Robb Armstrong, the creator of the cartoon Jump Start, has disowned his former friend Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams and is leading the “black sharpie revolt” against him.
Adams is currently embroiled in a public scandal after advice he lashed out last week when he told white people to “get the fuck away from black people,” citing a poll that showed nearly half of black people aren’t ok is with whites.
After hearing his former friend’s diatribe and reading the details, Armstrong told the Washington Post, “My heart first sank, then it broke.”
“I had to accept the reality that my friend from the early days was gone. In his place was a soulless, heartless racist.”
Armstrong’s cartoon Jump Start is a daily comic that portrays the life of a young black couple as they try to balance work and raising their children.
Robb Armstong: The Jump Start cartoonist and former friend of Scott Adams disowned the creator of Dilbert and launched the Black Sharpshooter Rebellion against him
Armstrong, a black man, and Adams entered the cartoon world together years ago and had remained friends ever since.
Also in 2016, Adams wrote a free blurb for Adams’ book ‘Fearless: A Cartoonist’s Guide to Life’.
Now Armstrong is urging his readers and those who own the book to delete Adams’s blurb.
“Use a thick black marker to stand up against racism,” Armstrong said.
Adams had written that Fearless was an “inspiration” that contained “some of the most enlightening cartoon advice you’ll ever read.”
As the backlash continues, Adams wrote on Twitter that “Dilbert has been cut from all newspapers, websites, calendars and books because I gave some advice that everyone agreed with. (My syndication partner canceled me.)”
In addition, Penguin Random House announced that its Portfolio imprint will no longer publish the Adams book “Reframe Your Brain,” the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
Adams’ current troubles erupted after Dilbert was canned by 77 newspapers in September for increasingly controversial storylines, including one about a black character who identifies as white.
The comic has been in circulation since 1989 and regularly pokes fun at office culture.
During Adams’ racing rant, posted on his personal YouTube page, which has 118,000 subscribers, he called black people a “hate group.”
The 65-year-old said: ‘This is unsolvable. This can’t be solved… You just have to escape. So that’s what I did, I went to a neighborhood where I have a very low black population.”
On Saturday, Gannett, owner of more than 100 newspapers, confirmed it would drop Dilbert over the controversy.
“Recent discriminatory comments from creator Scott Adams influenced our decision to stop publishing his comic,” the organization said in a statement to The New York Post on Saturday.
“While we respect and encourage freedom of expression, his views do not align with our editorial or business values as an organization.
Darrin Bell, creator of Candorville and the only black cartoonist to win the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning, told the Washington Post on Saturday that Adams “is a disgrace,” comparing Adams’ views to the Jim Crow era.
He said he plans to spoof Dilbert in upcoming cartoons.
Scott Adams allegedly amassed a $70 million fortune for his beloved ‘Dilbert’ comics that have been in circulation since 1989
Armstrong posted a photo of his black sniper revolt. He scrapped Adams’ endorsement of his 2016 book “Fearless.”
Armstrong’s cartoon Jump Start is a daily strip that portrays the lives of a young black couple as they try to balance work and raising their children
Adams appeared to be doubling down on comments on Twitter this weekend. “A lot of people are mad at me today, but I haven’t heard anyone deny it yet,” he told his 867,000 followers.
Dilbert has appeared in newspapers in 57 countries and in 19 languages - and there are over 20 million Dilbert books and calendars in print
Adams appeared to be doubling down on comments on Twitter this weekend.
“A lot of people are mad at me today, but I haven’t heard anyone disagree,” he told his 867,000 followers.
“I make two main points: 1. Treat everyone as an individual (no discrimination).
‘2. Avoid any group that disrespects you. Does anyone think that’s bad advice?’
Later in the day, he posted, “Has anyone checked the price of free speech lately? It’s worse than eggs.’
It comes five months after Lee Enterprises also pulled the cartoon from its papers.
The media company owns 77 newspapers across the country — including The Buffalo News, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Arizona Daily Sun — and has been publishing Adams’ corporate ladder jokes for years.
