So I’m just going to point out it’s kind of interesting that an African American man became Captain America just in time for a nine-part Marvel event in which a select group of superheroes that includes Captain America are turned evil by their own actions.
So you know.
We got a Black Captain America just in time for him to be an angry supervillain Captain America. Who is now in a pitched battle with our hero, Old White Retired Captain America.
Isn’t that interesting.
That is a bit… yeah.
Many of us do! Via Marvel’s letter page, or by speaking to Marvel representatives at cons, or by tagging tweets and posts appropriately.
And yes, it is sad that Sam as Cap will probably be torpedoed by Remender’s presence in the book; the sales numbers were already plummeting by the time that tidbit came out. Despite the very public way in which fans objected to Remender and the very public way in which Remender and others who support him reacted to that objection, Marvel may not see the difference between “hate this book because of the writer” and “hate this book because Steve’s not Cap”.
Unfortunately I think it’s also true that despite the massive influx into Marvel of really good, intellectual, and inclusive writers — Kelly Sue DeConnick, G. Willow Wilson, Matt Fraction, to name a few — the editorial and management staff at Marvel seem to be very much still an Old Boys Network. (Tip for Marvel: if you’re reading this and you think you aren’t an Old Boys Network, you should be aware you’re not coming off in the best light.) I think it’s finally starting to let up, but artists and writers are still very much being judged on their gender and race rather than their skill and talent in the industry at large. Certainly Liefeld and Remender are proof they are not being judged on their professionalism. In any other field, what both of them have said in public would get them fired at the least, and probably make them unemployable. And yet they both have jobs, presumably because the consequences of their actions were either not visible or ignored by their editors.
So yes, I think people should absolutely take every opportunity they can to say “I am reading Ms. Marvel because I support the presence of women of colour in comics” and “I am not reading anything by Rick Remender because I do not support douchebags in comics” and whatever else they support or do not support on political/social grounds.
It’s worth noting that if you want to read/support Sam as Cap without reading a book written by Remender, there’s always;
Starting in November, it’s a relaunch of Al Ewing’s Mighty Avengers which has been really great so far. His take on Sam is enjoyable, writing him as equal parts capable badass and loveable nerd (there’s a great bit where he insists on calling himself ‘S.H.I.E.L.D. Super-Agent Falcon’ every time he reports to Nick Fury) so I think he’s going to do a great job with Sam as Cap. The book also features;
– A cast of kickass women in varied roles (Monica Rambeau, yay!)
– A cast of kickass PoC in varied roles (Luke Cage, yay!)
– A good mix of superheroic melodrama and humour.
– …granted, it also has Greg Land on art. Which… yeah. But he’s stepping down for the relaunch, and Luke Ross will be the main artist on the series for the new run.
So if you want to read a book featuring Sam Wilson as Captain America, but don’t want to buy one written by a guy who’ll tell you to ‘drown yourself in hobo piss’ if you disagree with him, then Captain America and the Mighty Avengers might be worth a look!
Ohhhh yay! That’s exciting, and I hadn’t heard about it. Mighty Avengers has been kind of variable in quality for me — I’m not that interested in what someone’s dad was doing in the 70s — but I’ll put up with less than spectacular writing for Sam!Cap. 😀
WE DID IT YOU GUYS KEEP IT UP
Why Marvel needs to fire Rick Remender – National Comic Books | Examiner.com
Sales figures from www.comichron.com.
In the month following the hugely popular Captain America: The Winter Soldier movie release, the Remender-penned Captain America solo comic book posted its worst sales since launch, shedding more than 4000 readers (>10%) and falling more than ten ranks.
Way to pull in all those potential new fans!
His sales were tanking since issue 6. Journey into Mystery Featuring Sif sold 10,000 copies more and it was cancelled on the 10th issue.
The drop from #1 to #2 cracks me up. I’m sure there’s a drop every time there’s a #1, but I bet its not usually this steep.
It’s almost like nobody cares to read about Steve Rogers in an alien dystopian landscape with none of his friends.
Steve on his own is fine.
As long as he has a sweet van, a vendetta against the government, and a hobo beard.
Remender missed that part of the ‘steve gets SAAAAAAAAAAAD and runs away from home’ arcs. You know, the fun part.
Also the lady killing. Puts a damper on things.
I can’t explain how important this is. Just please read it.
C
I can’t handle reading the article today. Just the title itself is depressing.
When Having Opinions Brings Rape Threats: A Captain America Story
I have, and how shocking! A Jewish woman, who happens to also be a mutant and a superhero, and is written by a Jewish man, has a slightly different view on the matter. 8)
Warning for racial slurs at the bottom of the page, and Remender being a GIGANTIC JACKASS at the top of the page, but the important points are here. http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/06/26/kitty-pryde-talks-about-the-m-word/
And yeah, seriously. I will disdain Remender for the rest of my life for the ‘hobo piss’ comment.
1. He killed Rogue and Scarlet Witch on his way out the door on Uncanny Avengers. (Two female characters who feature heavily in just released/upcoming movies)
2. He fridged Sharon Carter for Steve Rogers’ manpain. (ANOTHER female character who features in a current movie, wow what are the CHANCES he’d find another one to kill?)
