Marvel Comics' new editor-in-chief admits to writing under a Japanese pseudonym for a year

C.B. Cebulski wrote several high-profile series under the name "Akira Yoshida" between 2005 and 2006

Marvel Comics' new editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski has admitted that he once wrote comics under the Japanese pseudonym "Akira Yoshida" for a year.

The issue recently caught attention thanks to a tweet by Image Comics brand manager David Brothers, who called for journalists to ask "Marvel and new EiC CB Cebulski on why he chose to use the pen name Akira Yoshida in the early 2000s to write a bunch of ‘Japanese-y’ books for them."

As Yoshida, Cebulski worked for Dreamwave, Dark Horse, and Marvel Comics between 2005 and 2006, writing for several high-profile Marvel miniseries including Thor: Son of Asgard, X-Men: Age of Apocalypse, Elektra: The Hand, and Wolverine: Soultaker. Many of the storylines were set in Japan and featured martial arts.

Cebulski also went to the effort of concealing his identity as Yoshida with an elaborate backstory, claiming in interviews that he was a Japanese man who had lived in the US for a period of time because his father was an international businessman, leading to his introduction to American comics. He claimed also to have worked in manga before being hired by Marvel.

Rumours that Akira Yoshida was in fact a pen name had floated around for nearly a decade; though Cebulski was questioned by reporters many times, he maintained that he was not Yoshida, who he said had visited the Marvel offices and had supposedly met with several other employees.

"I stopped writing under the pseudonym Akira Yoshida after about a year," Cebulski told Bleeding Cool. "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. But this is all old news that has been dealt with, and now as Marvel’s new Editor-in-Chief, I’m turning a new page and am excited to start sharing all my Marvel experiences with up and coming talent around the globe."

He was appointed editor-in-chief on 17 November. Cebulski is reported to have owned up to Marvel internally in the past and was sanctioned for his actions. Marvel has confirmed to The Independent that Cebulski did publish under the name Akira Yoshida, but that no further available statement is available at this time.

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