A person who shall remain anonymous here wrote…well, actually a couple of people have written to ask this but I'll quote this one and then respond…
With all this talk of Sexual Harassment going on, I'm seeing something about a DC editor who has done some inappropriate things and I have to ask. Is this kind of thing as prevalent in comics as it is in movies and TV?
First off, I don't believe I've ever even met that particular editor at DC. I know zero about that matter other than what's been published for all the world to see and I don't even know how accurate that may be. So let's put that group of accusations aside.
Does it happen in comics? Yes, absolutely. Is it as prevalent? No, I don't think it could be. Part of that is because most people in comics don't get as wealthy and therefore as powerful (and maybe power-mad) as the top people in film and television. Sex and money have this way of integrating. More of one leads to more of another.
Part of it also is that the comic book business is not as crowded with young and beautiful people seeking employment. There are some but obviously, if you're really, really good looking, you're more likely to look in a mirror and think, "I should be in the movies" as opposed to "I should be inking for Marvel."
Part of it also is that a lot of folks involved in comics are freelancers who do their work largely by mail. It's hard to grope someone via Federal Express, even if you use Priority Overnight.
And part of it is that in show biz, there's a bit more of a sex-charged environment since you have performers auditioning for and engaging in love scenes, nude scenes and other scenes based on physical appearance. When I was working on variety shows, we had dancer auditions and rehearsals that made you think about sex the way working at See's Candy would make you think of chocolate-covered anything. I also think all those stories of "the casting couch" lead to an environment where some simply expect that's part of the playing field.
There's probably sexual impropriety in every business and it certainly isn't confined to the truly beautiful being targeted. Plain people are victimized along with the stunning. Like guys in a singles bar just before closing, some men will hit on anyone who fulfills one basic requirement: She has to be there.
(There was a time when I might have said, "She has to be there and awake" but Mr. Cosby has lowered the bar even further.)
The comic book field definitely has its share and the incidents I know of are probably not all that different from what goes on in a lot of industries. No matter what field you work in, there are those with hiring power and those who need jobs. There are probably also those with sexual yearnings that are not appeased via their mates…if they even have mates. And everywhere you go in this world, there are people with bad manners, bizarre senses of humor and an utter misunderstanding of the opposite sex.
Yeah, I know several stories. I wish I didn't but I do and I was involved in a few attempts, at least once of which was successful, to get someone to cease that kind of behavior and apologize to the victim…which was all that particular victim wanted to have happen. The resolutions of some other situations were not as satisfactory. Some abusers cannot be made to understand the wrongness of what they are doing to others. At best, you might be able to get them to understand what they're doing to themselves.
I think there is more of it in the TV and movie industries than there is in comics but I say that with a couple of caveats. One is that any amount is intolerable and the fact that it's worse somewhere else doesn't mean there isn't a problem where you are. Also, the comic book business is slowly but certainly merging into the TV and movie industries so this whole distinction is becoming increasingly moot.
