Written & Edited By: Staff of Welldonemovies.com
Date: Jan 10th /2024
Image Comics has an image problem.
I said it.
I'm not one for 'gotcha' journalism. That being said, if a scandal isn't so much scandalous - as it is a legitimate issue with the industry, I'm not going to choose turn a blind eye. There is a problem with the culture at Image comics. I am not the first one to notice this, either. There have been various other writers who have tried to put a spotlight on this issue.
“Women speak out about Warren Ellis: 'Full and informed consent was impossible'
Scores of women are publishing details of their relationships with the Transmetropolitan writer, who they say offered mentorship in exchange for sexual contact. But they don’t want him cancelled – they want a conversation.” [1] -TheGuardian.com
“Image Backtracks on Publishing Warren Ellis Comic After Outcry”
“'Fell' would have been a comeback for the writer, who was accused of using his stature in the industry to manipulate women into relationships.” [2] -The Hollywood Reporter
Eventually we will go into all the accusations against Image Comics, in greater detail, but let's first discuss a little known publisher and writer that's employed by Image (a subsidiary of DC Comics) by the name of: Mark Poulton.
It's really surprising that Poulton doesn't have more of an online presence, since he co-published a comic (by the name of Avengeylene) with Rob Liefeld. Tom McFarlane & Liefeld are the comic artist duo that founded Image in the first place.
So although Poulton is a bit hard to dig stuff up on – if you do a cursory google search you can find out he's actually a bit of a big name in the industry. His current comic titled Koni Waves is very popular.
People all around love it, for it’s… artwork.
I tried reading some of this, and it’s a glorified jerk-off rag.
The lead character is a Hawaiian former stripper turned private investigator, for Christ’s sake.
It’s funny - DC and Marvel wouldn’t touch this kind of material with a 100ft pole nowadays, but it’s fine for Image Comics!
How the hell - is this company still this misogynistic in 2024?
Seeing as the company has come under fire before for it's depiction of some seriously sensitive subject matter (truly gruesome acts of sexual violence towards women, children, trans people, etc).
“Both of these controversies involve The Divided States of Hysteria, a comic written and drawn by Howard Chaykin. The comic is set in a dystopian future where the president has been assassinated. The problems with the comic began in the very first issue, which was published during Pride Month with a Pride variant cover had a transgender female sex worker being violently attacked on the page. Almost a month later, issue 4 was published with a cover depicting the brutal lynching of a Pakistani man. Image apologized for both incidents and the cover for issue 4 was recently pulled.” [3] BlackGirlNerds.com
“One group saw a sexist, racist, homophobic, politically naïve reality show huckster, the other a political outsider out to make things great
— Erik Larsen (@ErikJLarsen) November 11, 2016
But Larsen has been accused of sexism multiple times in the past. As Comics Alliance reports Larsen bemoaned that an "an all woman jury" was charmed by Neil Gaiman's "English accent and sad story" when they awarded him character rights in a 2010 lawsuit with Image Comics's Todd MacFarlane.
In issue 236 titled "Kids night out!" of his Savage Dragon comic, Larsen, draws two children in a sexual assault. It's visible directly on the Image Comics website in the digital preview of the comic. On the page two splash, the Savage Dragon's children are watching a television program. On the show a small boy can be seen kicking another child, raping him, and then running away as he pulls up his pants.
The "Savage Dragon" writer/artist also received backlash for a 2015 tweet where he wrote "I'm tired of the big two placating a vocal minority at the expense of the rest of the paying audience by making more practical women outfits."
I'm tired of the big two placating a vocal minority at the expense of the rest of the paying audience by making more practical women outfits
— Erik Larsen (@ErikJLarsen) March 14, 2015” [1] -ThePostMillenial.com
It would be nice if employees of a company that has been beleaguered in scandal, conducted themselves with professionalism when in an online space. This does not seem to be a concern for Mark Poulton, as his twitter (X) feed is not a place for anyone who doesn't want to see explicit/NSFW material.
It’s not Poulton himself that posts the most risqué material, but the accounts he follows. The majority of the NSFW profiles his account connects to are ones that you would expect much younger people to be "in to".
Poulton's account is riddled with profiles such as this:
Now it's possible to waive all this away as a man that's in his mid 40s (early 50s?), who writes and publishes comics for a living, so his online circle is purely meant for business promotion. The issue with that - is that Poulton has made a point to post sexually charged memes on the platform, some that are slightly concerning, when viewed in the context of his companies questionable ethics towards children.
See one of the posts made by Poulton (comic book writer / children's author) below:
This post is still active at this address: https://twitter.com/KoniWaves/status/1743256556034998566
So up until this point, some of you might be thinking: well, what the hell is wrong with a dude that publishes under the same label that Spawn originated from, being a bit of a pickup artist?
Hell, it’s kind of expected.
Well he describes his comic book company (funded mostly through IndieGogo, listed as 1 million + in sales) as a joint venture between him and his son. So he’s not presenting himself as some ‘badass’ of comics, no, he’s selling his business as a family venture. Poulton has written a successful children’s story, as well as an all ages comic book. The man chooses to build part of his career on the idea that he’s a family man, folksy even.
So what the hell, Mark?
The point I’m making here, is that if Poulton was some type of bachelor, rockstar writer of comic books, who only published ‘hardcore edge-lord’ material, then - y’know, he might get a pass. Hell, he could have video of himself snorting cocaine off of E-girls, and no one would care..
Well that’s an exaggeration, but I’m sure you get the point.
However, if you’re going to produce material for kids, you will get held to a higher standard - when it comes to your public image. This should go without saying.
Sorry to say, Mark.
Your image could use some work.
__________________________________
FULL DISCLOSURE:
WDM(c) received some of these screenshots from an anonymous source that has an account on twitter, that happened to interact with Poulton’s. It is an NSFW account by the name of @Gothsbygaslight that mostly posts and likes pornographic (and nearly pornographic) material of alternative and goth models. Poulton liked a post by the account and followed it, afterward our source followed him back. For a few days there were some interactions, but when the account tried to DM Poulton, he ignored the messages and later unfollowed @Gothsbygaslight.
ALL THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS ARTICLE, ARE JUST THAT - OPINIONS. HOWEVER NOTHING HERE IS EXAGGERATED. WDM(c) DOES NOT VIEW THIS ARTICLE AS INDISPUTABLE FACT. WE DO OUR BEST TO STRIVE FOR ACCURACY IN OUR REPORTING AND TO REMAIN UNBIASED, IF YOU HAVE ANY ISSUES WITH THE WRITING HERIN OR OPINIONS EXPRESSED, FEEL FREE TO EMAIL US.
Sources:
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jul/13/women-speak-out-about-warren-ellis-transmetropolitan
[2]
[3]
https://blackgirlnerds.com/image-comics-controversies-hurt-comics-reader/
[4]
https://thepostmillennial.com/comic-book-creator-who-sexualizes-children-calls-for-trump-to-be-executed-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn#google_vignette
Written, Edited & Researched by: Lee Fenton