I keep repeating that bias and ego are our worst enemies and #CHANGETHECOVER is a good example. I was part of the anti-tag protest myself…

…as the story seemed simple enough: the chronically offended got their feels hurt and are now attacking the artistic freedom with the buzzwords again. Examples:

And now the cover has officially been cancelled. Time to despair and ragequit comics?

Again, I feel we all need to confront our biases and after digging deeper I need to admit that the story is not that simple. First, it seems like the cover was a surprise to the actual creative team on the current Batgirl series:

A bit earlier during the day, I have talked to one of my followers and he was kind enough to write a longer explanation on why #CHANGETHECOVER is not evil to him. You can read it all here (which I recommend) but in short it is what the above words from the creator later confirmed: that the cover was “at odds” with the current series.

Note that I was not entirely convinced, and had the following comment:

My argument is, though, that while you do make excellent points on the cover not being in sync with the plot and tone of the series, I think that maybe variant covers have that potential to be different and not direct, sort of Elseworlds or iconic memorabilia of the character. And this part of Batgirl mythos is, as you yourself understand, crucial to her story — so is the dark reminder of how it all started really out of place? Is the anger at the Joker and the tragedy of her temporary helplessness not a discomfort we need to be push to feel every now and then in order to better understand the character as such?

Alas, the cover was cancelled by the request of the creator and the conversation did not find its resolve.

And we also have this:

This is also not entirely convincing to me, and quite frustrating that people keep talking about censorship as if the social pressure cannot be its source. It can.

However,

This made me stop and think. Again, it’s not 100% true, as Batgirl does not belong to the current runners, and they will be gone one day and someone else paved the road for them earlier as well. But still, if we respect their right to do with the series as they please — within the limits set by the DC — then they also have the right to oppose the cover, even if we disagree with them.

To sum it up, it seems that the now-infamous cover was prepared without consulting the current core team, and they did not feel it worked for what they do. That made the artist ask DC to cancel the cover.

If that is the case, this is neither the win of “social justice warriors” nor the defeat of those who oppose them. It’s just creators caring about their creation.

To be clear, I am still not 100% convinced. Even some of the hardcore propagators of #CHANGETHECOVER feel the art was fantastic, and I presented my case for variant covers earlier in this post. Also, there is no denying that some of the misguided outrage was loud and we have seen it being effective in the past. And it is sad, because…

But at the very least we all should agree that considering the above evidence, the story is simply not that simple. Who knows, maybe instead of lamenting the cancellation of the cover, we should be celebrating the fact that the creators got to protect their creation…

…while the whole affair made sure that this excellent variant cover will never be forgotten.

Post-Scriptum: