OK, we don’t know what Grant really thinks. But it’s fun to pretend, isn’t it? Here you go kids… Your big shot to impress the big shots over at DC. A chance to put the words right in Bat’s big, square pie hole. Just type to your hearts content, and create your master piece.
Build your own Bat-comic right here.
And after you make the perfect panel? Why, do us a favor, comment below with a link.
Though covered point-by-point by Marvel’s EIC here, faithful followers of Ed Brubaker’s amazing run in the pages of Captain America
saw a wee bit of controversy spring up and out of the pages of issue #602 recently.
For those not in the know (SPOILER ALERT) the issue in question features the current Cap, Bucky Barnes, and former Cap Sidekick, Sam Wilson (Falcon) on an undercover mission in Idaho. As they make their way through the state that’s truly ‘More Than Just Potatoes‘, they happen to come across a group of protestors. Bucky makes a comment that the rally appears to be an “Anti-Tax thing”, and Sam remarks that he (“A black man from Harlem”) wouldn’t fit it with “a bunch of angry white folks.” And, due largely to a tight deadline, and slight error on the letterer’s part… the rally signs declared things like “Tea Bag Libs Before They Tea Bag You!” and “Stop the Socialists!”… This in turn ruffled the feathers of members in Nationwide Tea Party Coalition; and the anger-inducing Kool-Aid was thus passed out for the national media circus.
As explained by Joe Quesada, this wasn’t an intentional jab at a political entity, rather, it was a simple mistake. As the books’ deadline loomed, the editor noted missing slogans on the final press ready art. Marvel asked the letterer to quickly photoshop in some slogans to make it in before deadline. Quickly googling protest signs to add a ‘layer of reality’ to the book led to the aforementioned slogans being dumped into the artwork, which was quickly green-lit for the presses. When the error was eventually caught, Marvel apologized, and fixed the art files; ensuring reprints of the issue, as well the eventual printing of the trade paperback, would not perpetuate the mistake. This of course did not stop ‘Tea Drinker’ Warner Todd Huston from starting a flame war. Of course it didn’t.
But, gentle Comicmixers… this begs the question to be asked. While both Ed Brubaker and Marvel Comics have made it clear they opt to stay away from being overtly political in their books… what if they decided not to be. Comic books, especially of the Marvel or DC sort, are fiction. Doesn’t fiction (even starring widely recognized figures like Captain America and Superman) have the right to be as political as they want to be? While Joey Q. made the admission of guilt, and has done his job to quell the issues raised by the Hulk-like Tea Party Gang… What could they do, if the next issue did feature the Tea Party? What it Sam Wilson decided to join the Black Panthers? What if Bucky decided he was a Socialist (I mean they did save his butt from obliteration, no?)… The question really is: what right does any group have to say when it comes to works of fiction, comic or not?
Consider this an invitation to tell us how you feel.
Warnings:
For external use only. Do not use on Skrulls. Ask Dr. Pym before use if you have the legacy virus. Stop
use if rash or irritations occurs. Keep out of reach of Slapstick. If
swallowed, get Jarvis or contact a Poison Control Center right
away.
Directions:
Apply to underarms only, UNDER your spandex suit.
Indications:
Reduces underarm wetness, fights effects of the soul gem.
“Just don’t tell the Mole I’m moonlighting.”
“If you need me, simply call me on my phone shaped like Mary Worth. I shall immediately leap forth and don my heroic garb and join you in battle. Shall I bring my Steve Allen Ultimate Pog? Perhaps I shall thwart the evil we face today in a rousing round of Lee Carvallo’s Putting Challenge!”
“When do I get my collectible Avengers Identity card with Holofoil Engraved Signature of Stan Lee?”
“Yeah, trust me babe. The Avengers need me. I’m a star! Simon? Theodore? Come on. They’re just like Tigra and Ant-Man… worthless filler getting in the way of the main attraction.”
“That’s right, toots. It’ll be me, Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America. We’ll be ‘The Fantastic Four’!”
“Now, what number do we start with? I called Brother Voodoo, and told him I love you. Singing…Ooh-ee-ooh-ah-ah, fing-fang-walla-walla-bing-bang-foom.”
“I don’t know why you invited me here. I just want to be the best Pokémon Master I can be! With my pal Picachu, Bulbasaur, and Lickatongue I just know I can defeat all the gym trainers in the land. According to my Pokadex, my next battle is against Victor in the Latveria battlezone!”
“Since I’m here though, I would be interested in trading. How about Charizard for Falcon?”
“Hi there. Fenton Crackshell here. Don’t let these feathers fool you. While it looks like I’m nothing but your average lightning fast bean-counter, I assure you, I am so much more. Thanks to my friend Prof. Gyro Gearloose, I’m the most well equipped Duck around!”
“Folks familiar with my work might think I only work for the private sector, but I happen to have plenty of experience working with heroic vigilantes as well!”
“I look forward to working alongside the Avengers to protect Duckberg from the likes of Flintheart Glomgold, the Beagle Boys, and Ultron.”
It’s official. Disney CEO Bob Iger gave analysts a peek at what the company is planning around the iPad during a conference call yesterday discussing their 1Q10 financials. He mentioned that native iPad apps are being developed for Marvel Comics content.
As to his feelings on the iPad, Iger said:
“We find that iPad has a lot of potential, we think it’s a really
compelling device. We think it could be a game changer in terms of
enabling us to create essentially new forms of content. Obviously it
will be a great device to play games on and to watch videos because of
the clarity of the screen. But the interactivity that it will allow on
a portable device with such a high quality screen is going to enable us
to really start developing products that is different than the product
that you typically see on an internet connected computer or on a
television set.”
(And yes, I called this one early. Easiest prediction I ever made.)
Boy, it’s been a long three years. And that’s not even counting the months of prep beforehand. But on this day in 2007, ComicMix went live. (We were supposed to debut the day before, but went down for a few hours because of a previously undiscovered security hole. We went back up the next day, and we’ve been moving along ever since.)
Over three hundred and fifty comics installments and seven thousand posts later, we’re still at it.
There are a lot of people we’d like to thank– the hundreds of contributors and the thousands of commenters, our tech providers at CrowdFusion, our print partners at IDW, all the press people who’ve covered us and interviewed us, the wide and varied sources who feed us tips and stories both on and off the record, everybody who’s ever linked to us or retweeted a post.
Through the heartache and ulcers, the many many many late nights, and all the things that go along with creating in some of the most vibrant art forms ever created, we’re still at it. We don’t know what tomorrow may bring… but we’re glad you’ve been here for the ride.
Thank you for supporting us. We try to be worthy of your attention and your commerce.
Columns / Glenn Hauman / News
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