The latest issue of Action Comics No. 987 contains a scalding scene: A white supremacist, fed up with a company that just laid him off, decides to load up his machine gun and kill the undocumented workers he believes took his job. Luckily, in the nick of time, Superman arrives to shield the would-be victims from a storm of bullets.
Given the violent events that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, last month, including a domestic terror attack that killed Heather Heyer, as well as the recent national conversation over the Trump administration’s stance on DACA, it’s easy to see how the plot of Action Comics No. 987 could feel like a knee-jerk reaction and parallel to reality. But in reality, comic book issues and arcs — including this one, which was written by Dan Jurgens and illustrated by artists Viktor Bogdanovic, inkers Jonathan Glapion and Jay Leisten, and colorist Mike Spicer — are planned well in advance.
Still, the action of preventing a mass murder, which seems in line with Superman’s moral compass, hasn’t come without controversy. Fox News has a column calling the Man of Steel a “propaganda tool for the defenders of illegal aliens,” and the right-wing website Breitbart derided him as “Social Justice Supes.”
Their argument is that comic book writers and artists have inserted a pro–illegal immigrant agenda into their comics, and that it’s part of a larger trend of politicizing comic books.
If these folks would go back and read their old Superman comics they would realize that the man from Krypton has always protected the downtrodden, and even though a number of white supremacist groups have identified the Man of Steel as the very image of the white superior race, the fact is that since he landed on earth from a completely different planet, and never legally became an American citizen, he is in fact the ultimate illegal alien.
He has also stood up for the social equality since at least the 1950's.
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This one is a little busy.
I thought they were done with Supes years ago when he came out as a "citizen of the world" rather than just an American...?
ReplyDeleteI also like it when they attempt to say Batman is conservative. A superhero who, on his own dime, goes out and helps ANYONE who needs help, especially in the inner city. And does it without "means testing" them first or judging if they "deserve help", and without making a dime off of his efforts and never once handing anyone a bill for his expenses. Sounds pretty liberal to me.
"conservative techno-futurist Newt GingRICH sees Trump as ushering in a revolution — with a subsequent utopian space-age. GingRICH has envisioned such a breakthrough, and hopes Trump will be an agent of it, for decades."
ReplyDelete"All envisioned the best of a militarized humanity breaking away from the evils of bureaucracy and bleeding-hearts and aggressively colonizing and conquering space, exploiting its military and financial potential."
"Given Trump’s aggression and autocratic tendencies, it makes sense that GingRICH steadfastly supported him from the beginning, encouraging and advising his campaign. During election season, Gingrich spoke with Trump daily. GingRICH views Trump as a tool to get America to where he wants to go faster. “Trump must keep going at breakneck speed to keep his opponents off balance,” “Trump is the personification of enormous underlying forces, an eruption of personality and capability in which you then have to reset your analysis around THEIR reality.” to GingRICH and Pournelle, a key feature to induce the future they want—the one where the feminists and “eco-terrorists” and university professors are soundly defeated. GingRICH has always been fond of revolution, as evidenced by one rationale he quoted for supporting Trump: “We have to kick over the table in Washington.” djt>“These are sick people. You would think they'd want to make our country great again, and I honestly believe they don't.”
" “Freedom is not free. Free men are not equal. Equal men are not free.” It’s not attributed, but the sentiment is an old saw of the far right, going back at least to John Birch Society co-founder and segregationist Thomas J. Anderson in 1961. " “God Emperor”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/from-lucifers-hammer-to-newts-moon-base-to-donalds-wallthe-sci-fi-roots-of-the-far-right
OT?"There was awareness of the approach I took with The Waiting Room—a very nonjudgmental style. So I said, “This is a moment when we need to understand who you are and what you’re doing, one in which police officers get flattened into a two-dimension narrative on people’s Facebook feeds.” At the time I pitched it, they were seen as a model for reform. Officer-involved shootings were way down. They were the first department to give body cameras to all officers. So they wanted to tell that story. We began the process of talking to them before BLACK LIVES MATTER was a national hashtag. When that happened, everything changed."
ReplyDelete" In one of the most interesting scenes, some rookie cops are debating a video in which an officer fires 13 shots at a knife-wielding suspect. One rookie argues that officers are trained to use whatever force is necessary to neutralize a threat. Another says 13 shots weren’t necessary, and presses the other cop to concede. The second cop says, essentially, that he didn’t a difference between shooting someone once and shooting them 13 times."
" The sex scandal was different. The common thread was abuse of power. But the sex scandal was also about a kind of institutional failure on a moral issue that was different from the race issue."The film still doesn’t really grapple with the fact that you have this police chief, Sean Whent, who is presented as a reformer—and yet he led a cover-up of the sex scandal that resulted in his ouster."The sex scandal wouldn’t have come to light without federal oversight. So we need to ask ourselves: “Is that a wise choice on a national level, when we clearly have issues at the institutional level with corruption, morality, implicit bias—all of these things and, further, the responsibility of citizens in helping to formulate a new model for community safety."
"It’s asking you to hold two truths simultaneously."
http://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2017/09/documentary-force-oakland-police/
Wasn't Superman Anti-Fa way back in WWII? Seems to me he was anti-Hitler then.
ReplyDeleteDoes that mean Superman is a "domestic terrorist" now that anti-fascists are on the Homeland Hitlist?
Makes me want to buy that issue.
ReplyDeleteI haven't purchased a comic book in over 40 years 😊
Superman is literally an illegal "alien." I'm sure conservatives would probably want to keep superman out of our country too.
ReplyDeleteOh, well. They'll always have Red Skull.
ReplyDelete