A US publisher of comics by Neil Gaiman has announced that it has cancelled plans to publish future works by the author who has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women.
Dark Horse Comics “takes seriously the allegations against Neil Gaiman and we are no longer publishing his works,” the company wrote in a statement on X.
“Confirming that the Anansi Boys comic series and collected volume have been cancelled,” it added. Dark Horse Comics began publishing the Anansi Boys series, an adaptation of Gaiman’s 2005 novel of the same name, in June last year. It was intended to be an eight-issue series, but has now been cancelled following the seventh issue, published 15 January.
Nine women have now accused Gaiman of sexual misconduct. On 14 January, the author published a statement on his website saying that he had “never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone”. Gaiman’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment on Dark Horse Comics’ statement.
HarperCollins, which publishes many of Gaiman’s books in the US including Coraline and American Gods, told Publishers Weekly that it does not have any new books by Gaiman scheduled. WW Norton, the US publisher of Gaiman’s book Norse Mythology, said that it will not have projects with the author going forward, though did not say whether this was connected to the allegations. Marvel Comics has no new works by Gaiman in progress, according to the New York Times.
Other publishers of Gaiman’s work – including Bloomsbury, Penguin, Hachette, DC Comics and Titan – have not yet made public statements about whether they will continue to publish the author, and did not respond to the Guardian’s requests for comment.
Last July, an investigation by Tortoise media reported sexual assault allegations against Gaiman by two women. By the end of August, three further women had come forward with allegations. On 13 January, Vulture published an investigation in which four further women accused Gaiman of assault, including nonconsensual BDSM.
The following day, Gaiman said in his statement that he had refrained from speaking publicly so far “out of respect for the people who were sharing their stories and out of a desire not to draw even more attention to a lot of misinformation”.
“I don’t accept there was any abuse,” he said. “Some of the horrible stories now being told simply never happened, while others have been so distorted from what actually took place that they bear no relationship to reality.”
Several television adaptations of Gaiman’s works have been cancelled or had their production paused. Prime Video’s Good Omens, based on the novel by Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, will now end with one 90-minute episode instead of a full third season. According to Deadline, Gaiman offered to step back from the show’s finale. A Disney film adaptation of Gaiman’s 2008 young adult novel The Graveyard Book, which was in development, was also put on hold. Neither streaming service confirmed that these decisions were taken because of the allegations.
