Update: Six hours after publicly expressing his disapproval with DC for hiring Jae Lee to draw a variant for his upcoming Rorschach series, given the artist has drawn a cover or covers for a Comicsgate associated project, writer Tom King has an update - it was a misunderstanding, apparently.
"I spoke with Jae. He' not on Twitter, didn’t know Comicsgate existed, and doesn’t support hate of any kind," King tweets. "We're all good. Best possible outcome."
Original story: DC writer Tom King has spoken out against the publisher's decision to hire Jae Lee to draw a variant to an upcoming title of King's due to the artist's previous involvement with a Comicsgate associated project.
"Today DC put out an alternate cover to Rorschach by Jae Lee, who has also done covers for Comicsgate, a hate group," King tweeted Friday. "DC does not consult creators on alternate covers; I reached out to them to express my deep disappointment. Far as I’m concerned this is the cover to Rorschach #1."
King included the cover originally solicited with Rorschach #1 by series artist Jorge Fornés. While DC first released the Lee cover Friday, July 24, the official Rorschach #1 solicitation copy with Lee listed as a variant cover artist was released Friday, July 17.
Comicsgate is a movement involving several comic creators and fans who have spoken out against what they feel is forced diversity and social reform in the modern comic book industry. The movement has developed its own community, with former DC-exclusive creator Ethan Van Sciver being one of its loudest voices.
The Comicsgate cover work King appears to be referring to is Lee's variant for Van Sciver's self-published one-shot Cyberfrog: Rekt Planet revealed earlier this year. Van Sciver debuted the cover in a tweet that included a #Comicsgate hashtag.
Rorschach #1, with both the Fornés cover and the Lee variant, is scheduled to go on sale October 13.
Newsarama has reached out to DC for comment. We will update this story if and when they respond.
