WARNING: CONTENT MIGHT BE DISTURBING
Do you endorse the sexualization and exploitation of a minor? No? Then why is it so hard to say publicly?
Douglas Ernst from Iconic Comics describes the mutual decision of Rippaverse Comics and Iconic to move away from “diseased” and “gross” people, yet Iconic remains quiet about their publishing connection with Antarctic Press whose campaign got rejected last year for sexualization and exploitation of a minor.
About Iconic Comics
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/kamen-america-in-antarctic-press-december-2024-solicits
Iconic Comics is very successful indie comic book publisher, known for titles such as Kamen America, Soulfinder, Black Hops, and more. Per their website, they handle printing, marketing and fulfillment for Independent Comic Artists, allowing them to focus on creating. They have seen lots of traction on the popular crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, successfully funding 14 campaigns, plus just as many on Indiegogo. The numbers have grown radically in just the short time since they began crowdfunding around March 2020, and rose substantially with each campaign it’s almost unreal. Starting at $20,045, then reaching $35,718, $66,001, $87,363, $102,35, a huge jump of 50k to $153,738, and above 100k is where they have remained. Last year, they even launched an action figure last year which brought in $146,971.
Iconic shifted towards an anime focus early on and tapped into the international market, translating all of their books and campaign updates in different languages and even appearing at Japanese comic conventions. No doubt, this is a key factor in their huge success.
Working with Antarctic
So what type of publishing contract exists between Iconic and Antarctic Press, who also publishes creator-owned comics? By not being involved in their publishing deal, there’s no way to know the exact details – all we know is Antarctic does publish Kamen America and other Iconic content, including cross over events between characters. Such as in the case of the Tomorrow Girl VS Kamen America mashup: Red, White, and Bruised.
Antarctic Press has been around since 1985, founded by Ben Dunn and published by Joe Dunn. One of their most popular titles is Ninja Highschool about average high-school kid Jeremy Feeple who runs across “two lovely ladies”, one a princess and the other an heir, both intent to marry him for their own benefit and he must fend off their affections in the process (below).
A History of Underage Characters
This wouldn’t be the first time Ben put high-school aged characters in sexual situations and exposed – such was the case for Tomorrow Girl who was 16 at the time of this campaign (I’ve been told she may have been “aged up” since), which features the following images:
Getting Rejected From Kickstarter for Sexualization and Exploitation of Minors
Antarctic ran into some trouble last year when Ben Dunn’s Tomorrow Girl got rejected from Kickstarter for “sexualization and exploitation of a minor”, which he posted about publicly on his facebook. Although he pleaded with Kickstarter to reconsider and eventually came back with another Tomorrow Girl campaign (after altering her costume to cover more of her backside), Kickstarter cracked the whip again and shut down his new project entirely a couple months later. Between each campaign, Dunn was contemplating changing the name from Tomorrow Girl to Tomorrow Woman, but it didn’t seem to matter in the end.
Eric July Endorses Iconic
While I was previously under the possibly incorrect impression that Tim Lim, co-founder of Iconic, and Eric July, founder of Rippaverse, were not on the best terms, I have been informed this was likely due to a previous association of Eric July and Ethan Van Sciver from Comicsgate who generated hostile feelings towards Iconic. All feelings have been cleared up with July’s multiple endorsements of Iconic I was unaware of. Eric July carries a lot of internet clout, so his endorsement of Iconic is important to note. Should Eric’s fans take him up on his recommendation of Iconic, it is likely they will eventually run into Antarctic Press’s Tomorrow Girl, especially if they purchase Kamen America at their local comic shop.
While it’s undeniable Kamen America has the support of thousands of fans, is that reason enough to ignore the awkwardness of questionable content being pushed by Antarctic who also publishes Kamen America? Especially when that awkwardness has to do with content that may be sexualizing and exploiting children? For many folks and especially during election year, this is a very polarizing topic. Additionally, with Tim Lim coming from a background of Catholicism which he claimed in 2018 ostracized him from his industry peers, Eric arguably having cultivated a fairly Christian fan base, and both of them having brushed elbows with CG (comicsgate) known for a history of advocating for more conservative practices in comics, this seems like a topic that might be problematic to those who follow them.
Situation Mocked and Ignored
I informed Eric of the situation via X and asked if he would make a statement on the controversial Ben Dunn campaign. My comments were ignored and instead, he doubled down on his support for Iconic, giving them a strong shout-out today after Douglas Ernst, a writer for Iconic, posted that “drama merchants”… “tried to drive wedges between the companies (Rippaverse and Iconic) today.” He’s undoubtedly referring to me because I opened the can of worms on this discussion.
He goes on…
“Iconic Comics and Rippaverse both realized over the last few years that we needed to escape diseased individuals who were always pitting people against one another, sowing discord and division, and creating a divide-and-conquer culture that only benefits “pros.” Every time we move forward there are vipers who try and tear open old wounds or create new ones. These are gross people.”
https://x.com/douglasernst/status/1857130340009332975
This sparks even more questions such as why has Iconic been silent on the issue if they chose to distance themselves from “diseased” and “gross” people? If that’s the case, do they not find the graphics of the Tomorrow Girl campaign gross? Do they think sexualization and exploitation of minors is perfectly okay?
Alternatively, if they are uncomfortable with the content, then is Iconic stuck in a contract with Antarctic they’d rather not be in? If Antarctic publishes only creator-owned content, doesn’t Iconic have a right to end that contract?
Douglas Ernst further refused to answer whether or not he considered the images from the Tomorrow Girl campaign acceptable content, responding with: “You never say boo to me but you want some statement on **Ben’s** previous campaign? Let me think about it… No.” and “I don’t owe **you** anything” and I am under no obligation to speak with **you** about anything.”
Then only 24 hours later, in a related discussion, Douglas claims:
Tim Lim so far has not commented. We are also not looking for a further response – it seems the silence itself is pretty clear. I wish Iconic Comics the best success, but even more so, I fully condemn the sexualization and exploitation of children. See? It’s not hard to say out loud, is it?
When Being too Silent Becomes a Problem
I was met with an argument elsewhere on X that perhaps Eric July ignored the issue because he doesn’t want his thousands of fans to start making a hashtag connection with Rippaverse and pedophilia. My counterpoint to that would be – what happens when his thousands of fans see him NOT condemn it? My personal observation is that, in comics, it just brings the people who are okay with those things closer to your product because they know you won’t stand against it when confronted.
You can purchase comics from Iconic by visiting their website: https://www.iconiccomics.com where you are greeted with a pretty banner encouraging us all to “Stand for Something Greater.”
