Posted in: Movies | Tagged: bleeding cool, jude terror, leonard cohen, obituary, Rich Johnston

On Leonard Cohen, A Note On Respect, And An Apology

By Joe Glass

Yesterday, the world learned of the loss of another one of our greats: Leonard Cohen. An artist of multiple disciplines and medium, Cohen was beloved by many as a tantamount creator and soulful artist of the modern age.

However, Bleeding Cool's newest staff writer, a hire made for the site by Avatar, Jude Terror, posted an obituary piece with the most flagrantly disrespectful headline he could presumably come up with. His reasons, whilst near unfathomable to me, are likely to do with 'clickbait' – either out of the impression that this is solely what Bleeding Cool is all about and wants, or because that is what he wants.

The article itself, for the most part, is respectful and suggests an admiration of Cohen that the headline certainly does not allude to. I would argue the second paragraph of the piece is somewhat disrespectful too, but has more of a sense of dark humor and levity that might be appreciated. However, following THAT headline…

I will not link to that article.

I have written for Bleeding Cool for around five years, mainly at and around the major comic cons, but also in between, mainly focusing on elements of LGBTQ+ representation in the medium I adore, and also the tangential mediums of pop culture that all connect in some way. I have done this for free. I have accepted this as the site affords me access and a platform to share my thoughts, opinions and voice, for which I will be forever thankful to Rich Johnston and Bleeding Cool. When I have also worked on the Bleeding Cool Magazine, covering some of the amazing books being put out by Valiant, I was paid for this work by Avatar, and I thank them for that too.

However, I cannot stand for this absolute disrespect to an artist who has left us; disrespect of the site hosting the article; disrespect to the many other writers, all of whom I have had the pleasure to meet I consider brothers and sisters and absolutely the best people on the planet (any man that will stand up to a creator when they make a deeply misogynistic foul up of a beloved character is a star in my book), who are equally disheartened by this particular issue.

Bleeding Cool will tell the stories few other sites will tell. Bleeding Cool will often include an attempt at light-hearted humor and joviality when staring at the face of the most heinous acts and hurtful events. Bleeding Cool enjoys a vantage point as an outsider from mainstream comics, unafraid to be real about things because we don't have to worry how it will affect us getting the next exclusive, or the next preview.

But Bleeding Cool always tries to work out of a sense of respect; for the creators, for the medium, for the fans. Sometimes we stumble. Sometimes we fall. But we always try.

On behalf of the other Bleeding Cool writers, I apologize for that disrespectful headline. I apologize to Leonard Cohen, his family and his fans and all those as upset by this as I am.

As for Jude Terror – I'm writing this in the UK. He is in the US. I presume he is maybe asleep. I have no idea how he will respond and if he will come to same conclusions of the distasteful nature of his choice of headline or not.

But from me, and Bleeding Cool, for at least as long as I am a part of it, apologies for this all.

Joe Glass continues to be a Bleeding Cool contributor, and still is a comic creator as well.

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