Featuring stories from Eric Shanower, Troy Riser, Michael Tierney, and seventeen other masters of the form, FANTASTIC VOYAGES is all about doors --
No Conclusive Connection Between Threats to Artist and Vandalism at Gotham City Pizza
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Submitted by RJ Carter on Mon, 11/13/2017 - 15:28
"Nazi piece of s***. Be seeing you at Gotham Pizza motherf*****."
If you were planning to be at Gotham City Pizza and received this message prior to showing up, you would understandably be concerned. But this was the message sent via Facebook to comics artist ETHAN VAN SCIVER right before a planned event at Gotham City Pizza in Ormond Beach, Florida. According to store manager, MARCO FALLETTA, van Sciver let him know that he was receiving the threats.
"He showed me the screen shots, and he said, 'Do you still feel comfortable with me coming?'," Falletta told CriticalBlast.com. "You know, a lot of people talk a lot on social media, and I just too it as just a keyboard warrior. But I saw the treats, and they were totally directed at him. They did metnion Gotham City Pizza, and I don't know why...but I didn't really pay it any mind. I knew there were going to be a bunch of people here so I really wasn't worried about it."
By the next morning after the event, the restaurant, which caters to superhero fans through its atmosphere and decor (think Planet Krypton from KINGDOM COME), had one of its front glass doors smashed.
"We have two front entrances, and they're both glass doors," said Falletta. One of the doors is completely...it's shattered, but it's not on the ground because in Florida we have double-paned hurricane-proof glass. The detectives said they think it was hit with a cinder block."
While it's easy to make the post hoc ergo propter hoc leap of logic, there hasn't been a confirmed link between the event and the vandalism. "We don't know if they were trying to gain entry or if it was just vandalism. I know the alarm went off, so that could have also spooked them."
"There's no proof that the incident had anything to do with [the event]," Falleta says.
We asked if the advance notice of the threats had prompted any increase in security at the event. "No. We had a couple of people here who had concealed weapons permits, and knew what was going on," say Faletta. "When Ethan was here, I don't even think anybody even thought about it. I think it was an afterthought by that time. And it couldn't have went any better while he was here."
The damage isn't going to change the plans for any future guest appearances at Gotham City Pizza. "We're not going to stop doing what we're doing," concludes Falletta. "We enjoy it, and we do it for the families and the kids. I'm not going to stop what we're doing because of how people act."
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