X-Men Gold Controversy

[hedrap]

....and I'm not one to label much as controversial, but this is the new textbook example....

X-Men Gold #1 was illustrated by Indonesian artist Ardian Syaf. Syaf snuck several references into the art, including numbers referencing protests by Muslim Indonesians of the Christian governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who himself was accused of making certain intolerant statements. The scene has the Jewish mutant Kitty Pryde appealing to a crowd of humans for tolerance. Syaf's art places Kitty's head adjacent to the "jew" portion of a "jewelry" sign in the background, and the numbers 221 and 51 in the background are related to the Jakarta protests.

There was also a scene of the X-Men playing baseball. In the scene, Colossus is wearing a t-shirt with the letters and numbers "QS 5:51," which reference a verse from the Qur’an that, in a specific Indonesian translation, translates into a warning that Muslims should not appoint Christians or Jewish people as their leaders.

It is worth noting that the X-Men were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, two Jewish creators. Marc Guggenheim, the writer of X-Men Gold #1, is himself Jewish. Even within the context of the issue, the X-Men are led by Kitty Pryde, who is Jewish and a former love interest of Colossus. Colossus's best friend, Nightcrawler, is also a Catholic priest and is part of the team.

http://comicbook.com/marvel/2017/04/08/marvel-releases-statement-on-controversial-x-men-gold-art/

[Bruce Banner]

Hmmm... by "disciplinary action" I hope they mean they're firing the gentleman in question and with any luck he'll never work in mainstream comics again.

[emeraldknight47]

Comics, politics and religious beliefs should not even remotely cross paths. Comics are meant to be escapism from the "real" world and writers or artists who insist upon using the medium to bolster or further their religious beliefs or political worldviews need to find another medium in which they can do that.

[thunderbolt]

Not to mention the fact that the artist has totally missed the main message of the XMen, tolerance of others different than yourself.

[hedrap]

I blame Nick Spencer. He's taken the socio-political angle to a degree the Big Two really don't go. They'll tackle issues, reference something, but Spencer took the Millar/Morrison quasi-indie mentality and applied it to the big stage for attention.

This guy is doing it in his own way, knowingly subverting the X-Men so we in the west don't see it, but his fellow travelers in east Asia are in the know.

Once again, apply the reversal and imagine if some far-right Greek artist pulled this. Career, over and out.

[MRP]

Comics, politics and religious beliefs should not even remotely cross paths. Comics are meant to be escapism from the "real" world and writers or artists who insist upon using the medium to bolster or further their religious beliefs or political worldviews need to find another medium in which they can do that.

Comics have been socio-political; form the very earliest Superman strips by Siegel and Shuster in Action Comics where Superman is tackling every kind of social and political issue of the time, through the 40s when they were essentially war propaganda for kids and soldiers, etc. Early 60s Marvel is entirely anti-Red propaganda from Iron Man's origins to the space race in FF #1 and the assorted villains they fight throughout. By the late 60s and 70s you get the anti-drug issues of Spidey that weren't code approved to things like Green Lantern 76 with Denny O'NJeil's start of the hard travelling heroes storyline where GL and GA tackle many of the socio-political issues of the early 70s from racism to drug use. It was only at the height of the Seductin of hte Innocent wave that comics took a break form over socio-political statements, they were still there, just more subtle.

Comics and politics and socio-political issues have not only crossed paths, they have been intertwined form the earliest days of the American comic book industry. Saying they are pure escapism is just denial and willful ignorance to the content on the pages.

-M

[palitoy]

Yeah, comics have always done socio-political themes but they are usually forward thinking and socially progressive, but this is hate, pure and simple.

[MRP]

Yeah, comics have always done socio-political themes but they are usually forward thinking and socially progressive, but this is hate, pure and simple.

Oh, I am not condoning what Syaf did in any way, I just vehemently disagree with the notion that comics are pure escapism and have never and should never touch on socio-political issues.

-M

[palitoy]

Oh, I am not condoning what Syaf did in any way, I just vehemently disagree with the notion that comics are pure escapism and have never and should never touch on socio-political issues.

Oh yeah, I was totally backing you up. In the right hands, it makes comics better, just not in this case.

[Mr.Marion]

Comics have been catering to the far left and PC culture for a while now. The big two won't even hire Chuck Dixon because of it. I hope this incident is a bridge too far and we see much less of a heavy handed message in every book.

BTW I am a fan the GA/GL page mentioned above.

[MRP]

Marvel has terminated Syaf's contract effective immediately. Here's their official statement...

“Marvel has terminated Ardian Syaf’s contract effective immediately. ‘X-Men Gold’ #2 and #3 featuring his work have already been sent to the printer and will continue to ship bi-weekly. Issues #4, #5, and #6 will be drawn by R. B. Silva and issues #7, #8, and #9 will be drawn by Ken Lashley. A permanent replacement artist will be assigned to ‘X-Men Gold’ in the coming weeks.”

story from comicbook.com http://comicbook.com/marvel/2017/04/...ted-by-marvel/

-M

[Nostalgiabuff]

good. People that spread hate and intolerance need to be weeded out and disposed of