3. He just wrote a story that features a sex scene that a lot of people (especially females and POC, two groups that often feel that their concerns are not taken seriously by comics culture) are finding to be very problematic. It involves alcohol, Sam Wilson (ANOTHER character that was just introduced in a major movie, WOW!) and a female character who may or may not be of age. Although the narrative has established her to be an adult, the fact that Remender felt the need to clearly state her age in the middle of the sequence means that he was aware that most people did not take her to be an adult. To put it another way, when Natasha Romanov has a morning after, it does not involve her saying, “I’m thirty-six.” She doesn’t need to. Everyone KNOWS she is an adult. The fact that the character’s age must be stated indicates that the writer and the editorial staff KNEW it would be an issue, and they moved forward with it anyway.
4. He wrote a speech where a (white, cis, het male who could pass for a non-mutant) character states that he does not approve of the “M-word,” or Mutant, that he considers it divisive. IT IS BAD TO HAVE SUCH LABELS WE SHOULD DO AWAY WITH THEM. This kind of speech, written and spoken from a position of privilege, does not feel like inclusion. It feels like erasure. Having a pretty blonde white boy dismissing the very real problems of people who CANNOT hide their minority identity, dismissing the way they define themselves, because he doesn’t like that word, but doesn’t offer an alternative, smacks of the worst kind of white male privilege, and it sticks in the craw.
4. I do not appreciate his writing aesthetic. I do not appreciate how he treats female characters. I do not approve of the choices he makes. I do not appreciate how he handles his interviews or how he treats fandom. I do not appreciate the fact that every time I get an ask saying, “I’m new to comics, but I love the movies, can you recommend a comic?” I cannot, in good conscience recommend Captain America. I will not, especially to a new, female reader who loves the Cap she’s seen on the screen. Because Remender does not write that Cap.
5. He is a hack. I’ve seen more compelling plots and character development from the average AO3 fic.
I don’t like him. I’d be happy to see him driven from comics. I’d be happy to have Cap in better hands. I will not buy anything else with his name on it. I have let Marvel know as much, and I continue to support comics with creators who, in my opinion, treat their characters and their fanbase with more respect.
I’d like to clear the air.
The past 96 hours have been some of the most stressful, anxious, and rewarding of my life.
Wednesday evening, following my first read of Rick Remender’s Captain America #22, I posted a series of entries to my blog reiterating my distaste for his work, and my renewed (and long-held) belief that he should no longer be writing it.
In my haste and anger, I asked other people who shared my opinion to tweet Marvel Comics, Rick Remender, and Captain America editor Tom Brevoort with their concerns, using the hashtag #FireRickRemender.
And I’m sorry.
I understand that the hashtag, and the arguments held under its banner, could have been (and were) seen as personal attacks. And for that, I apologize. I was coming from a place of upset, discomfort, disgust, and outrage, and I acted solely from that place.
I am genuinely sorry for any personal affront my actions may have caused.
What I am not sorry for is everything that came afterward.
i don’t even know what to say to this
While implying that things are better when people don’t think critically about what they read is clearly the mark of a free and enlightened society.
Critical thinking is bad and might be fascist. I could have sworn I saw that one on Fox News.
what is happening today?
it is apparently time for comics writers to rally against their fans again
Nice use of scare quotes there, ‘Brubaker’.
(slow, sarcastic clapping) No, no. The GOVERNMENT telling writers what they are allowed to write, often under the threat of imprisonment, torture, or death, is how that ‘worked.’ The READERSHIP saying ‘we do not like what you’ve written, and we are not interested in paying for it or anything else you’ve written, and we are encouraging your current employer to replace you with someone who can do the job better, because we consume their product, you goddamn HACK’ is how CAPITALISM works. I know it’s confusing, but they’re a little different.
And is he really doing this? Are we really comparing the threat placed on legitimate journalists and authors under a violent dictatorship or regime to the fan lead efforts to get a 3rd rate, misogynistic HACK removed from a flagship title? A flagship comic book title whose circulation numbers that he has driven into the ground? That’s… What we’re doing here.
Gotta say. I’m a little ‘outraged’ by his comparison.
This is one of those cases of bizarre “logic” that I don’t even know how to refute it because the person is operating from such a faulty premise. You have to backtrack SO far just to even try to follow their train of thought.
I want to send vitriolic hate mail to every comics professional who has come down defending Remender, but I do not have the mental energy for it.
i don’t even know what to say to this
yes, ed brubaker, fascists and communists spent a lot of time telling the people under their control not to be sexist, racist bigots. yes what a perfect analogy
I think someone needs to explain to Ed Brubaker that there is a world of difference between telling someone what to write and telling someone that WHAT THEY ALREADY WROTE is gross and problematic, and explaining the reasons why.
This all comes back around to the free speech thing. Yes, you have the right to write gross stories that fridge women, but you’re not free from the consequences of having written gross stories that fridge women (loss of sales, criticism).
I am an AVID Captain America fan. If the Cap book were actually good, and if Remender weren’t writing it, I’d’ve been spending money on it for the past year and a half, like I have been with Captain Marvel.
*growls* Swear to Thor, half – ¾? – of comics professionals need to be smacked upside the head with a Clue-By-Four multiple times.
You know what’s depressing? Feeling like “Wow! Comics have come a long way!” when you’re just reading, like, Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel and Hawkeye and She-Hulk and stuff. Then you read mainstream comics and it’s just like “… Fuck, I hate everything.”
knitting in the dark 