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On Chuck Wendig and Marvel

So, in case you haven’t heard, Chuck Wendig was fired from Marvel. Because, apparently, he wasn’t civil.

Did Marvel fail to read his blog or twitter feed before hiring him? That his voice is sarcastic and profane couldn’t be a surprise to anyone. It always has been. Therefore, the problem must, in fact, be that he didn’t sit back and take it when he was being harassed and trolled by that segment of the comics community that wants to keep everything homogenized, white, straight, and male.

Marvel let the trolls win. Again.

I was only mildly upset about James Gunn because, yes, he said some horrid things. I do think he has grown as a person (and I do have to hope that people can grow and change and learn not to be bigoted assholes, otherwise despair will take me completely),  and I was sad this meant there wouldn’t be any more Guardians, but, eh.

But Chuck Wendig is an ally. He has always been an unabashed and unquestionable ally to women and to the LGBT community. He is also a colleague, and one I owe a favor or two to. I know I’m not the only writer who can say that, either. Before Chuck actually started making good, before he landed on the lists, he was just another grunt in the trenches with the rest of us no-name writers, but one that cheered us on and kept us writing, kept us working.

I didn’t buy the Aftermath trilogy because it was Star Wars. I bought them because they were Chuck’s books.

If companies like Marvel and Disney keep bowing to the trolls they’re going to start having trouble getting more diverse authors (or allies) to work for them, and the bigots and the trolls will get what they want, sure…but I can’t think the companies will be the better for it. Once upon a time, writing for Marvel would have been a dream of mine. Now, I wonder if I might be too female or too queer for them.

I canceled my Marvel Unlimited subscription this morning. I’m not all that bothered by the idea that I won’t be seeing another Avengers movie, honestly, and the idea that The Last Jedi will be my last Star Wars movie seems rather poetic. It’s a good last movie, and it was Carrie’s last, and she was my general, my princess, my space mom. I’m okay with that. I will probably still go see Captain Marvel, because Carol has always been one of my favorite superheroes and because the world needs women-led action movies. But that, I think, will be that.

I’m done, Marvel. I’ve been a loyal “Marvel Girl” since I was fourteen years old. I’m now nearly 40. It’s a lot of years, but I can’t stand by and watch you let the kind of people who hate people like me get what they want.

Marvel began with Jewish boys writing and drawing superheroes who made a point of punching nazis as often as they could manage. I started reading their comics as a teenager, with the X-Men, who were, under Chris Claremont, the perfect metaphor for living as a queer person in the US in the mid-late 90s, and I know I wasn’t the only queer teenager who found comfort in those pages and those characters.

Now, though? They’re not punching the nazis, they’re letting the nazis and the bigots win.


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2 responses to “On Chuck Wendig and Marvel”

  1. Lucy Grove-Jones Avatar

    I haven’t actually read any Chuck Wendig books, but I vaguely knew about him (esp from twitter. I enjoyed the sweary) and figured I’d read some of his books one day. When I heard about this whole mess, I went out and started buying them.

    1. Meadhbh Avatar

      His books are great (and sweary) and I hope you enjoy them. 😀 He’s a great guy.