As reported earlier, the C2E2 convention, which will be held from April 26 to April 28, has canceled an exhibitor appearance by Inglorious Rex creator Shane Davis, Godlike and Graveyard Shift creator Jon Malin, and Cyberfrog creator Ethan Van Sciver. As more details emerge with the creators speaking out, the cancellation is based on “offensive verbal comments” supposedly in violation of the C2E2 code of conduct. This code of conduct is more than oppressive and should make all C2E2 attendees wary.
Davis, Malin and Van Sciver had crowdfunded the tabling fees for the C2E2 event in part via the profits from a successful Indiegogo campaign entitled, “CG TRIPLE THREAT VARIANTS! THE BIGGEST CHARACTERS IN INDIE COMICS JOIN FORCES! CYBERFROG! GODLIKE! INGLORIOUS REX!” that raised more than $54,000.
In a statement via X on March 30, Yanzi Lin (Davis’ wife and Inglorious Rex inker) said that supporters who had backed the campaign would still be receiving their variant books: “The CG Triple Threat campaign was for books. Instead of dividing up the profits to go into our respective pockets like how all crowdfunding works, we rolled it into a booth instead. Backers who bought the books will get the books, which is what they paid for.”
Speaking on a March 30 YouTube livestream hosted by Malin, Davis, whose table for Nine Lives Comics at the world-class convention was canceled, stated, “In the letter, again, they don’t really emphasize who’s been harassed. They actually just say harassment and then try to put in parentheses race, gender, whatever…”
Quoting from the letter that was received by Davis, Malin outlined the section of the letter that was being cited: “I’m just going to tell people the line in that they actually wrote…: ‘The conduct of Mr. [Van] Sciver and Mr. Malin including but not limited to… ‘offensive verbal comments’ in relation to ‘race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, gender presentation and sexual orientation’ are indeed in violation of the code of conduct.’”
Malin added, “Also, they state the code of conduct is not just for their show it’s for your entire life. It’s all the time between the shows at any time something bad happens to you, you say something out of line that is not politically in line with what they believe politically, they can throw you out.”
Looking at the code of conduct, last updated Sept. 28, 2023, it says on one hand that “Each participant is solely responsible for their own conduct while participating in the event or any part of the event.” And on the other hand, it says all participants, including attendees and exhibitors must “behave appropriately throughout the year in accordance with this Code of Conduct”. It appears the latter clause about behaving “throughout the year” is what has been invoked by C2E2.
RELATED: Tom Brevoort Confirms Marvel Comics Intentionally Screwed Over Rob Liefeld To Not Pay Royalties
The clause, however, only appears to apply to activity at Reed Exhibition events, applying to “every ‘participant’ in any RX event,” including “all exhibitors, attendees, speakers, guests, professionals, media, staff members, workers, contractors, vendors, security” to “behave appropriately throughout the year…”
The full clause reads: “RX strives to create and maintain an environment where all people are treated with dignity, decency, and respect. As such, we expect every ‘participant’ in any RX event in any manner whatsoever, including, but not limited to, all exhibitors, attendees, speakers, guests, professionals, media, staff members, workers, contractors, vendors, security, or anyone else who participates in any way, to behave appropriately throughout the year in accordance with this Code of Conduct.”
The code of conduct further instructs attendees to seek out security or event staff at an event if they are harassed: “Please note that anyone can report harassment to event staff/security at any time. If someone’s behavior has made you uncomfortable, or if you witness harassment happening to someone else, you should immediately contact event staff/security. If necessary, security or event staff will contact local law enforcement, provide escort, offer a safe place, or otherwise assist those experiencing harassment. [emphasis theirs]”
In that context, speaking to “any RX event” appears to be designed to govern attendees, guests, and exhibitors of Reed Exhibition conventions throughout the year — for example, Reed Exhibitions also puts on New York Comic Con — so that if an incident occurred “in any RX event” earlier in the year, it can lead to expulsion from all other events occurring that year.
There’s just one problem: Jon Malin and Ethan Van Sciver, who were cited in the letter to Davis, have not participated in any Reed Exhibitions events as exhibitors or guests in the past year or even in the past several years. In fact, neither Malin nor Van Sciver were expelled from nor even accused of harassment at any convention appearances or Reed events in the past year or even from years past.
So that just leaves social media. But nowhere in the code of conduct does it state anywhere about the conduct by attendees or exhibitors on social media including YouTube, X or anything else. It does not even mention the words “social media”. Davis, Malin and Van Sciver each have popular YouTube and X accounts.
Instead, the code of conduct only appears to apply to actions that occur “while participating in the event”—which has not yet happened.
Also, they say if the clause is invoked, it comes with “no refund”: “If a person engages in behavior in violation of this Code of Conduct at any time, RX will take prompt action in any form deemed appropriate, including expulsion from the event with no refund.”
However, in the live stream, Davis had indicated that C2E2 was, in fact, refunding him for the costs of the table. If C2E2 is so confident Shane Davis, Jon Malin, and Ethan Van Sciver had violated the code of conduct for an event they had not even attended yet, why are they offering to return the check for the tabling costs? That’s inconsistent.
In this case, Davis, Malin, and Van Sciver were not even given an opportunity to participate in one of the Reed Exhibitions events this year, let alone be held accountable for their actions that have not yet occurred. Instead, they were preemptively “expelled” from C2E2 before the event even happened for harassment that could not have possibly occurred.
That is cancel culture. Not for any actual harassment at a convention but because of non-specific wrong thinking that Shane Davis, Jon Malin, and Ethan Van Sciver could only speculate might have occurred on social media.
Speaking in a March 30 video on Shane Davis’ channel, Yanzi Lin said the planning for the C2E2 event had begun as early as July 2023, when she and Shane Davis contacted Reed Exhibitions about doing more than one event. They signed the paperwork and paid a deposit in August 2023, and then another deposit was paid in January 2024.
Lin stated that throughout the process, they were in constant communication with the event’s organizers and were even profiled on C2E2’s website for exhibitors before being removed.
Davis commented that his family’s business was canceled for violations that had not even occurred yet: “It’s like in Minority Report, like premeditated crimes.”
Speaking on his March 30 livestream, Jon Malin criticized the code of conduct, stating, “the ones I latch onto are ‘gender presentation’. So, basically, if you ever declare that you believe a man is a man and a woman is a woman, C2E2-Reed Expo can throw you out of the top shows in the industry—like that,” snapping his fingers on the final point if the participants language is “not politically correct verbiage of modern day because some wackadoos said so.”
Jon Malin added, “So, just keep that in mind, that’s the world we’re not even headed into, that’s the world we live in right now.”
Jon Malin is right. This is the thought police. At this point, they should just give us all arm bands, create segregated economic zones, and be done with the illusion of freedom. And if you’re a small business trying to speak out against it — watch out.
Robert Romano is a contributor to the Fandom Pulse and the Editor-in-Chief of Comicsgate.org.
