Marvel Comics’ Ms. Marvel #13 not only displays a determined, patriotic Muslim-American superheroine on its cover, but it also dedicates much of its page content to the titular hero pushing a “get out the vote effort.” In a U.S. Presidential election that has featured intolerance widely and Islamophobia specifically, having the Jersey-born Pakistani character campaigning for democratic action feels heartening, coming, even as a does, from a mega-corporation-backed publisher like Marvel.

The comic hits retail stores on November 30th, three weeks after the election.

Ethan Sacks, writing for the New York Daily News, sounds befuddled about this timing:

The timing of “Ms. Marvel” # 13, however, is a little puzzling. By the time the issue hits stores on Nov. 30, the presidential race will (hopefully) have been long decided.

First, Sacks is either naive about the comic book industry or, worse, willfully ignorant: there are any number of reasons to have this issue come out after Tuesday, November 8th. Not the least of these reasons is the very point he embeds parenthetically in his comment, namely that we can only hope Nov. 8th concludes the ugly, vicious election season. Yet, many suspect/fear a even nastier fight than the Bush/Gore debacle of 2000 — and, in that scenario, the release of Ms. Marvel #13 will feel particularly wise, prescient, and rightfully scolding.

Second, the New York Daily News, in its online coverage of the Ms. Marvel issue, buried the lead. Unlike comics news sites like Newsarama or Comics Alliance or even other mainstream news sources like the Los Angeles Times, Sacks’s articles features only the cover and two images from the forthcoming issue rather than a full 5-page preview. There was no virtual ink, per se, to worry about wasting with these online sites, and the abundance of content could easily have been relegated to expandable thumbnails of the pages or an accompanying slideshow.

By giving as little visual context as possible to the story, the New York Daily News stymies not only the message of the comic book but also its further rationale — namely, the preview pages both call for active participation in the election process while also promote the sales of their forthcoming product. Marvel, and by extension its parent corporation The Walt Disney Company, is a business, and while its focus is entertainment, it is journalistically irresponsible to shrug one’s proverbial shoulders at the motives for such a loaded publication.

Now, the most innocuous explanation for the November 30th release of a November 8th-related issue would be a glitch in Marvel’s internal scheduling. Perhaps the effects of the company-wide “Civil War II” storyline bumped the timing of issue #13 and, in turn, providing online previews were attempts at making the best of a bad situation.

That answer, however, is highly unsatisfying as well as somewhat belittling of Marvel as a professional publisher. If a smaller superhero publisher like Valiant Comics can successfully time and promote its election tie-in — featuring Hillary Clinton and their “breakout hit character” Faith, as reported by the Washington Post — then Marvel should be able to do the same.

That leads to a darker possibility, sadly. Unlike Valiant specifically featuring one candidate (Clinton), Marvel had its character more widely supporting the democratic process — and perhaps that was even too political. As rival DC Comics attempts to improve its offerings in this regard, Marvel has recently dominated the superhero market in its character diversity. Was putting its lead Muslim character at the forefront of election activism a bridge too far?

And, as noted, there’s converse possibility: that American audiences will continue to need a democratic, populist spirit long after Election Night, given accusations of a “rigged” process and uncertainty of a losing party’s concessions. If by Wednesday, November 30th, there is still unrest as to who rightfully won the Presidential election, will Ms. Marvel #13 be a sudden nostalgia trip, an artifact for what could have been? Moreover, could Marvel be counting on that effect?

In all likelihood, rather, Marvel is previewing Ms. Marvel #13 now, ahead of the election, and selling it later in the month for maximal effect: The company gets credit for taking the moral high ground, for urging the democratic enterprise, and for featuring a (sensational) minority character. At the same time, it gooses advance sales of the issue in retail shops later in the month, perhaps when the country is recovering from its years-long campaign hang-over. (Hopefully.)

Because, outside of sex, violence, and drugs, what sells better than ‘Merica? Faith #5, even with its partisan leanings, did lead to an advance sell-out of the first print run.

All of these and more were possibilities that the New York Daily News could and should have considered in their coverage of the topic. (Most especially, if only to speak in response to sites claiming that Ms. Marvel is a “propaganda tool” of a “rancid ideology” steeped in a “willful ignorance of Islam.”) Failing to do so suggests, as is tradition, that comics are not worthy of such consideration…even if showcasing them may increase site traffic.