Steven LeClaire, owner of the comic shop Comics Ink in Los Angeles writes regarding what I've been calling inside my head "Ripgate". He says:

I am the person that ripped up a copy of Pretty Deadly #1 at the store on Wednesday night. A small group of long time customers who know me well asked me what I really thought of the book. For dramatic effect, I ripped a copy of the book after giving my review. I personally found the book lacking a coherent storyline and the art too muddy to follow. That was my opinion. The book was still on the shelves for sale for all those who wanted it. I made a mistake of thinking I was having a private talk with a small group of friends.

I apologize for my actions.

Comics Ink is the kind of comics shop where most of our regulars know us. The atmosphere in the store is light and fun and silly.

This incident seemed to be another one of those fun moments at the store. That does not excuse my actions but simply puts them into context.

I want to apologize to Eric Stephenson for any treatment he received at the store in the past. I want people to buy the books they want from what the store offers. That always has been and continues to be my goal for Comics Ink.

I want to apologize to the folks at Image who work tirelessly to make sure books like Pretty Deadly reach stores like mine. My actions were not meant to belittle those efforts.

I want to apologize to Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Rios and the rest of the creative team responsible for Pretty Deadly. That the book was done by a female creative team did not encourage my actions nor was it meant to be misogynistic or anti-female creator. I do understand that it takes time and effort to create a comic book. And while I didn't enjoy what I read, it was and is in the best interest of my store to sell the books I ordered and not destroy them. Aside from the small group of regular customers who did witness my actions, Comics Ink was and is selling copies of Pretty Deadly to all who ask for them.

I have been involved in the business of promoting and selling comics for over 30 years and I do have opinions on what I consider good and bad. The same goes for my employees. This is what the customers of Comics Ink expect and what the store is well known for.

That being said I did not set out to create such a controversy over my insensitive actions.

Once again, I offer my most sincere apologies to all of those my actions affected.