In 2005, C.B. Cebulski—an aspiring, albeit inexperienced, male white writer in the world of comics—had a problem. An associate editor for Marvel, he wanted to break into writing, but because Marvel staff were not allowed to write for the publisher, he devised a pen name. And because he was a huge manga fan and wanted to write stories set in Japan, he decided his pen name would be (you know where this going, don't you?)…“Akira Yoshida.”
Nothing wrong with that plan, right?
Cebulski even got to write a few marvel titles set in Japan under the name, including “Wolverine: Soultaker” and “X-Men: Kitty Pryde: Shadow & Flame.”
When he was finally caught by a blogger who had been trying to uncover the real identity of Yoshida for years, he fessed up.
Cebulski’s non-apology doesn’t even come close to acknowledging his act of cultural appropriation, which was done for his own benefit ... but at least he learned a lot about writing!
I stopped writing under the pseudonym Akira Yoshida after about a year. It wasn’t transparent, but it taught me a lot about writing, communication and pressure. I was young and naïve and had a lot to learn back then.
More than just a pseudonym, Akira Yoshida became an identity ruse deep enough to be comparable to Michael Derrick Hudson, who wrote poetry under a fake Asian name, “Yi-Fen Chou,” and spawned controversy when his poem was chosen by Sherman Alexie for inclusion in Best American Poetry.
Cebulski started giving interviews as Yoshida, and even claimed that he had “seen” Yoshida around the office and at conventions.
On the first day that he was hired as Editor-in-Chief, Cebulski admitted the whole scam to the company, so…it’s all good, right? So far, Marvel hasn’t provided an official comment about their decision to promote Cebulski, which is bullshit, since the reason why they were drawn to Yoshida’s work in the first place was because according to the blogger who broke the story, “he was someone from a non-English speaking country who could write well for an American audience—something Marvel had struggled with in the past when seeking authentic voices."
Way to solve your diversity problem, Marvel!
A top-ranking Marvel editor even sprang to his defense, using the ol' "but he’s so culturally sensitive!” line because Cebulski spent time living in Japan, speaks the language, and “associates” with the culture. That’s just a few slippery steps from the whole eye-rolling “race is fluid” defense.
And if the name Cebulski chose wasn't bad enough...
So a white Marvel writer was a fake Japanese writer named Akira Yoshida? That's the name of the most popular Anime with the last name of the Japanese X-Man. It's like naming yourself Cheeseburger Schwarzenegger. While on the subject, please call me Cheeseburger Schwarzenegger.
— Seanbaby (@Seanbabydotcom) November 27, 2017
...here's some of the “culturally sensitive” content of Cebulski’s work as Yoshida:
Every single Akira Yoshida comic was a barrage of ninja and samurai shit where every character was obsessed with "honor." From what I can tell, "honor" means anything from baking to murder. pic.twitter.com/n1RFxlQ1QU
— Seanbaby (@Seanbabydotcom) November 27, 2017
Cebulski and Marvel, do the honorable thing and have some accountability.