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My Response to Joe Quesada

// February 10th, 2010 // 14 Comments » // Comics

The other day someone mentioned to me that the new issue of Captain America had some sort of anti- Tea Party controversy in it.  I hadn’t read it yet, but I shrugged it off.  As the weekend passed by I heard about it a couple more times, and finally when Glenn Beck even mentioned it briefly, I had to find out for myself.

I was absolutely disgusted after reading it.  I felt that it not only superficially and falsely made accusation upon tea party- goers but also upon Conservatives in general. I responded to the issue on the examiner.com, vowing that I would no longer be purchasing Captain America comics, which had been on my pull list for 2+ years.

This morning, Marvel EIC Joe Quesada responded to the controversy.  Basically, what he said amounted to:  ”our bad.”

Okay, to be fair, he said more than that.   Basically, in the issue Bucky Barnes and Sam “Falcon” Wilson are sent to Boise, Idaho to stop a militant Anti-Government group called the Watchdogs.  But instead of asking around about the Watchdogs, Bucky and Sam stake out a huge protest in Boise that looks quite a lot like Tea Party people.   Anti-socialism signs?  Check.  Mentions of Government-run healthcare.  Yep.   But the main tie is the central sign which says “Tea bag the liberals before they tea bag you!”

Quesada explains

“The book was getting ready to go to the printer, it was on fire already from a deadline standpoint, but the editor on the book noticed that there was a small art correct that needed to get done. On the first page featuring the protestors, the artist on the book drew slogans into the protest signs to give them a sense of reality and to set up the scene. On the following page featuring the protestors again, there were signs, but nothing written in them. From a continuity standpoint, this omission stood out like a sore thumb, but was easily fixable. So, just before the book went to the printer, the editor asked the letterer on the book to just fudge in some quick signs. The letterer in his rush to get the book out of the door but wanting to keep the signs believable, looked on the net and started pulling slogans from actual signs.” (courtesy comicbookresources.com)

At which point the letterer pulled out a sign that ended up (more or less) in the comic.

That is a very reasonable explanation.

Too bad it doesn’t actually explain anything.   Quesada claims in the interview with CBR that this group of protestors is no different than the ones Captain America writer Ed Brubaker used in previous story arcs.  The difference being that he never called those people racists, and that’s exactly what he does in the current issue.

First of all, even if you maintain that the protestors aren’t specifically Tea Party-related, the signs represent Right Wing America, and the concerns of average citizens regardless of political persuasion.  You cannot dispute that.

Secondly, what was the point of the protest scene in the first place?   Bucky and Sam stare at the crowd from above and make several judgmental comments about them, which ultimately leads to Bucky forming a plan that will allow him to infiltrate the Watchdogs.   That plan is for Sam to impersonate an IRS Agent and harass a small business owner, and for Bucky (in cognito) to violently eject him from the bar.  Bucky caps off the act by calling Sam “Obama”, inherently suggesting that all black people are the same.  And of course the ruse works and Bucky gets invited into the Watchdogs.

You might suggest that the story only implies that the Watchdogs are racist.  You would be wrong.  It was the protest group that inspired Bucky’s racist plan.   By including the rally scene, Brubaker has automatically drawn a link between the Watchdogs and the average people on the street.   Sam Wilson himself even make racist comments that he can’t blend in with angry white people.

There’s a lot there to be concerned about.

What’s worse is that Quesada seems rather dismissive of the fact that he’s insulted a large portion of his audience. I’m not asking for an apology.   I’m not certain it would be sincere anyway.   What I demand from Quesada is an admission of guilt.

“We screwed up, no excuses.”  That is the only acceptable response.

I disagree with liberal politics, and I outright abhor progressive politics, but the difference between me and them is that I can make my argument without insults are lies. No true intellectual has ever defeated an enemy by becoming one.

I don’t need propaganda.  I have facts.

That is where Brubaker went wrong. It’s not that he commented on Right-sided people.  It’s that he’s drawn false conclusions about their motivations.  I’m sure there are people who don’t like Obama because he’s black.  But that doesn’t mean that everyone who disapproves of him is racist.  I also hate Nancy Pelosi. She’s white. Harry Reid is not only white, but made comments about the President as a “light-skinned Negro”.   Where is the Captain America comic about that?  Don’t bother, I don’t want to read it.  At the end of the day, neither that nor this issue has added anything to the discourse.

All this has done is diminish the integrity of comics as a medium and the image of Ed Brubaker as a writer.

And that’s really sad.  I am a Marvel fan. And I am a comics fanatic.  I love this medium, yet things like this make me feel like the people at the reins of the industry don’t like me.

There’s something very, very wrong there.

Captain America vs Hollywood

// February 7th, 2010 // No Comments » // Comics, Movies, Rumor

When Marvel Comics formed Marvel Entertainment it was a revelation.  It signaled that the company was taking charge of its own destiny in the larger world of on-screen media.   Iron Man proved that a true, honest to God comic book adaptation could be made.  Iron Man is in many ways the prefect comic film, and it’s sequel (due this May) looks to be every bit as good or better.  The road to Marvel’s Avengers film seemed to have clear blue skies.

Then came this announcement.  The LA Times is reporting that Director Joe Johnston is essentially turning the Captain America costume and concept into a joke.

