His work is generally considered to be pretty female positive, which is why it was such a surprise. I reserve judgement to some degree, since he hasn’t reacted badly and everyone seems to have moved past it. I think he may be more likely guilty of privilege and being unaware that he was coming across as creepy or threatening. I wasn’t there, don’t know any of the people involved, so I try to remain mindful.
Frank Miller, on the other hand, has become a complete ass. And yes, it colors my perception of even his earliest, best work. Alan Moore’s opinion of some of his past audience doesn’t bother me, but Miller’s snide ass-hattery makes me reasses a lot of his older work in a very judgemental way. Things I would have given a pass now seem like warning signs.
I think on some degree you need to disassociate the work from the artists, but it all depends. If Cory suddenly turned out to be running slaves from Uzbekistan to North Korea or something, I might stop buying his work to make sure I’m not endorsing or enriching someone I find questionable…but there is a limit to how much that will affect an artist for past, successful works.
Ultimately, I’m not sure I have a good answer or even rule-of-thumb. It’s kind of catch as catch can, really.
