kelly. The two threatened Van Sciver with violence if he happens to attend the Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, Washington.
Jarrod Jones posted a Tweet from Asher Elbein onto his Facebook wall asking for people to tell him their stories about Ethan Van Sciver for an upcoming piece in The Atlantic.
I've been watching the Ethan Van Sciver harassment of @darrylayo over the weekend, and hearing stuff about him for a lot longer. I'd like to write about it for The Atlantic, so I'm putting out a call: if you've been harassed by him or his trolls, DMs and email are open.
— Asher Elbein (asherelbein.bsky.social) (@asher_elbein) January 28, 2018
That’s when Chunk Kelly responds, “Does anyone know if EVS is coming to ECCC? Asking for a friend…” EVS is an acronym for Ethan Van Sciver and ECCC stands for Emerald City Comic Con.
Jones quickly replies, “I was thinking the saaame (sp) thing.”
It then escalates from there. Jones “cracks knuckles.” That’s when Chunk Kelly becomes more aggressive in his language, “I have purposely stayed out of the Twitter battles and off his radar because what I believe needs to be said to him does not require words.”
Jones responds, “I feel the same way. Sciver — and everyone backing D&C — needs to learn a bit of humility.”
Then Chunk Kelly finishes, “How lucky for them that #MRDRS happens to teach an advanced class.”
After doing some digging on Twitter, #MRDRS appears to stand for Mount Rainier Destruction and Recreation Society.
https://twitter.com/mollyjane_k/status/584070082663297024
https://twitter.com/mollyjane_k/status/584081469326393344
Kelly describes #MRDRS as a “gang.”
In the video below, Diversity & Comics aptly describes their behavior, “So, violence. These people are speaking in open code. The idea is to find him somewhere and attack him.”
https://youtu.be/mBO8U3FwvWs
This should not be happening in the comics industry. Why are these people seemingly threatening violence on Ethan Van Sciver? What kind of grudge could they be holding? What’s their real motive for going after one DC Comics’ best artists?
I remember when I was a kid, there was a nursery rhyme we use to sing. Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. When did we stop learning the basic lesson of this timeless adage?
We reached out to Ethan Van Sciver and he did not have a comment. We also reached out to Jarrod Jones and Chunk Kelly, but they did not respond by time of publication.