“Cancel culture” has been debated in over a decade at this point. While the issue itself has ebbed and flowed, the reality is few celebrities and entertainers that have been “canceled” have stayed “canceled.” When it comes to entertainment, perceived profitability is what matters and no matter how problematic someone is, if corporations can make money off of them, they’ll be forgiven. Comedian Louis C.K. was accused for sexual misconduct in 2017 but Netflix rolled out the red carpet and gave him a platform in 2026 for a set during the Netflix is a Joke Festival at the Hollywood Bowl. He also won a Grammy for “Best Comedy Album” in 2022, his third win and first since the accusations.

At its worst, “cancel culture” is just another part of the ongoing culture wars used to score political points and galvanize a political party’s base to drive votes or put pressure on a business. That corruption does a disservice to the real world abuse and bigotry it’s supposed to address.

Comic publisher Image Comics has done their own disservice by recently welcoming back at least two individuals who have both been accused of misconduct in the comic industry.

In 2020, Warren Ellis was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 60 individuals. Ellis in a statement said he “…hurt people deeply. I am ashamed for these mistakes and I am profoundly sorry,” though much of his statement seemed to disagree with the accounting of events. An group of some of the victims came together to form So Many of Us. Its goal was to not punish Ellis but to “amplify awareness of a pattern to change the culture of complicity.” They also attempted to engage with Ellis in “mediated transformative justice,” but felt the comic creator took no steps towards accountability.

The accusations against Ellis had some immediate impact. He had a story pulled from Dark Nights: Death Metal. DC completed the release of his Batman’s Grave series but it has not been collected. Recently his run on The Authority was released as part of DC Compact Comics line, as there were plans to bring the superhero group to the big screen, but those plans have fizzled. In general, Ellis went away, even taking a break from his weekly email newsletter, only to eventually return to that in 2022 with regular updates.

And now, Warren Ellis has returned to the world of comics with two releases by Image. On August 5, Image announced that Ocean from Ellis and Chris Sprouse was returning to print in October. It was originally released by Wildstorm/DC Comics in 2004. It was optioned to be adapted for film in 2007 but there hasn’t been much news since the initial announcement.

A reprint isn’t the only announcement from Image regarding Ellis. On August 11, the publisher said it would be releasing his new graphic novella with artist Lordess Foudre, Ghost Drive Station, this November.

Katie West, one of the first individuals to reveal Ellis misconduct has posted a response on Bluesky regarding the decision.

I have spent the day re-reading the entirety of SoManyOfUs.com, including every testimonial. I’ve also re-read dozens of documents and communications from the transformative justice action SMOU-TJ and Warren Ellis started. I wanted to remember the hope I held at that time. I also wanted to see if I could approach this moment with gratitude instead of anger.

To believe in transformative justice is to believe people capable of change. But, as our mediator said during the process, “transformation is heartbreak.” It is crushing and painful, but it is also our right as human beings. I haven’t spoken to Warren Ellis in over 6 years. I don’t know who he is now. I don’t know how he’s changed, but I’m sure he has. I know Warren read all of SoManyOfUs.com and I can’t imagine an outcome where doing so doesn’t change you. But, as Kai Cheng Thom says, “Change is inevitable, growth is optional.” I was often sad that Warren, when confronted with the consequences of his actions, didn’t react in the way I expected him to. But I am grateful it led to me untangling 15 years of complicated feelings and hurtful actions.

I’m grateful that I believe we can change and hold ourselves accountable in this world. But, quoting our mediator again, “being called to accountability feels like being reminded that your shit stinks. and coming clean is hard to do.” It can feel impossible to look in the mirror and confront the worst version of ourselves. Without having the necessary support systems in place to make it possible, I don’t blame or fault anyone for not being able to do it.

We all tried our best. When our attempt at a community accountability action failed, I was disappointed, but grateful that we tried. And grateful to know that Warren had tried, too.

I currently work as an editor in comics, with books I work on being published by Image. I love comics. I love the comics community and how we all keep making them despite it being so hard, with no financial security, and no safety nets. I see groups within the community doing so much good and fighting hard to make the industry more sustainable and safer for everyone involved.

But there is no set process for anyone in the comics community to account for our actions and change our behaviour after harm or abuse has happened. This has led many people to be forced out of the industry – victims, perpetrators, and witnesses. My heart hurts for all the people who were bullied, ostracized, shunned, or threatened out of this community, particularly those I spoke to back in June and July of 2020, impacted by Warren’s actions. I hope one day this changes.

I’m grateful to everyone who was wondered if Warren has “made amends to the satisfaction of all involved.” It shows me solidarity and care are widespread within comics. I wouldn’t say I’m satisfied, but I also would say I am no longer personally invested in Warren’s transformation.

I am personally invested in the books I work on that come out with Image, and I really hope you don’t take any disappointment you feel in Image’s actions out on the creators whose work they publish. Seeing people boycotting Image comics feels a cruel joke when that directly affects my livelihood and that of the people who respect and support me. But I get it – this seems like a financial decision from Image, so respond in a financial fashion. I hope we can all keep ourselves open to change in the future.

My resolve to expand my capacity to hope for change – after a night of anger and crying and shouting – is renewed. Thanks for hearing me out and for reading all of this.

In 2020, Jason Latour was accused of harassment by multiple individuals. Again, the original accuser wasn’t looking to harm a career but instead raise awareness of his behavior, as well as the “creeper” behavior in general. Numerous other individuals spoke up about their own interactions with Latour and were described as “inappropriate behavior.” Latour did attempt to take responsibility for his actions and apologized in Tweets that were later deleted. If he actually attempted to apologize to individuals or really took responsibility is unknown.

Around the time of all of this, Southern Bastards was one of the hottest comics on the market, having won multiple awards and being well regarded by both critics and readers. Created with writer Jason Aaron, the series paused due to the accusations against Latour and hasn’t returned to comics. In October 2025, it was announced that Hulu ordered a pilot based on the series.

But, like so many “canceled,” Latour returned to mainstream comics with a contribution in the Image 30th Anniversary Anthology #12 which was released in 2023. His crowdfunded graphic novel Super Ego got a bigger release from Image in May 2026, with an announcement of it in February 2026. It didn’t make much of an impact on release, honestly I didn’t know it was and thought it was still yet to come out.

At the time of that announcement, we said “2025 was the year of court cases for the comic industry and two months into 2026, it sounds like it’ll be the year of attempted returns by those in the comic industry previously accused of harassment.”

The embrace of Ellis and Latour are just two examples within the comic industry of its recent warm embrace of its troubled past. While some individuals have completely left the industry, others still find work or dip their toes in to test the waters and see the reaction. In early February 2026, Neil Gaiman broke a year of silence to address allegations against him for sexual assault among other alleged crimes. It was the first step in his attempt to re-enter the public sphere in the build up to a new book release.

There’s some irony in Image’s choice to welcome back these two individuals. In November 2021, Image employees began the unionization process with Comic Book Workers United. They had nine goals, one of which was:

A collective voting option to allow stay a say in canceling publication of any title whose creator(s) have been found to have engaged in “abuse, sexual assault, racism and xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, ableism, etc. until such time as said creators have engaged in meaningful reparations toward affected person(s).”

Now, we as consumers have a choice, if we welcome these returns and purchase their published comics or send a signal to publishers these individuals are unwelcome back until they show actual signs of acknowledging the harm they’ve done and accept responsibility. Image Comics has shown where it stands, now it’s time for the consumers, retailers, employees with publishers, and other creators to show if they really believe accusers and are against this behavior, or if it was all performative to score points online and look good to others.