Recently, there has been a whole lot of controversy surrounding an incident between artist Tess Fowler and writer Brian Wood. You can see coverage of that from us, as well as The Beat, to get a pretty complete look at Fowler’s perspective. At The Beat, they had said Wood had responded with “no comment” when asked to share his side (which Wood refutes), and now we know why he hadn’t said anything yet. Wood was preparing a statement which you can read below:
For the last couple weeks I’ve been accused of a lot of very serious things. I feel I have to speak up for myself and for my friends and colleagues who are finding themselves under a sort of scrutiny they don’t deserve. This situation has reached the point where it is affecting people who in no way deserve it, up to and including my family.
Tess Fowler is correct about this: I did make a pass at her at SDCC Hyatt bar roughly 8 years ago. But when she declined, that was the conclusion of the matter for me. There was never a promise of quid pro quo, no exertion of power, no threats, and no revenge. This was at a time in my career when I had very little professional power or industry recognition. The pickup was a lame move, absolutely, and I’ll accept the heat for having done it, but that’s all it was: I liked her, I took a chance, and was shot down. I immediately regretted it, and I apologize to Ms. Fowler for the tackiness and embarrassment of it all.
I’ve kept quiet for these last couple weeks because this is a problematic thing to address without unintended blowback. While I believe she is as incorrect as she can be about what my intent and motivations were, I don’t want to encourage any negative opinion directed back at her.
I think the larger issues of abuse in the comics industry are genuine and I share everyone’s concerns. As a father to a young daughter showing an interest in making her own comics, I do really care about this stuff. So I don’t want our difference of accounts to take attention away from that industry-wide discussion that needs to happen.
Brian Wood
11/15/2013
Fowler’s initial comments were distressing to fans of Wood, who had been proclaimed as more of a feminist writer in comics, as it portrayed the writer in a much different light. It is also a bit difficult to make judgements here based on the timeframe Wood provides, as he wasn’t nearly as well known at this point, which would change the implications of his actions from using power to intimidate to just being a bad pick-up artist. We may never know the veracity of the situation entirely, but regardless, Fowler’s commentary on the industry is still legitimate and the conversation it created is still for the best in order to enact change.
It is always better to make an opinion after both sides have been heard, in any case.
More to come, assuredly.
