Legendary Award-Winning Comic Book Creator Smashes Cancel Culture
Comic book writer Mike Baron spent four decades writing heroes from Punisher to Nexus to The Flash to “Star Wars.” But it wasn’t comic-book villains that he had to overcome in 2023, it was “cancel culture.” And just like many of the classic heroes he wrote for, he walked away victorious, with more than $80,000 raised for “Private American’ his new graphic novel about a vigilante fighting cartels on America’s southern border.
Baron reflected on his years of writing the Punisher at Marvel Comics and imagined what a character like that would be doing in 2023 if he were writing it. “The Punisher would be defending our southern border,” Baron says “battling cartels, human traffickers and terrorists exploiting the administration’s failure to protect American sovereignty.”
So Baron created a new hero; an ex-Green Beret sickened by what he sees in his home state of Texas, and seeking justice over the death of a dear friend against the cartels and criminals at the border. But for Baron himself, it wasn’t cartels, street thugs, or terrorists he had to fight. Once he launched the crowdfunding campaign for the graphic novel, a writer for the far-left Daily Kos, and a fellow indie comic publisher who felt dealing with border control was “racist,” tried to cancel it, instructing readers how to report the campaign on Kickstarter, Crowdfundr and Indiegogo.
Within hours, Kickstarter suspended the campaign, along with Crowdfundr, and Indiegogo shadow-banned the book. Baron’s team quickly pushed back, appearing on podcasts and YouTube channels, and seeking assistance from the CBLDF and FIRE (who responded with class) to fight for artistic freedom and free speech. FOX News covered the story that same week, and the team sent their supporters directly to the website theprivateamerican.com, which directed customers where they could order the book.
The result was a huge victory for free speech. The book hauled in over $80,000 in pre-orders and began shipping to readers in June. It’s also been getting great reviews. David Finn of the Signal of Doom podcast says “it’s the Punisher the fans have been missing.” The book is now available for order on a new cancel-free, crowdfunding platform called FundMyComic.com. Baron’s team also hired the Dhillon Law Group to begin proceedings against the Daily Kos.
Now the Eisner award winning comicbook writer has launched a new crowdfunding campaign for his latest graphic novel, a Weird Western called “Bronze Star” over on Fund My Comic as well, which Baron says is the best work of illustrator Pat Broderick’s career, and where they’ve been assured they will never be canceled, but they’re still sending Baron’s readers to bronzestarcomic.com as a preventative measure.
Author Profile
- I'm Al Mega the CEO of Comic Crusaders, CEO of the Undercover Capes Podcast Network, CEO of Geekery Magazine & Owner of Splintered Press (coming soon). I'm a fan of comics, cartoons and old school video games. Make sure to check out our podcasts/vidcasts and more!
