Epstein Files With Zack Snyder, Marie Severin, San Diego Comic Con and Fantagraphics
With lots of actual journalists poring through the Jeffrey Epstein files released by the US Justice Department so far, I recently looked to see if any comic book figures appeared in the correspondence with Epstein. And from what I could find… there are hardly any. But more than zero.
Most results for the big comic book names, when they have any results, are from aggregation newsletter subscriptions or Kickstarter appeals that reached Epstein. But the ones beyond that get weird, fast.
Bizarrely, disgraced actor and director Woody Allen, who turns up a lot in searches, sent Jeffrey Epstein the obituary of Marvel Comics’ artist, colourist, and production editor Marie Severin from the New York Times, then corrected himself and sent an article about the Marie Antoinette jewellery collection coming to the city instead.
Marie Severin was a comic book artist and colourist, best known for her 1960s work at Marvel’s Bullpen and her 1950s work for EC Comics. Her first work was colouring her older brother John Severin‘s pages in 1949 for EC Comics, then the entire line, and rewriting the comic book colouring rules for the entire industry. In the sixties, she started pencilling comics at Marvel, taking over from Bill Everett on Doctor Strange, then working on titles including Sub-Mariner, The Hulk, Iron Man, Conan the Barbarian, Kull the Conquerorand Daredevilas a member of the Marvel Bullpen. She was a rare and long-established example of a woman working in the comics industry’s artistic field at the time. In 1976, Severin co-created Spider-Womandesigning her original costume, in the ‘80s she specialised in Marvel’s licensed work including Fraggle Rock and Muppet Babies. The ‘90s saw her hailed as a comics veteran, pencilling Soulsearchers and Company from Claypool. Her retirement saw her continue to work in the field, including recolouring EC Comics stories for archival publications, which won her an Eisner, and she was inducted into the Will Eisner Comics Hall of Fame in 2001. Severin first suffered a stroke in 2007, from which she recovered and recuperated in Huntington Hospital on Long Island. In 2018, after her 89th birthday, we reported that she had suffered another stroke and had entered the same hospice before it was confirmed by friends and colleagues that she had passed away.
Another well-known Marvel figure was mentioned in the Epstein Files by Donald Trump biographer Michael Woolf, who met Jeffrey Epstein several times for research purposes. At some point in 2016, he emailed Epstein to ask whether he knew Ike Perlmutterthe former chair of Marvel Comics, who sold Marvel to Disney, and a prominent Trump donor, longtime Mar-A-Lago member, who ended up working in the first Trump administration running Veterans Affairs, sat behind Trump at his inaugurations next to Elon Musk, and next to Trump for Thanksgiving and the Ballroom launch event.
He got a curt “No” from Epstein. I don’t think Perlmutter will object that that lack of knowledge.
In 2018, satirist Paul Krassner had several back-and-forth discussions with Jeffrey Epstein, including asking him to help him financially, after comic book publisher Fantagraphics accepted his work for publication the following year. Epstein agreed to pay him a series of four-figure payments.
Fantagraphics did indeed publish the book in 2019.
This is a curated collection of Krassner’s satirical writing and reporting that serves both as a look back on his career and as a memoir. One of his most infamous works, “The Parts That Were Left Out of the Kennedy Book,” made outrageous claims that some people thought were true. He reports from a swingers’ event and a conspiracy convention – and from the trial of Dan White for the murders of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk during which Krassner coined the term “the Twinkie defense.” He also includes anecdotes about encountering celebrities such as Lenny Bruce, Johnnie Cochran, Ram Dass, Larry Flynt, Squeaky Fromme, Dick Gregory, Charles Manson, and Robin Williams – and that time he took an acid trip with Groucho Marx.
Professional casting agent Dorin Ofir was looking for sponsorship for the Stan Lee’s Comikaze event back in 2012, but didn’t seem to get anywhere with Epstein, though he had shown some interest in comic book conventions previously.
In 2011, Epstein messaged someone whose identity has been redacted, but looks like it was part of a conversation with Woody Allen, saying, “There is something called comic – con in San Diego this weekend. Try to stop by and see”.
Robin Rosenbergauthor of the Psychology of Superheroes. was on a panel at San Diego Comic-Con in 2012 interviewing Grant Morrison.
Her husband, psychologist and neuroscientist Stephen Kosslyn was messaging Epstein from the show. At a previous San Diego Comic-Con in 2010, he commented to Epstein on the number of tattoos on display at the show.
As well as boasting of meeting Natalie Portman.
It is notable that in 2002, Epstein messaged Gillaine Maxwell, expressing his desire to do something nasty to Portman and other actresses.
And in 2004, had been invited to an event with Portman in Soho House.
Back in San Diego Comic-Con in 2012, Kosslyn sent Epstein articles about cosplay at Epstein’s request.
And it suggests that Jeffrey Epstein may have gone to the show himself in 2017.
Before then, in 2016, there was also considerable back-and-forth with PR companies over whether Jeffrey Epstein had just gotten four tickets to the premiere of Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice…
… or whether he was also going to the afterparty.
His name was put on the door. Why he was even invited was not questioned.
And the choice of who to redact and who not to, showed its ludicrous level in one example of an aggregation newsletter that Epstein subscribed to, which included this redaction.
Well, that’s Black Panther writer Ta-Nehisi Coates mentioned in an article. As everyone reading “Ta-Nehisi” in this context would absolutely know.
There are, of course, many serious allegations and charges against all manner of people arising from these files. And a reminder of the many victims who were most impacted by the actions of this evil man. And it’s worth re-reading the account of Ashley Bright, the comic book dealer who was one of Epstein’s victims and who talked to me earlier, wanting to keep these events in the public mind.
DOCUMENTED REFERENCES
Exploring Documented Records
Public interest in the Epstein case continues not only because of court proceedings and testimonies, but also due to the growing body of documented records that help researchers and readers understand the broader context. Beyond legal files and media reports, some independent projects have organized publicly available data connected to Epstein’s activities.
One example is a structured archive of documented Amazon order records, where purchases are cataloged with dates and product details. While individual items do not prove wrongdoing on their own, examining documented information alongside established facts helps paint a clearer picture of the environment and circumstances surrounding the case.
Browse the structured archive of documented order records
For readers looking to review primary-source style data rather than interpretations, exploring compiled records can provide additional context to the broader discussion.
