Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: don simpson, kickstarter

Kickstarter Suspends Don Simpson's Megaton Man Over Iranian Artist

Kickstarter suspends Don Simpson's Megaton Man graphic anthology over four innocuous pages by Iranian comic book artst Milo Trent

UPDATE: A Kickstarter spokesperson has told Bleeding Cool, regarding the following article "We would never decline a project based on a creator's heritage. As a U.S. based business, Kickstarter is required to comply with U.S. trade restrictions, including sanctions that restrict business activity in certain countries like Iran. As such, the project was originally flagged as potentially prohibited under these trade restrictions, and rejected on that basis. However, after further review, we are able to approve the project to go live on Kickstarter and have communicated this directly with the creator." the original article follows below and a follow up can be found here.

Don Simpson is a longstanding indie comic book creator of note, whose work includes superhero parody Megaton Man, Border Worlds, King Kong, Bizarre Heroes, Pictopia, 1963 and  Al Franken's 2003 book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. I have a large collection of Simpson's work, including a few items I was lucky to get through UK Customs at the time. Last Thursday night, as Don Simpson prepared a launch party for the crowdfunding campaign for the 200+ page Megaton Man: Multimensions graphic anthology being published through Cosmic Lion, his first through Kickstarter, he received notification that the project had been flagged because of the nationality of one of the sixty contributors, Milo Trent, who lives in Iran and has already worked with Simpson on the new 1963 book. On Friday, Don Simpson emailed the sixty contributors the following:

"Last night, Kickstarter suspended the launch of our campaign for Megaton Man: Multimensions, a 214-page treasury-sized anthology of sixty contributors, flagging it for "safety and trust" because one of our contributors happens to live in Iran. I am not groveling to Kickstarter or its algorithm. Kickstarter is not a co-editor or creative consultant on this project. Milo Trent is on the cover of Megaton Man: Multimensions and has four brilliant pages out of 214 brilliant pages, and I'm not removing them. I spent all of 2024, part of it living on savings, to shepherd a project that was left for dead, turning it into an anthology of contemporary world-class cartoonists of which we can all be proud. Kickstarter needs to explain to me why I would still want to work with them or trust them. Kickstarter is censoring this project, and every creative artist contemplating working with them—filmmaker, comic book publisher, or otherwise, needs to understand this. Among Kickstarter's concerns was the question, "What is your engagement with individuals in Iran, if any?" Presumably, they can't read, because it's pretty clear from the FAQ that one of our contributors happens to live within the confines of that nation."

Here are the four pages in question, and the application screencaps.

"The publisher liaised with Kickstarter and informed me later on Friday that our project had been declined, attaching the following screencap:"

"Further inquiries did not shed any light on their reasoning, which presumably was non-existent. (It was unclear whether any further appeals were possible, since the message seemed conflicted on that point.) Needless to say, there had been no warning beforehand that the nation of origin of a cartoonist would be a non-starter, and there were no instructions whatsoever as to how we might "improve" our project to better meet Kickstarter's requirements and rules. As the publisher subsequently remarked to me, "Our biggest fault was being proud of our diverse, world-spanning creative team." On Friday evening, several people integral to the project reflected on possible strategies and options. On Saturday morning (this morning, as I write this), I wrote directly to the "Senior Outreach Lead, Comics":

"I don't believe we've ever met, but maybe you've heard of me. My name is Don Simpson, and I'm the creator of Megaton Man, a character and series celebrating its 40th anniversary. For the past year, I've been working on Megaton Man: Multimensions, a 214-page crossover anthology featuring the likes of Alan Davis (Excalibur, Batman and the Outsiders), Stephen Bissette (Swamp Thing, Tyrant), Jim Rugg (Cartoonist Kayfabe), Chris Ecker (Big Bang Comics, Knight Watchmen), Dean Haspiel (Chest Face, Red Hook) … you get the idea. I'm leaving many of the sixty contributors out, but they are ALL cc'd on this email."

"The project is being published by Eli Schwab and Cosmic Lion Productions, which has had many successful Kickstarters (G.H.O.S.T. Agents, Giant-Size '63, and more). The entire project is 100% finished, laid out, and ready for press. Here's a link to the complete PDF: The book is beautiful, a no-brainer, and would likely already be funded by now and then some. It may also interest you to know that The Complete Megaton Man, Volume I from Fantagraphics Underground recently completed a successful crowdfunding campaign on another platform for an exclusive hardcover edition, exceeding the goal in three hours before I was even aware the campaign had launched.

