Thursday, June 08, 2006
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12:56 p.m.
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The current headline making story arc for Marvel Comics deals with events in their Civil War comic book written by Mark Millar (The Ultimates) and Steve McNiven (Ultimate Secret). It pushes superheroes towards making a black or white decision about which side their on in what could be taken as a parody of the political stance adopted by George Bush's America. On one side of the equation we have Iron Man. The character has gone through his paces lately as an alcoholic and recently as a member of the US government. One of the trifecta of powers in the Avengers, Iron Man believes that the time has come where all super-humans must be required to regisier with the government. The alternate is a hostile response, jailing, and other assorted behaviours unbecoming a super-hero.
Captain America, of all people, stands on the other side of the fence as a strong believer in letting people make a choice about whether or not to 'out' themselves. After all, not only are they putting their own lives in danger, but also that of their families and loved ones. Personally, I'm with Cap, but seeing as how super-humans can, and quite regularly do, cause a lot of damage to the world, I can also slightly sympathize with the other side.
It's an interesting story with interesting ramifications. Written by a Scotsman who has made no bones about his feelings about Bush and the war through his stories, Marvel has taken what could be seen as an aggressive stance at the exclusive and hostile administration in the White House. Gay marriage? Not going to happen. Going to fight with us in Iraq? No? Now you're going to need a passport to get into the country.
It's gut-reaction politics at its best and this is what we're seeing in the comics.
As a Canadian, I can, for the most part, sit back and take all of this in without needing to express my feelings one way or another. However, when it does spill over to my neck of the woods courtesy of an aggressive Marvel PR agent, then I get touchy.I've often expressed distaste for the way in which the Big Two (Marvel and DC) handle their PR machine. Understandably this is much more of a niche market for news agencies, primarily online, and so compromise has to be made much more frequently in order to keep the new material and inside scoops flowing. It's not the best system, but it's hard to see any way around it at this point.
Marvel, as politely as I can put this, can be a bit snobbish when it comes to who they deal with. They are the clique of cliques and while their body of work has made them an entity worthy of admiration, their George Bush "you're in or you're out" antics are frustrating.
Case in point: I received this email second-hand as part of a Marvel PR blitz.
All,
We have a situation and I must play hardball and get everyone on the same page.
A few copies of Thunderbolts #103 got out a week early. This issue (which is due to come out next week) references the ending moments of Civil War #2. There is talk on message boards about what this is. Please do not report on this, reveal this, or write up news stories on this until Weds 6/14, when Civil War 2 is out. Message boards will be message boards, and they will talk there, but please contain it to that. There will be no official confirmation from Marvel.
If any stories about the ending of Civil War #2 are posted on sites before the issue hits stands on 6/14/06 (next week), that site will no longer receive any information on Civil War. Period. This is a sensitive matter and only so much can be done to contain it, but it requires everyone to play along. No one scoop this, or else you will be cut off from Millar, McNiven, Brevoort, Quesada, everyone and everything regarding Civil War, including art and press releases.
This is not open to negotiation.
Thank you for your attention to this. Please let me know you have received this and understand.
Jim McCann
Um, excuse me? Openly threatening news agencies is a low blow, especially considering the politic-heavy storyline they're concerned about here is about granting individuals the rights and freedoms of chosing for themselves. Marvel's bottom line here is either you fall in place or your screwed.They don't need to do that. Comixfan, for instance, wouldn't publish this as a story ANYWAY. It's spoiler material and not related to what the site currently covers. I can appreciate covering your asses, but a simple "please don't say anything" is much better than "do it and we'll make sure you'll regret it" followed by a bullying of "write back if you understand plain english and get that this is a threat."
Whose side are you on? At this moment, not Marvel's.
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Parallel
1 comments:
WTF?
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