Posted in: Comics | Tagged: comicsgate, edwin boyette, qanon

Comicsgate Figure Quits Republican Vice Chair After QAnon Gaffe

Published Tue, 26 Jan 2021 09:20:38 -0600

Edwin Boyette was a prominent figure a few years ago in the Comicsgate movement, an online activist group that campaigns, as Wikipedia puts it, "in opposition to diversity and progressivism in North American superhero comic books".

Those who he "engaged" online may recall his replies in the form of a portrait shot video embedded in Tweets, his face taking up the whole screen, well-spoken but freaking some recipients out a bit. Those have all been deleted now, as has his own Twitter account, but they were the usual talking points, just with slightly less invective that you might find elsewhere. A few such comments remain on Bleeding Cool articles, including the time he got involved talking Comicsgate with Marvel's Joe Quesada, but the original posts and videos are long gone.

At one point he was co-writing a Comicsgate comic called Blood In The Jungle about American soldiers fighting vampires in Pearl Harbour and beyond, on Indiegogo, but that seems to be have been withdrawn.

He did fall out badly at various points with other prominent Comicsgate figures as the group began to eat itself. But this week, he came to greater prominence for his political work. Because it turns out that Edwin Boyette was indeed his real name, and he was also the Republican Vice-Chair of Communications in Hawaii.

And things may have gone slightly off the rails this week. On Sunday, Hawaii News Now reported that Edwin Boyette posted a series of tweets "that expressed support for QAnon conspiracy theorists" using the Hawaiian Republican Party Twitter account.

The now-deleted tweets stated that, while acknowledging that QAnon is false, that "People who followed Q don't deserve mockery, the world is a complex place, there are bad actors, injustice, corruption – the processes of justice and the mechanisms our Republic are slow by design, abuses and wrongs are always swifter than correction". Also "we should make it abundantly clear – the people who subscribed to the Q fiction, were largely motivated by a sincere and deep love for America. Patriotism and love of County should never be ridiculed." The story was picked by everyone from The Washington Examiner to the Daily Mail.

Comicsgate Figure Quits Republican Vice Chair After QAnon Gaffe — Twitter screencap

On Facebook, Edwin Boyette posted "Today I gave my resignation as Vice Chair for Communications for the Hawaii Republican Party. I will be off social media for a few days mahalo" followed by his resignation note.

Chairman Ostrov,

Thank you for the opportunity to serve the Republican Party of Hawaii, and the People of Hawaii. Discussion of some topics is ill suited to the forums of social media, and regardless of intent – only serves to increase conflict and discord. The discussion of the Q-Conspiracy was an error of judgement, and should not reflect upon the leadership or the members of the Republican Party of Hawaii. The responsibility for that discussion and that error is mine and and mine alone.Please accept my resignation for the good of the Party.

Last year, Edwin Boyette stated that, regarding his career, "CG actually was a good prep for politics, and politics gave some insights in retrospect for CG".

In his Hawaii GOP tweets, he also described the emergence of Qanon: "As the Q phenomena caught on several personalities began to be able to monetize their broadcasts – through superchats, donations, and sales of merchandise. Once money entered the equation the broadcasts around Q became increasingly hyperbolic."

Which does sound a little familiar.

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