With all the current news regarding sexual harassment, I was reminded of the first time an incident which could be defined as such was brought to my attention… and how shocked I was to find out about it.

It was the mid-1990’s, so I can claim some excuse in being younger/more naive/stupider then.  It was a Comic Book Convention I attended, among the first where I attended as a “Pro” guest.

Being a “Pro” guest meant you interacted more with other “Pros”.  In that particular convention, I had the unique privilege and thrill to meet up with several people who, to me, were incredibly gifted and whose works entertained the hell out of me over the years before.

In this particular convention there was a very, very legendary comic book figure, one who was in the business for many years and was behind and/or responsible for many very memorable events during practically her entire history.

Frankly, I was gobsmacked that I could actually meet and interact with this legend and mentioned it to the two people I was with at that moment.

One of the pros I was with, a woman who made a name for herself over the previous years with various successful projects, reacted in a most negative way to my comment.

Though it happened many years ago and I don’t recall the exact words, she essentially told me this individual -this comic book legend!- was a creep, a man who was, as defined by today’s headlines, a sexual harasser.  One who had, to my horror, harassed her.

I came away from this conversation with the realization of something I’ve come to know all too well since that time: Sometimes the art is very different from the artist.

Now, I could name names and tell you who this legendary figure is and who the woman accusing him of harassment was but I feel its best I don’t.  Understand, I’m not trying to be coy or engage in some childish “I’ve got a secret” type thing.

The fact of the matter is that this happened a very long time ago and, as I mentioned above, I can only go by my impressions rather than specific words told to me by the lady in question. Still, my impression hasn’t changed that this woman genuinely felt the man was a creep.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, though this woman was clearly seething and willing to tell a stranger (who I was to her at that moment!) her very negative impressions of that man, I don’t know what happened afterwards and, for all I know, things might well have changed.

While perhaps unlikely, this woman might have had more interactions with this comic book legend and maybe her opinion of him changed.  It is possible the man acted bad on the day(s) she formed her negative impressions of him and maybe he eventually realized the error of his ways and apologized to her.

These are things I don’t know!

The woman in question is still around while that legendary comic book figure has since passed.

Perhaps in this day and age, this woman might come forward to offer her opinions of this man or any other(s) who have shown such creepy behavior toward her.

I hope she -and anyone else who was mistreated by those in power- do so.

In all fields, including the comic book field, it is high time bad behavior –especially bad behavior which crosses the line into outright criminal behavior- was treated for what it is and for those who have engaged in it be called out for what they are.

Creeps.