On Nov. 28 Chester B. Cebulski, more widely known as C.B. Cebulski, was promoted editor-in-chief (EIC) of Marvel Comics. However, his first day as EIC was riddled with controversy when he admitted that he used to write comics for Marvel under the name Akira Yoshida.
Cebulski's pen name Yoshida was used to be known as a comic book writer who wrote for Marvel in the early 2000s. However, Marvel had an ethics policy stating that their staff are not allowed to write comic books for the company.
Cebulski, already an associate editor for Marvel at the time, bypassed the said policy when he used the pseudonym Yoshida. Many saw this as problematic, reasoning that the writing job could have been given to another artist who needed it. There were also discussions of cultural appropriation. David Brothers, brand manager for Image Comics, pointed out that Cebulski wrote "Japanese-y" stories using the Yoshida name.
Hey comics journo friends: we should definitely be asking Marvel and new EiC CB Cebulski on why he chose to use the pen name Akira Yoshida in the early 2000s to write a bunch of "Japanese-y" books for them. https://t.co/jXGKZdmyD4
— pshaw brothers (@hermanos) November 27, 2017 " data-caption="null" data-credit="null">While there were rumors that the name Yoshida is but a pseudonym, the first real evidence only came out recently. Cebulski himself admitted to Bleeding Cool that there is truth to the story.
"I stopped writing under the pseudonym Akira Yoshida after about a year," Cebulski said. He added that this was an "old news that has been dealt with," implying that he talked about the issue with his superiors prior to being promoted EIC. He said that he is "turning a new page" and promised to use his position to share his experiences with "up and coming talent around the globe."
The pseudonym started to surface when Cebulski's work for "Conan" and "Darkstalkers" issues were noticed by a Marvel editor. Apparently, the editor liked his work enough and offered him to write for Marvel.
Cebulski accepted and wrote comics for Marvel as Yoshida, while at the same time served as associate editor for the company. He wrote issues for several popular series like "Wolverine: Soultaker," "X-Men: Kitty Pride Shadow and Flame," and 12 issues of "Thor: Son of Asgard."
