Following allegations of sexual assault against DC Comics’ Border Town writer Eric M. Esquivel, artist Ramon Villalobos and colorist Tamra Bonvillain announced they will no longer be working on the Vertigo Comics series.
The two announced their decision to quit the series just minutes apart. Bonvillain made the announcement to quit first stating the fifth issue of Border Town would be the last.
2 days ago, I was first made aware of the experiences shared by Cynthia Naugle about her relationship with Border Town writer Eric Esquivel. The way he treated her was disgusting and inexcusable, and issue 5 is my last issue working on Border Town.
— Tamra Bonvillain (@TBonvillain) December 13, 2018
It shames me to have spent so much time and energy working with someone who is capable of such actions, and I’m sorry if the delay in response caused some confusion about my feelings.
— Tamra Bonvillain (@TBonvillain) December 13, 2018
We were advised to let the attention remain on the parties involved, but it seems clear that Eric has no interest in acknowledging his actions, and I don’t feel comfortable waiting any longer.
— Tamra Bonvillain (@TBonvillain) December 13, 2018
I’m sorry to Cynthia, and any other women he may have treated similarly in the past. If I had been aware of his history of abuse, I would never have joined the project, and without trying to speak for Ramon or anyone else, I believe they feel the same way.
— Tamra Bonvillain (@TBonvillain) December 13, 2018
Bonvillain does note that an issue about Eric had been brought up, but was allegedly resolvable and did not involve the types of accusations that Naugle has leveled at Esquivel.
There was a separate issue raised with Eric months ago, but this was explained to me as resolvable, interpersonal issues. I asked point blank if any of these issues involved abuse, and was told they did not. One specific case, which I only heard 3rd hand, was brought to DC.
— Tamra Bonvillain (@TBonvillain) December 13, 2018
If at any point I thought there was more to the story than a guy being awkward, I would have been gone, and was ready to leave the book at the time if that was the case. Again, no issues of abuse were ever discussed with me prior to a couple days ago.
— Tamra Bonvillain (@TBonvillain) December 13, 2018
Regardless, I believe Cynthia, I’m sorry for any pain Eric has caused her and anyone else, and I no longer wish to be associated with Eric in any way.
— Tamra Bonvillain (@TBonvillain) December 13, 2018
Villalobos would make his announcement on Twitter as well echoing a number of the sentiments that Bonvillain expressed.
a few thoughts pic.twitter.com/mh1olhWvmr
— Mr. Vertigo Comics (@RamonVillalobos) December 13, 2018
Villalobos would write:
“Out of respect for all parties involved, I wanted to stay quiet about this situation the last few days but I feel like I should take a moment to say my peace.
I have made it my practice to believe women, full stop. The bravery and strength it took for her to write that letter is probably not strength or bravery I may ever have. There had been vague rumors about Eric and his treatment of women and although I was given no real specifics, I insisted to Eric that he come clean to me and our team about any inappropriate interactions he may have had. I think now that I did not give enough weight to those rumors and I can’t state enough how much I regret that. To the best of my abilities, I took the matters through the proper channels and DC/Vertigo handled it in a way that felt responsible and direct. I probably can’t get into detail allowed me to get back to my job. I want to be clear that neither me, Tamra, or anyone in editorial knew about what came out and it’s very disheartening to see information come out.
Border Town meant a lot to me because it was a confluence of so many of my interests. Elements of horror, comedy, teenage rebellion, latino culture, etc. I don’t think its an exaggeration to say that I’ve poured everything I had into this and it is the best work of my relatively young career. It has made my life better having done it.
But this is not about me.
Whatever this person felt and experienced is what matters the most and I want to be clear that I think dealing with abuse and making the comics industry a safer place is the most important thing to come from this. To know the art that I’m so proud of, and the world I have lived in and created for the last year of my life had brought so much pain to individuals frankly outweighs the joy I know it brought others and that is going to be something that is hard to reconcile. There is no way to really make up of my shortcomings in this situation but I hope in future actions I can find a way to show this is important to me.
Thank you.”
With both Bonvillain and Villalobos out, it appears that Border Town will get canceled after issue #6 which is expected to hit shelves on February 6, 2019.
Neither DC Comics, Vertigo Comics, or Eric Esquivel have made a public statement regarding the accusations. However, given Bonvillain and Villalobos’ statements it appears that DC Entertainment did take some kind of internal action.