"Am I to understand that your algorithm flagged this project because of the word "Iran"? (Yes, we have a contributor who loves American comics and has contributed four pages—he has also contributed to several recent successful Kickstarter projects. To date, no one has yet figured how to pay him the meager promised page rate, but I don't think that's an issue. He just loves American comics that much.) Do you have any idea how stupid you and Kickstarter look, just in the eyes of the people who are CC'd on this email? Do you have any idea how stupid you are going to look in the eyes of the wider comics community? (Would you like me to drop some of those names for you? Because after forty years, I know just about everybody—not only in comics but in the wider media, who are chomping at the bit to get their hands on a story as ludicrous as this.) I'm going to ask you pretty please to get your head out of your ass and reconsider the status of Megaton Man: Multimensions– and immediately expedite approval forthwith? Remember, a lot of eyes are on this project and your response right now. In any case, please stop trying to conduct official U.S. foreign policy—you're simply not qualified."

Other creators speak out for Megaton Man

They have had no response, and neither have I to press enquiries I made to Kickstarter over the weekend. Dan Shahin , co-writer with Milo Trent on some of the offending pages, told me "How about doing that thing that you do where you crusade for justice? Kickstarter is canceling a project for the simple reason that one of the creators lives in Iran. I wrote several of the pages in question in Don Simpson's project, and we also collaborated on a piece for the recent 1963 fan book. This is a grave Injustice at a time when that sort of thing needs calling out. Please help if you can."

Don's 1963 co-creator Steve Bissette stated, "Spread the word: Kickstarter has refused longtime amigo Don Simpson's publishing project (and a momentous one it is, too) because one of the project contributors lives in a country now BANNED even mention of. Even on appeal (such as those are even permitted), Kickstarter refused the project because of a word—the name of a country—nothing else. I kid you not. This is insane. Infuriating. Demeaning. What have we become, as a nation, since mid-January?"

Philadelphia-based comic book creator Amanda Stella Powers of Supertopia, also working on the Megaton Man book, tells me, "I have been working closely with Dr. Don since the idea came into fruition in the fall of 2023. For over a year, we collected contributors, formed an editorial board, and edited the work with love and dedication. The overall collection of works represents a broader community of talented and thoughtful writers and artists coming together to both celebrate Don's interesting collection of characters from MEGATON MAN, BORDER WORLDS, and BIZARRE HEROES. Naturally, some of the work is controversial. We support LGBTQ+, diversity, and inclusion—in other words, an anti-Trump United States—in our original set of stories. In addition to showcasing contributions from Alan Davis (EXCALIBUR, BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS), Stephen Bissette (SWAMP THING, TYRANT), Jim Rugg (Cartoonist KAYFABE), Chris Ecker (BIG BANG COMICS, KNIGHT WATCHMEN), and Dean Haspiel (CHEST FACE, RED HOOK), Don has generously allowed newcomers like myself to write and draw his characters and/or team them up with their own indie IP characters. Who does this and trusts and mentors "newbies?" No one!!! Just Don Simpson, the patron anti-saint of iconoclasts! To continue, with respect for you and a feeling of deepest disappointment in Kickstarter, I plead with you to shed journalistic light on a darkly unexpected moment that has halted us at the very moment we intended to celebrate with a launch party. Don prepared a press release praising all of the contributors' efforts. We started filming highlights of contributors to share more about the creators. Alas, Kickstarter refused our project because of the involvement of Milo Trent because they baselessly feared his involvement would contribute to somehow funding Iran. But Don is a man of honor and strength and he refused to take the talented Milo Trent's pages out of the project. As a whole, the editorial team and MULTIMENSIONS contributors are standing resolutely behind Don in solidarity to find another way to set up a crowdfunding on another platform to publish the work through Cosmic Lion Press."

Don Simpson responds, Kickstarter does not

In comments, Don Simpson added "Apparently, my fault was speaking the silent part out loud. I'm proud of our int'l roster, but mentioning the blacklisted country triggers hysteria. I am told the credit card companies dictate zero tolerance, and the crowdfunding sites comply. The fact that Kickstarter can't articulate a coherent sentence other than "we reserve the right to reject a project for any reason" isn't helpful. If I knew the landmine was out there, I might have avoided it, at least in the outgoing PR (I'm skilled at that — having learned to elide the name of the author of "In Pictopia," general knowledge that that is). But how to unsay what has been said?"

"What is laughable about this situation is that Kickstarter can not even articulate a reason for their actions, even though their initial inquiry clearly states their concern — the nationality of one of our sixty contributors. Even after "human review," they cannot articulate what can be done to "improve" our project to "better meet [their] requirements and rules" (which are nowhere even stated in regard to their concerns), or even where we are in the "appeals" process. We literally have no idea (a) what rule(s) we violated, (b) what is within our power to "correct", or even (c) whether we have already run out of appeals. Since the publisher was already in contact with the Outreach Lead for Comics and told a bunch of nonsensical gobbledygook even before I reached out directly to the Outreach Lead myself, my sense is that their decision in final. Folks have suggest I wait until after the Easter holiday, but I don't see the point. The irony is I'm fairly confident we would already be funded by now and contemplating stretch goals. This is my first interaction with Kickstarter and looks like it will be my last."

Bleeding Cool looks forward to Kickstarter looking again at this issue and would happily publish any response they would like to make.

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