Judgment Day
EC didn’t die instantly. Most notably, they moved into humor by creating MAD Journal. Additionally they pivoted to sci-fi, and in Unimaginable Science Fiction #33 (February 1956), they revealed a narrative referred to as “Judgment Day,” by Al Feldstein and Joe Orlando.
Within the story, a human astronaut, his face hidden by his helmet, goes to a planet inhabited by blue and orange robots to find out if the planet needs to be permitted to affix the Galactic Republic. Upon discovering that the orange robots oppress the blue robots, the astronaut tells them they’ll’t be a part of the Republic till their bigotry is addressed. He then returns to his spaceship and removes his helmet to disclose that he’s Black—a groundbreakingly progressive twist in 1956.
The Comics Code Authority objected, saying that the astronaut couldn’t be Black. Our previous good friend Invoice Gaines referred to as them, shouting that that was all the level of the story, that that they had not violated the Code in any method, and that he would sue. The CCA mentioned effective, the astronaut could possibly be Black, however not sweaty. “Fuck you,” mentioned Gaines, and hung up.
The comedian was revealed with the artwork unchanged, and the Comics Code Authority seal on the quilt. Good job, Gaines!
The Night time Gwen Stacy Died
In Superb Spider-Man #121 (June 1973), by Gerry Conway and Gil Kane, the Inexperienced Goblin kidnaps Spider-Man’s girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, and throws her off the highest of the George Washington Bridge. Spider-Man catches her with some unexpectedly flung webbing, however the impression snaps her neck, killing her.
Character deaths are a dime a dozen in comics nowadays, and for a number of many years there, heroes’ girlfriends had been notably weak to grim fates, a lot in order that comics author Gail Simone coined the time period “Women in Refrigerators” (after Inexperienced Lantern’s girlfriend was killed and stuffed in a fridge) and its spinoff, fridging. However in 1973, Gwen’s demise signaled a sea change, a lot in order that some historians contemplate this concern the tip of the harmless Silver Age and the start of the angstier Bronze Age.
Definitely, it was a whole shock to readers, who had been so livid that Conway claims he averted comics conventions for a decade afterward. However much more attention-grabbing to me is the truth that the controversy was partly coming from inside the home. Stan Lee, who was Marvel’s writer on the time, would declare that he’d had no thought it was going to occur and hated it. Roy Thomas, who edited the ebook, claimed that Stan had signed off on it. Over the many years, everybody concerned has advised a number of contradictory tales about whose thought it was and who was or wasn’t all the time in opposition to it.
After which there’s the query of who really killed Gwen. Was it the Inexperienced Goblin, who threw her off the bridge? Or Peter, by by accident snapping her neck? The Inexperienced Goblin states that the autumn killed Gwen earlier than the webbing reached her, which is mindless, however has added its personal stage of confusion. Marvel in these days employed “the Marvel Method,” by which the artist drew the comedian earlier than the author wrote the dialogue and sound results, so did Gil Kane put blood on Peter’s fingers when he drew Gwen’s neck at that angle, or did Conway do it when he wrote the “Snap!”?
1000’s upon 1000’s of phrases have already been written about this query, and I’m not going to resolve any of it right here. However as a New Yorker, I wish to spotlight but yet another controversial side of this comedian: why does the script say this occurred on the George Washington Bridge when the artwork might no more clearly present the Brooklyn Bridge? Conway and Kane, you may have a lot to reply for.
Emerald Twilight and H.E.A.T.
In 1994, Coast Metropolis, the hometown of Inexperienced Lantern Hal Jordan, was destroyed by a supervillain. Devastated, Hal grew to become the villain Parallax, killing plenty of fellow Inexperienced Lanterns in addition to his alien bosses, the Guardians, as a way to take their energy and restore Coast Metropolis. He finally tried to remake all the universe, however was stopped by principally each DC hero, together with the brand new Inexperienced Lantern, random dude Kyle Rayner. Kyle bought a brand new comedian and a spot on the Justice League; Hal slunk off in defeat.
Hoo boy, did Hal followers not like this. Quite a lot of them fashioned H.E.A.T., Hal’s Emerald Assault Workforce—later renamed to Hal’s Emerald Advance Workforce as a result of, uh, asserting you’re going to assault folks on behalf of a fictional character seems to be unhealthy. They flooded DC with letters demanding the restoration of Hal as THE Inexperienced Lantern and for the author of the (editorially mandated) “Emerald Twilight” story to be fired, spammed message boards (this was the ’90s, keep in mind), and even ran advertisements in help of their marketing campaign.
Spider-Man’s…Simply All the pieces, Truthfully
Poor Peter Parker. Not solely is he continuously kicked round in-universe, he’s been on the coronary heart of so many controversial storylines that I needed to mix just some of them into one entry somewhat than make this an all-Spidey record.
