Why does life have to be so incredibly messy?

Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors. I love his works. So when I heard that the amazing Colleen Doran was illustrating a graphic novel based on Neil and Terry Pratchett's Good Omens back in the Spring of 2023, I never backed a Kickstarter so fast.

Since then Doran has been diligently trying to complete the project... even working through cancer treatment to finish. Because of her health issues, the book is way overdue, but I didn't care because I love her art so much. Definitely worth the wait. BUT THEN there's all the horrific allegations of grooming and abuse by Neil Gaiman that came to light.

As a result, the Kickstarter has extended the refund window and stated that Neil will not receive any of the proceeds from the project... so now I'm stuck. Do I cancel because supporting Gaiman in any capacity is impossible for me given how awful he turned out to be? Usually I'd say yes. But Colleen has poured years of her life into this book... and had nothing to do with what Gaiman's done. The idea of not supporting her is really impossible for me.

Ultimately my desire to not punish Colleen Doran won out and I've decided to keep my Kickstarter pledge. But holy shit is this an awful place to be. How many people have to get their lives upended by this one asshole? Because on top of the people making the Good Omens graphic novel, there's the people working on adapting his other works for stage, screen (most notably the amazing Netflix adaptation of The Sandman), and other graphic novels.

This really blows. Sometimes I can manage to separate the artist from their art. This time around it's been really, really tough.