Frank Miller will no longer be a guest at the Thought Bubble comic convention following social media protests over Millar’s controversial past work.
The popular UK comic book convention Thought Bubble recently announced that Frank Miller will no longer be a part of the upcoming convention following a lot of criticism on social media about the decision to make Miller a featured guest. Criticism increased when ShortBox editor Zainab Akhtar announced that she would be withdrawing from the show due to Miller’s presence, as Akhtar felt the show failed to address her concerns about what she found to be Islamophobic rhetoric in the work of Miller, particularly the controversial one. Graphic novel 2011 How awful, a reaction to 9/11 that most critics find highly Islamophobic.
The pressure introduced after Akhtar’s decision not to attend the show eventually led to an announcement that Miller would no longer be a guest.
Miller’s involvement was first announced in early June, with a new poster for the November 2021 convention …
Akhtar immediately raised concerns about Miller’s inclusion, and other exhibitors reportedly followed suit, but nothing had changed by July 27, which is when Akhtar announced on social media that he would be withdrawing from the show due to Miller’s participation. stating:
Hello everyone,
I’m sorry to inform you that ShortBox and I will no longer be attending the Thought Bubble festival this November. I was invited as a guest in 2020, which carried over to this year. I have been excited to attend, represent my authors, and share our books with readers after almost 2 years of no conventions. However, as a proud Muslim woman, I cannot conscientiously attend a festival that I consider appropriate to invite and give a platform to Frank Miller, a person who is responsible for the spread of abhorrent anti-Muslim hatred, particularly through his work. Anti-Muslim fanaticism is disgusting and reprehensible, yet it has become so ingrained and so widely accepted in society that it is not even given superficial consideration, as evidenced once again in this situation. I can’t understand how, time and time again, festivals and communities within comics uphold the values related to inclusion, diversity, “ comics are for everyone ”, zero tolerance for hate, but all that talk. It evaporates when they are asked to enact those same values.
Once Akhtar withdrew from the show, more comic book creators began to express similar views.
Thought Bubble announced a day later that Miller would not be invited to the convention.
It’s worth noting that nothing was actually done until Akhbar withdrew from the show, a fact that did not go unnoticed by her. stating “I was used to doing TB’s dirty work for them, and as an acceptable sacrifice so they could gather and provide ‘evidence’ to Miller’s team and get themselves out of the situation.”
Source: Thought bubble, via The heartbeat
About the Author
Reference-www.cbr.com