For starters, there was the notorious Clone Saga that ran from 1994 to 1996. This was an try and mimic the gross sales of main “event” comics just like the Demise of Superman through shock worth (and likewise do away with Spider-Man’s marriage) by bringing again a clone of Spider-Man from the ’70s, then revealing that the clone was the actual Spider-Man, and the Peter readers had been following for 20 years had been a clone all alongside. This was clearly broadly hated, and continuous makes an attempt to increase and complicate the story to chase gross sales, plus battles between writers and editorial, left the comics themselves complicated and riddled with plot holes.
Then there was 2003’s Bother, a teen drama that exposed that Spider-Man’s beloved Aunt Could had cheated on Uncle Ben along with his brother Richard, gotten pregnant, and given the infant to Richard and his girlfriend Mary, making Aunt Could Peter’s organic mom. This was meant to launch a brand new romance imprint for Marvel but it surely, uh. Failed.
The sexual shenanigans continued in 2006’s Spider-Man: Reign, set 30 years sooner or later. Not solely was it revealed that Mary Jane had died of most cancers contracted from publicity to, um, Peter’s radioactive semen—sure, actually—however concern #1 included a drawing of a nude, aged Peter Parker by which his genitals had been (simply barely) seen. The problem was recalled, and the panel was altered in later printings. (Some could recall an analogous destiny taking place to an admittedly rather more virile Bruce Wayne in 2018’s Batman: Damned.)
These are simply a few of the Spider-controversies which have occurred over time—I haven’t even talked about Spider-Lady’s butt—and so they all appear to heart on wretched attitudes in direction of the ladies in Peter’s life. Patriarchy actually does damage (Spider-)males, too.
Holy Terror
There are few comedian ebook creators extra controversial than Frank Miller. Whereas a lot of his comics from the ’80s, notably Batman: Yr One and The Darkish Knight Returns, had been groundbreaking on the time and are nonetheless thought of classics in the present day, they’ve additionally been criticized for racism, sexism, and homophobia. These themes solely grew to become extra pronounced—and extra critiqued—because the many years glided by and the politics of Miller’s work moved additional to the proper. His All-Star Batman & Robin, which started in 2005, was largely acquired as a laughingstock and a supply of such deathless memes as “I’m the goddamn Batman.”
It was on this ambiance—and, after all, a post-9/11 local weather—that Miller introduced a brand new ebook, Holy Terror, Batman! He cheerfully described it as propaganda by which Batman “kicks Al-Qaeda’s ass.” The years after 9/11 had been a time by which loads of bare Islamophobia was permitted and even praised, however this was a bridge too far for many within the comics neighborhood, who criticized the idea as racist and juvenile.
Miller didn’t care, saying repeatedly that his intention was to “offend just about everybody.” However in 2008, he introduced that it will not characteristic Batman however an unique character referred to as the Fixer (who seems to be identical to Batman with out the sharp ears), and wouldn’t be revealed by DC. Whether or not this was Miller’s resolution or DC’s is unclear.
The ebook was finally revealed in 2011 by Legendary Comics as merely Holy Terror. It was broadly panned, with reviewers agreeing that it was simply as Islamophobic as anticipated. Miller, who appears to have mellowed out significantly since then, mentioned in 2018 that Holy Terror was “bloodthirsty beyond belief,” and that whereas he wouldn’t erase any of his previous work, he’s not able to such a tirade.
Superman Renounces His American Citizenship
2011 was a controversial 12 months in comics on the whole, and never simply due to Holy Terror. DC and Archie stopped utilizing the Comics Code Authority seal on their covers; they had been the final publishers to take action, thus ending the CCA and 57 years of voluntary censorship. In September, DC launched their unpopular New 52 reboot.
However 5 months earlier than that, in Motion Comics #900, in a narrative by David S. Goyer, Miguel Sepulveda, and Paul Mounts, Superman introduced that he was renouncing his American citizenship, in order to not trigger worldwide incidents when he went to different international locations. Goyer has mentioned that he didn’t count on the story (which wasn’t even the lead story within the concern) to be controversial.
In fact it was. Some folks—and I’m certain you possibly can guess which finish of the political spectrum they had been on—had been furious that Superman was turning his again on “truth, justice, and the American way.” That is even though that exact phrase was initially simply “truth and justice” when it first confirmed up within the Superman radio present of the Forties; “the American way” was solely added in 1942, when America was deep into World Warfare II, and dropped once more after the conflict. In a 1948 serial, Pa Kent tells Clark to struggle for “truth, tolerance, and justice.” Hmmmm.
The topic was by no means raised once more in a comic book…however nowadays, Superman’s slogan is “truth, justice, and a better tomorrow.” Additionally, he’s nonetheless what he has all the time been: an undocumented immigrant. Simply sayin’.
That is only a sampling of the controversies which have infected the comics world over the previous 75 years. Some are critical, some are foolish, and a few are someplace in between, but it surely’s protected to say that neither the business nor the fandom is prone to change any time quickly. So right here’s to a different three-quarters of a century of controversy! And good luck to you, Spider-Man—you’re gonna want it.