“The costume is a flag, but the way we’re getting around that is we have Steve Rogers forced into the USO circuit. After he’s made into this super-soldier, they decide they can’t send him into combat and risk him getting killed. He’s the only one and they can’t make more. So they say, ‘You’re going to be in this USO show’ and they give him a flag suit. He can’t wait to get out of it.” (Courtesy LA Times)

Okay… two questions.

1. What’s the point of spending a billion dollars to create a super soldier just so you can turn him into a clown?
2. Does Joe Johnston and Co. realize that Cap will eventually be standing next to the Norse God of Thunder and the Incredible Hulk?  Why would that costume be the one American audiences find silly?

I realize this comes dangerously close to talking about politics, and for that I apologize.  But this is something I feel needs to be said.   Hollywood never once questioned putting Spider-man or Batman in their costumes.  For crepes’ sakes do you remember the Batman and Robin costumes that Joel Schumaker approved??? Those costumes were silly.

What’s so crazy about an honorable and patriotic soldier during WW2?   What’s so crazy about an American audience believing a man wrapped in the flag?

This isn’t about the audience.  This is about Hollywood.

From ‘Hanoi Jane‘ on down through the ages to James Cameron, the movie and entertainment industry has had a long standing grudge with traditional American values.  The First Amendment is designed to protect even anti-American sentiment.  It’s fine for film-makers and writers to express that point of view.   But this is Captain America.

Cap is one of the oldest comic creations still in circulation.  He was created specifically to be the symbol of American sentiment during WW2.  Call me crazy, but I think that sentiment still exists in the hearts and minds of the majority of the American people.  Even when people don’t love their government, they can still love their country.

A few years ago, when Hollywood decided that GI Joe would no longer be “The Real American Hero” for their big-screen adaptation (The Rise of Cobra), I made a conscious decision that I would not spend my hard-earned money on it.  That decision was made in part because I am a patriot, but also because it is an affront to the property.  GI Joe was a toy franchise about an American task military force comprised of different people of all ethnicities and backgrounds fighting together to preserve liberty and freedom.  Is there anything you can think of more beautiful than that???

But the movie studios decided that was too American.

Okay. Fine.  I didn’t spend my money on The Rise of Cobra.  Nor did I shell out ten dollars for a glorified cartoon by a director who advocates eco-terrorism and hates America.   James Cameron can make whatever film he wants.  He can come up with film techniques that simulate euphoria in the viewer’s mind.  I won’t pay for it.

And the same goes for Captain America.

Marvel Entertainment.  Do not make this film. Do not desecrate the integrity of the character just because you disagree with it. The story of a man who loved his country so much that he underwent experimentation and made himself a walking target to inspire the people of the world is not an out-dated one.

It’s just an under-written one.

UPDATE:  After reading this article on Bighollywood.com, I realized that I should have finished reading the second half of the LA Times article.

To clarify, eventually Steve Rogers goes AWOL (although I’m not certain how one goes AWOL from the USO Tour, but still…) and comes to realize the importance of the costume.  It’s your classic ‘Hero’s Journey’ scenario. And then he becomes a leader.

So ADMITTING MY MISTAKE, my point still kind of stands.   There’s no need to make these changes in the character and costume.

Steve Rogers was a skinny kid who wasn’t allowed to defend his country because he was too frail.  So he agrees to these experimental procedures that will make him a symbol of the American Spirit.  That’s it.  That’s the story.  So why does he get thrust into the USO where he decides he’s too cool to wear the flag?  Where does that come into the story?

It fundamentally changes the character’s personality and purpose.  Cap wears the bright, gaudy costume in defiance of the Nazis. He’s a walking target, and he’s supposed to be. That’s why he has a big ass shield! And that’s another thing.  If Steve thinks the costume is stupid, how is he going to feel about carrying around a bright red, white and blue shield in public?  And again, he’ll later be standing by Thor and Iron Man, and maybe even Ant Man. Isn’t that goofy?  These movies require you to suspend disbelief.  So why is it more realistic and acceptable to see a man dressed as a giant bat than one dressed as the American flag?

Reborn: Revealed?

// October 17th, 2009 // No Comments » // Comics, Humor, Rumor

There’s a lot of good that comes from the internet.  It may be the greatest invention since toilet paper.   But one thing that the internet has managed to ruin is suspense.

Yes, the internet has become spoiler central for any upcoming event you can think of. Now, often it isn’t such a big deal.  I have a tendency to look for movie and television spoilers.   But if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s accidentally stumbling onto a spoiler unintentionally. Such is the case with Marvel’s Reborn mini-series.

I’ll be honest.  I don’t particularly care for the series.  The fact is, I like Bucky Cap, and he’s only had a year with the Shield.  It feels cheap to bring Steve Rogers back so soon.  Furthermore, the series just isn’t up to the standards of the regular Cap comic. Though I am a fan of both artists, Hitch and Butch Guice do not work well together.  The art looks incredibly muddy.  And I’m not sure Brubaker was all that into doing this so soon.  Publicly, he has assured us that it was all his doing and not Marvel editorial, but we’ve heard that line before.   Granted, the last time Marvel told him what to do, he left Daredevil.  Still, nothing feels right on Reborn.

Still, I’ve been reading it.  I’m curious as to how it unfolds.  Unfortunately, after reading IGN’s exclusive solicitations for Marvel’s upcoming Seige event, I no longer need to wonder who will carry the Shield.

As much as I would love to show you Stuart Immonen’s gorgeous cover, I can’t stomach spoiling it for you as it was done to me.

Ah, soliciations… you’ve screwed me again.