Had hoped it was an internet hoax.
His final tweet:
Taking a break from a script I owe to attend the LA premiere of All-Star Superman. Wish me luck!
He owed us nothing; he gave so much.
1962-2011
All posts by A. David
Are Jewish Comics AntiSemitic?
Do Jewish comics discriminate…against Jews?
Well, over at Comics Comics, Jeet Heer posed some compelling critique inspired by his attendance of the Toronto Jewish Film Festival last year and its special program on Jews in Comics. He writes,
Here is a new angle on the subject: I think writers have been too quick to assume that the Jewish immigrant community, which was very divided on ethnic and class lines, was monolithic.
[…] Throughout the late 19th and early 20th century, German Jews came into cultural conflict with their East European brethren, who were seen as embarrassingly uncouth and rowdy.
[…] Is it too much to see the tension between German Jews such as Rabbi Wise and Russian Jews at the beginning of the 20th century as a precursor to Wertham’s battles against the unseemly and vulgar comic book industry in the 1940s and 1950s?
How far back do the roots of high-/low-culture go when it comes to Judaism and comics? And was there a divide that laid the foundation for the cry against comics in the 1950s?
Some commenters to Heer suggested that this is gazing too deeply into Judaism and its contribution to comics: “I’m a little sick of the sort of ethno-narcissism of Jews writing about Jews and comics lately.” Still others said the topic is very much alive, especially in light of Bill Willingham’s Fables as a metaphor for Zionism.
More on Nightrunner, the Muslim Batman of Paris
Since the previous posting, additional sites and commentators have gone on record regarding Nightrunner, Batman/Bruce Wayne’s selection for his “deputy” in Paris.
Tim Murphy at Mother Jones remains rather neutral and unalarmed on the issue, suggesting that there are two controversies overlaid here: first, that “Frenchmen (and Frenchwomen) would never embrace a Algerian Muslim as a national savior,” and, second, that, in the words of “US comic book creator Bosch Fawstin, […] ‘DC Comics has submitted to Islam.'” This doesn’t seem to be Murphy’s position, though, as he satirically footnotes the report by saying, “Presumably this comes at the expense of the traditional mom-and-pop superheroes, who, now unemployed and compelled to put food on their table by any means possible, turn to crime. It’s the perfect cycle.”
Rory Mulholland of the Agence France Presse (AFP), published online through The Daily Star: Lebanon, also quotes Fawstin. But Mulholland notes that the issues have sold briskly and raised little attention in France itself. Olivia Snaije of Publishing Perspectives says that the French are “bemused” by this controversy (though she offers no French bloggers either by name or by URL).
OnIslam.com lets many of the complaintants speak for themselves but includes author David Hine in the discussion. He explains:
“The urban unrest and problems of the ethnic minorities under (President Nicolas) Sarkozy’s government dominate the news from France […] It became inevitable that the hero should come from a French Algerian background.” […] He said that the Nightrunner is “the kind of hero I would want to see in a comic book if I were French.”
For Hine, then, Nightrunner is not a slight but, rather, a character born out of current events. Add to this the idea posited by an nonymous commenter at the Hindustan Times, suggesting that “Comic book heroes were always about politics and social engineering.” If that is correct, is Nightrunner that far afield? IkhwanWeb believes that the furor over Nightwing isn’t that he has Algerian roots or is potentially representing the French; rather, their article suggests that right-wing bloggers simply feel “a Muslim [is] not fit to play the role of a superhero and fight crime.” In short, the subtext of protests against Nightrunner seem to stress that Muslims cannot be superheroes. Though not discussing Nightrunner, the Malaysian Sun2Surf features the debut film of a new Muslim superhero, the eponymous Haq. Co-director Jumaatun Azmi is quoted as saying, “These values are also universal and they apply to all faiths. Even if you’re not a Muslim, you can still relate to the values,” a possible retort to the right-wing subtext.
At the forum for SuperheroHype.com, the conversation has inverted somewhat, questioning whether a superhero can be as overtly and outwardly Christian as Nightrunner is Muslim. Additionally, the poster lebenskuntzler at LiveLeak.com argues that only multiculturalism is permitted in popular culture, including superhero comics, going so far as to suggest a supervillain modeled on Mohammed (pbuh) be more fitting for Batman comics.
Atheist Saviors
There’s a joke in the now-infamous “Super Best Friends” episode of South Park, where the Lincoln Memorial comes alive and begins wreaking havoc. So, the heroes ask, how do you kill a giant, stone Abraham Lincoln?
The answer: A giant John Wilkes Booth. Obviously.
Well, the Reddit commentators at the Atheism subreddit are having a lively (and quite enjoyable) conversation along the same lines — How do you kill a viral, living religious force (aka Allgod)?
With virile, living atheist superheroes, of course!
Spinning out of the pictured sequence between Marvel Boy (aka Noh-Varr) and Fantomex (aka Weapon XIII), the discussion delves into how both characters and readers view gods (or “gods”) in the superhero genre. And it leads to some excellent observations and quotables, including Wolverine being a misotheist and God looking like Stan Lee.
Worth checking out!
Religion in Comics on Fanboy Radio
Episode #578 of Fanboy Radio features a discussion on “Religion in Comics“ with A. David Lewis and G. Willow Wilson.
The two were contributors to the book Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books & Graphic Novels
Fanboy Radio is hosted by Scott Hinze with David Hopkins, Oliver Tulls, and Sean Jackson. It broadcasts live weekly on KTCU FM 88.7 and is available as a podcast free from iTunes.