Marvel’s editor-in-chief apologises for once pretending to be Japanese to write ‘authentic’ characters

Marvel’s editor-in-chief really wants to put the fact that he pretended to be a Japanese writer ‘behind him’.

CB Cebulski, a white man, adopted the pen name Akira Yoshida and wrote under the Japanese pseudonym for approximately a year.

In a statement provided to Bleeding Cool’s Rich Johnston, Cebulski said he had created the name in the early 00s in an effort to move from editing to writing. Company policy prevented staff employees from working in editorial.

He had said:

I stopped writing under the pseudonym Akira Yoshida after about a year. It wasn’t transparent, but it taught me a lot about writing, communication and pressure. I was young and naïve and had a lot to learn back then. But this is all old news that has been dealt with, and now as Marvel’s new editor-in-chief, I’m turning a new page and am excited to start sharing all my Marvel experiences with up and coming talent around the globe.

However, the Marvel editor just can’t seem to get away from this awkward spot of cultural appropriation.

In a new interview with CBS, he admitted that he regretted the decision and had tried to make “amends”:

I’ve always wanted to write and tell stories and it was a different time in cultural politics. And I made some very bad choices at that time, ones that I regret and that I’ve since made amends for and have been working to, you know, really kind of put behind me.

Cebulski added:

Going back to the 60s when Marvel were created it was created by a number of white men here in New York City who were working in our studio… But now, we do not have any artists that work in Marvel. All our writers and artists work – are freelancers that live around the world so our talent base has diversified.

People had pointed out the problems (of which there were many: yellowface, pretending to belong to a minority culture in order to gain cultural and/or monetary capital. Etc. Etc...) when the news emerged.

And it doesn't appear to be going anywhere...

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