X-Men’s Bryan Singer in Serious Hot Water and More Nerd News!

Bryan Singer should be riding high over the Oscar-nominated Bohemian Rhapsody film that he directed.  Yet, here we are again.  A few years back, Singer was accused of drugging and raping Michael Egan III by Egan himself.  The alleged assault happened when Egan was 17 in Los Angles in 1999. The legal age of consent in California is 18.  Last year, when Bohemian Rhapsody was almost finished, he was fired from the project after allegations of a similar event happening in 2003 emerged.  It should also be noted that after the Egan lawsuit, another lawsuit was filed by a British man, only named ‘John Doe No. 117′.  Much like with Egan’s case, the charges in this case were dismissed by the accuser.

Both allegations were met with denials by Singer.

However, even more allegations have now emerged.  The Atlantic has claimed four more men have now come forward with their own tales of Singers’ actions.  The Atlantic claims a 12-month investigation and interviewed more than 50 sources for the story.  The stories accumulated from the four range from being seduced while underage, to flat out rape.  Of course Singer denies these claims, and even released a statement, saying;

The last time I posted about this subject, Esquire magazine was preparing to publish an article written by a homophobic journalist who has a bizarre obsession with me dating back to 1997,” Singer’s statement reads. “After careful fact-checking and, in consideration of the lack of credible sources, Esquire chose not to publish this piece of vendetta journalism.

That didn’t stop this writer from selling it to The Atlantic. It’s sad that The Atlantic would stoop to this low standard of journalistic integrity. Again, I am forced to reiterate that this story rehashes claims from bogus lawsuits filed by a disreputable cast of individuals willing to lie for money or attention. And it is no surprise that, with ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ being an award-winning hit, this homophobic smear piece has been conveniently timed to take advantage of its success.

Seven, that’s how many allegations there are.  Seven.  That we know of.  This isn’t some kind of ‘gay smear campaign’, as it seems like gay men are the one’s demanding justice.  Now, is it possible that Singer’s innocent?  Sure.  Crazier things have happened.  However, while I’m not of the mindset of ‘believe all victims’, because that’s just dangerous.   I am of the mindset of ‘investigate all accusations’.  Find out if there is substance and merit to these allegations.  If he did this, he should be punished.  And on the flip side, if he is innocent, those that are trying to profit off of this should be punished.

That being said; SEVEN victims?  What, do we need a Cosby-Dozen to actually get an investigation going?

 

IN MODERATELY LESS DEPRESSING NEWS…

DC has cancelled two titles over the last few days.  The first is Damage, the new character that was created as part of DC’s New Age of Heroes initiative.   The book will conclude with #16.  Of all the books that were announced (I think like, 10?) the only two left are Silencer and The Terrifics, both of which will be cancelled shortly.

In other cancellation news, The Miss Martian, Kyle Rayner led Titans book has also been cut with issue #36.  The book originally launched with the original Teen Titans cast, among with some other Titan-favorite characters but after the disaster that was Dark Night: Metal (in terms of continuity shakeup), the team was reshaped with Dan Abnett writing and now featured Nightwing, Donna Troy, Beast Boy, Raven, Miss Martian and Steel (John Henry’s daughter).  The book replaced Nightwing with Kyle Rayner after Nightwing got shot in the head.  Which is ironic, as the two never did get along back in the 90’s.

 

Quick Hits

In Marvel news, true love kiss brings back Cyclops from the dead.  Or some dumb idea similar to it.  Jean Grey’s Phoenix forced was used in an implant to revive Cyclops.  This is dumb.  The new RoboCop film is still in the early script drafting stages according to Ed Neumeier.  Sandra Bullock has agreed to star in Netflix’s adaptation of Mark Millar’s REBORN.