Even Comic Book Heroes Turning Against American Values

I have been a fan of comic books since I was a kid.  I used to like reading the Archie comics, Richie Rich, Disney and the occasional horror genre comic.  But my absolute favorites and the ones that I still purchase today are the super hero comics.  Based on how well the movies inspired by these comics do in ticket sales, I would venture to guess that most Americans like super heros.  But lately it would seem that the comics and their heroes do not value America and her values as much as the majority of her citizens.

My eyes were first opened to this when the very American hero of Superman changed his slogan that debuted in the 50s from “Truth, justice and the American way” to simply just “Truth and justice.”  It was an indication that the marketers of Superman no longer felt that there was value in using “the American way.”  Could it be that their was shame about what that term defined?  Had Superman jumped on the Hollywood bandwagon of blame America first and focus on her faults?  Apparently so.  There was a bit of an outcry when this originally happened in 2006, but nobody is paying it much attention now.

Superman is from the DC Universe.  Could those same opinions cross over to the Marvel Universe?  Yes indeed and they have.  And what really makes this despicable is that the controversy that has erupted this week has spawned from a Captain America comic book.  This is a hero that embodies America.  Much like DC’s Wonder Woman who fought off the Nazis during World War II, Captain America was always fighting for America whether it was Nazis or The Cold War.  Now apparently, Captain America thinks concerned citizens in America are the enemy.  Marvel and Captain America have bought into the media lies that tea party attendees are a bunch of red-necked racists.

The comic depicts a scene in Issue 602 that features Captain America investigating a right-wing anti-government militia group called “the Watchdogs”.  Captain America is shown in the scene with a partner named Falcon and he explains to him that he wants to infiltrate the group.  Falcon is a black character.  The image I included with this post is an image from the scene the two characters are observing and it looks like a tea party gathering to me.  The Falcon observes that the sentiments they are watching from the “Watchdog” group are not limited to them and he wonders how he will fit in with these angry white people.  Captain America plans to have Falcon pose as an IRS agent to fuel the anger.  Because everyone knows a black IRS agent is like Satan to us tea bagging hicks. 

People like myself have been outraged by this and called for an apology from Marvel and they have issued one.  At least they pretended to apolgize.  As Yahoo news reports:

The clear implicit attack on the Tea Party Movement was first noticed by Publius’ Forum’s Warner Todd Huston.  When a minor uproar ensued, Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada spoke to Comic Book Resources and defended the issue while apologizing for the panel that seemed to tie real-life Tea Party protesters to the fictional group depicted in the book.

Saying that he could “absolutely see how some people are upset about this,” Quesada said that there was “zero discussion to include a group that looked like a Tea Party demonstration,” adding, “There was no thought that it represented a particular group.”

Quesada then went on to say that Marvel would “apologize for and own up to” a series of “stupid mistakes” that led to them “accidentally identifying” one of the members of the protest group “as being a part of the Tea Party instead of a generic protest group.” He explained that they were on deadline to get the issue to the printer for publication, and in the course of sending it off it was noticed that the signs in the scene contained no words or phrases. He said the editor then asked the letterer to “fudge in some quick signs” and that in the “rush to get the book out of the door,” the letterer “looked on the net and started pulling slogans” from signs captured in photographs at Tea Party protests in order to make them appear “believable.”

Doesn’t sound like much of an apology to me.

Ronald Reagan Comic Book Coming Soon!

I know that I am a girl and should not be a fan of comic books, but I have loved them since I was kid.  I loved having such great visuals to go with such great stories.  I loved them all from Archie, horror genre and, of course, the superhero comics.  I am a DC person, but do enjoy the occassional Marvel and independent.  I know comics are not for everyone, but soon there will be a comic that every conservative will want to have a copy of not only for themselves, but for their kids as well.  There is no better way to introduce indoctrinated kids to one of the best American presidents – Ronald Reagan – than a comic book.

Bluewater Productions will be releasing Political Power Ronald Reagan, written by Don Smith who has made a name for himself interviewing creators and performers in the world of science fiction, comic books and entertainment with CosmicBookNews.com, ToyFare magazine and Wizard Entertainment. He now has jumped to the “other side of the table” as a writer for a bio-comic about Ronald Reagan as part of Bluewater Productions Political Power series. The issue, penned by Smith, was illustrated by Scott Woodward. The cover art was provided by award-winning artist Azim Akberal.

Don Smith joins me on the Freedom’s Wings Show on Thursday at 6pm ET.  We’ll discuss the comic book and the story of Ronald Reagan. The website asks, “Was the Soviet Union an “Evil Empire?” Was President Ronald Reagan at the right place and right time when it collapsed? Or was he one of the shrewdest occupants of the White House? Find out how this Mid-Western-turned-actor-turned-President went from B-movies to orchestrating the total collapse of the Soviet Union.”  You do not want to miss this!  Find out more about the comic here.  And listen to the show here.