Posted in: Comics | Tagged: action lab, boycott, Dan Mendoza, Dollface, HRL, ivan the pervy ghost, new york comic con, NYCC

Action Lab Urges Boycott Of Own Comics, Calls Critics "Over Zealous Nut Jobs" [Updated w/ Statement]

Following the reveal of their NYCC exclusives, including a two-cover naughty and naughtier set of covers for a special one-shot of Ivan The Pervy Ghost, a spinoff of DollFace, Action Lab has called for critics of the cover to protest against Action Lab via Twitter.

Criticism of the Dan Mendoza cover, which features the titular pervy ghost nestled between the breasts of two cosplayers, said that the cover and concept could encourage harassment of cosplayers. In light of current social media harassment trends, we won't be including any of the tweets, but the gist of the criticism is that it's irresponsible to make acting pervy to cosplayers seem cute or funny when actual cosplayers already have to deal with sexual harassment or even sexual assault in real life at cons. In response to that criticism, Action Lab's main Twitter account first tweeted:

But just a few hours later, the company's Danger Zone imprint Twitter account went on the offensive, tweeting (and soon deleting):

https://twitter.com/ActionLabDanger/status/914967193921769472

It's unusual for a comic book publisher to urge the protest or boycott of its own comics, and it seems unlikely that calling their critics "over zealous nut jobs" will go over well. We reached out to Action Lab for comment, and will update this story if we receive a response.

UPDATE: Following the deletion of the tweet above, as well as several other tweets arguing with critics, Action Lab has opted to go with the classic "we were hacked" defense.

https://twitter.com/ActionLabDanger/status/914976752241451009

Action Lab CEO Bryan Seaton has provided Bleeding Cool with the following statement:

I would like to apologize on behalf of Action Lab and Action Lab Danger Zone for any and all rude and inappropriate tweets. We do not believe these tweets where done by any Action Lab staff but by a malicious third party. Passwords have now been changed and tweets deleted but damage has already been done and again we apologize.

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