Ethan Van Sciver Secures Trademark for Comicsgate: What That Means Going Forward

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Submitted by RJ Carter on Thu, 01/12/2023 - 21:25

Ethan Van Sciver has long been regarded as the de facto head of the independent comics creation movement dubbed Comicsgate. Now that title becomes a little bit more official as Van Sciver has been awarded the commercial trademark for the Comicsgate brand, after a contentious legal battle for the claim against a filing made by Preston Poulter, another indie comics publisher of Pocket Jacks Comics.

The ruling in favor of Van Sciver, and his subsequent announcements of intent for use of the mark, has sent ripples throughout the various online communities, many of which lay claim to the ideologies of Comicsgate at some fundamental level. Questions arose as to how the use of the term may be regulated, if at all; who would be granted the approved use of the mark, and what sort of barriers might be in place to make that process difficult.

Critical Blast sat down with Van Sciver for a one-on-one interview focused on the trademark, Van Sciver's future intents for it, and how this is going to affect the Comicsgate movement going forward. That interview can be seen in the video below.