Posted on August 28, 2019 at 2:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
Marvel Comics has raised a stir again, in what seems to be another attempt to be less controversial.
The Hollywood Reporter noticed that an essay that criticized America’s political system in early review copies of Marvel Comics No. 1000 has been replaced with a more moderate piece.
Specifically, Mark Waid’s original essay, accompanying an image of Captain America, included such language as:
“The system isn’t just. We’ve treated some of our own abominably. Worse, we’ve perpetuated the myth that any American can become anything, can achieve anything, through sheer force of will.
“And that’s not always true. This isn’t the land of opportunity for everyone. The American ideals aren’t always shared fairly. Yet without them, we have nothing.”
The new piece, also credited to Waid, reads more like:
“It’s a commitment to fight every day for justice, for acceptance and equality, and for the rights of everyone in this nation. At its best, this is a good country filled with people who recognize that those — not hatred, not bigotry, not exclusion — are the values of true patriotism.”
Marvel didn’t respond to specific requests for comment about the swap, though an insider told Hollywood Reporter that early copies are just that — early — and subject to change.
Just a few weeks ago, Art Spiegelman, the author of an acclaimed Holocaust memoir, pulled his contribution to a Marvel coffee-table book rather than take out political jabs at Donald Trump.
You can read the original Waid essay in the Hollywood Reporter’s article on the drama.
Categories: Today in Books