By fnord12 | December 18, 2017, 8:48 PM | Comics | Link

Back up the drain

A 2005 Urban Legends by Brian Cronin (from CBR's semi-defunct website so i'm reposting the whole thing):

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Akira Yoshida is a pseudonym.

STATUS: False

Whenever a new creator comes out of seemingly nowhere, people are bound to be curious about them, especially when, in the case of writer Akira Yoshida, the new writer gets such "plum" assignment as the X-Men/Fantastic Four crossover and the 10th Anniversary of the Age of Apocalypse. Inquiring minds begin to come up with their OWN theories as to why such a new writer that noone knows much about got the assignment - he was NOT a new writer, but rather an older writer, using a pseudonym, perhaps to sound more exotic.

When I heard this one, I thought it would be easy enough to check out. However, when I found out that some of the editors that he had worked with had never spoken with Akira, I will admit, the absurd suddenly did not seem SO absurd.

Luckily, the other day, editor Mike Marts was able to allay any suspicions. Says Marts,

You bet--I've had lunch with the guy--very nice guy. He's a very cool guy. When we had lunch he showed me pictures of his immense Godzilla memorabilia collection--I was jealous!

Well, there's ONE conspiracy theory down the drains!!!

Now: Marvel's New Editor-in-Chief Admits Writing Under Japanese Pseudonym 'Akira Yoshida'. It seems the often-despised Bleeding Cool has been on this for a while.

Noticed by the Atlantic, and not in a good way:

Marvel Comics has had a rough few years, full of dropping sales, public controversies, and departures by high-profile creators. After the exit of the previous editor Axel Alonso, Cebulski's stewardship was supposed to be a fresh start, an opportunity to regain audiences' trust. Instead, the company is having to deal with the fact that its new editor in chief was part of a larger pattern of white men posing as Asian for personal gain. Marvel's apparently muted response has prompted frustration from some comics creators, critics, and readers--many of whom recognize how Cebulski was enabled by an industry that has long relied on pulp Asian stereotypes and struggled with hiring people of color.

I have a vague idea that i like C.B. Cebulski (from his Loners series, maybe?), so this is extra weird to me.