Update

I am writing this post to address the events that began to unfold a couple of days ago on twitter. What started as an expression of freedom of speech quickly became ugly, as one of our creators chose to cross a line.

Let me be clear: I do not share their point of view.

For those that have been waiting for a more detailed statement, I can tell you that I cannot advocate for violence, and that my views are not always in line with those of our creators. They are all independent, and so I am not in a position to censor or control anyone. We are not Marvel or DC – we are a small outfit with 0 employees, that was really started because of my love of Comic Books.

For those that have been following, some very disturbing content was posted by James A. Bretney, one of our original creators. Like many of you, I did find many of these posts to be upsetting. This situation is beyond my control, and twitter has responded accordingly.

For those that can only see the negative here, consider that this same person has been a mentor to creators from diverse backgrounds, and gave many young up and coming female artists (who have gone on to do great work) some early breaks – when many others would not. This is where it can be difficult to reconcile a person that you know, from the type of person that many of you saw on twitter.

I realize that many have already passed judgement and boycotted us as a whole; that is certainly your right, and these comments are not meant to persuade you otherwise. At the same time, to simply say that I will immediately pull all of James’ work impacts more than just James. He is a writer, but also works with artists, cover artists, letterers, and more. These other creators, who have worked hard to create great stories, and who do not share his views, could be unjustly affected. Some of these people do depend on comics and their portfolios for ongoing work outside of Lucha Comics. Over the next few days and weeks, I will be consulting with my team to decide what the future of these works is.

I also believe that simply cutting someone off does not address the root problem, and effectively closes the door on any positive dialogue involving Mr. Rashim. He was gracious enough to post the following:

I communicated this personally to James, and he felt that this was a very honourable response from someone who he misjudged, and felt that he had to re-evaluate his opinions of Mr. Rashid. James also recognized the difficult situation created for our brand as a whole.

However, we do recognize the hurt that this incident has caused, and therefore, we will be putting James’ next two projects (currently co-authored with other creators, but which do not have artwork yet) on an indefinite production hold, until we can fully evaluate what has happened today. Any other projects that are not affiliated or connected to him will proceed as scheduled.

As I hope to continue dialogue with both Mr. Bretney and Mr. Rashid, my team of creators, and those closest to me, I will be posting further thoughts. Please keep in mind that I have been planning a family vacation for some time, and you will likely not hear much from me over the next couple of weeks. This does not mean that I do not care; I have tried to respond to tweets, E-mails, phone calls and text messages as much as possible. For the overwhelming majority of you that presented your concerns in a positive manner, I thank you.

I will take this time to reach out in greater detail to people involved, to get their feedback, and to work together to a solution.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Rodolfo Martinez