The mask is the theme as the title explains. There was a rumor that Mark Waid wrote an essay that was being pulled from the book due to politics. However, it appears to be in all the copies.
16 thoughts on “Spoilers: Marvel Comics #1000 The Mask is the Theme”
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That doesn’t seem as political as I thought it would be. I mean, knowing Waid we know what he was implying but I don’t see the need to pull that. We conservatives have seen much, much worse political jabs in comics.
I don’t believe that’s the version that was removed. I saw reports that the original included naming Trump as “the Orange Skull” akin to the Red Skull. So I can see how the whole Nazi reference might not go over too well with some.
But you are right, nothing really wrong with the one shown above.
I really wish people would keep comics apolitical. I don’t care if I agree or disagree with the persons politics, I don’t want to be spoon fed someone’s views. I understand if a book is a political comic, that’s fine, but a regular comic should appeal to the masses and not be exclusive of one group of people. It’s a bad idea.
Comics, like all art, have always been subversive and/or political. I’d hate to see them neutered for mainstream appeal any more than they already are.
The text page that was initially in the preview given to retailers is different in the text page that was released in the books today.
Yeah. BC has the original up. I don’t read the site because it is so laden with ads and pop ups I find it unreadable. But the text was changed.
Oh I just found the original.
Waid called America Deeply Flawed (which is an opinion so whatever) and then literally called for people to take to the streets to make their leaders listen. I could see that one being a bit of a problem. That bit could be a problem if the next violent protest turns fatal and one person in the crowd is wearing a captain America symbol.
I think Marvel was right.
The X-Men is incredibly political and that was intentional.
Nearly the entire Golden Age is pretty much political.
Comics are an artistic medium that convey a message
You either get it as a reader consciously or sub-consciously or you tune it out in preference for pure escapism and fantasy but Politics are there and always have been, should be and hopefully will be for the duration of the medium.
Politics is about power and power and the struggle for it is human nature. We cannot escape Politics anymore than we can escape aging and death
The problem is that in TODAY’S Politics you have the absolutely cancerous tumor that is SOCIAL MEDIA and that has put more emphasis on pure Group Think, Shallow Ego Stroking and perhaps worst of all made American Politics EXTREMELY TRIBAL.
For instance, how in the world does a Rational person support Bernie Sanders, who by all means is Anti-Trump in nearly every sense of his politics save for the emotional populism displayed by both albeit at opposite spectrum of the political scale, but then cast their vote for Trump?
This is an example of either an uneducated voter or an immature voter or worse, a lethal combination of the two. In any other era of rational thought that flip flop makes absolutely zero sense but somehow it’s rationalized by the people who executed this momentous decision. I mean, you definitely drank the kool-aid. LOL
People are in their camps and that’s it. There is no rational political debate at the moment and the American Public have been manipulated into political division by our biggest Geo-political rivals precisely by exposing and stoking America’s biggest Historical Political divisions, for example, Race, Abortion, Guns, these are all highly divisive political debates but they are now the main focus.
Meanwhile you have the entire Fossil Fuel Industry running the EPA, Department of Interior, etc while the entire planet is burning….along with the Amazon forest…
Good for him…more politics please….
I was waiting for someone to bring up the X-Men. So, there is a difference between an allegorical tale representing the two sides of the civil rights struggle, Magneto being akin to Malcom X and Professor Xavier being akin to Martin Luther King Jr. and Waid calling the president the Orange Skull alluding to the Red Skull who was a former Nazi leader. Very different. Allegorical reference to a current event of the time and partisan politics. The Golden Age of Comics was more jingoistic and similar to yellow journalism (The Yellow Kid was born of this) with super hero punching out foreign leaders of enemy states. Again, the difference is it is not partisan politics. I should have better expressed my dislike for partisan politics as opposed to saying just politics. I don’t read comics for a conservative or liberal agenda, I don’t like to be force fed on how i should think. I am very much a “middle of the road” guy who dislikes both sides to be perfectly honest (that is why I stay off Twitter mostly because of the wretchedness coming from the left and the right, something we both agree on).
You speak of comics being political in nature but what Waid did was divisive, that cannot be denied, and was a political essay and not a comic script. He sent as a message to one side saying if you support the president you are a racist and not a patriot.
You speak of the camps, and I agree, politics has become a team sport where winning is the most important thing. This is why I tend to look at third parties and wish there was a strong middle wing group. I think you would see many people desert the big two for a viable middle third choice. Furthermore, the Democrat Party and the Republican parties are both companies, not government agencies or branches of the government. Imagine if we switched the parties to Coke and Pepsi, would we allow one of these two companies to dictate how we feel, think, and shape our beliefs? (I would be RC Cola in this analogy). People need to be more free thinking and stop having ideas and politics spook fed to them. People need to look outside the big two and stop buying into the lies of both sides.
I hope this clarifies what I meant by I would like to see less politics in comics.
i think you summed it up quite well.
Anthony very well said and analyzed. I think you are spot on that what Waid said was divisive and Marvel took the correct action in pulling the material. It’s in the corporate interest to do so especially given the current trend being to shame a company or someone on Social Media or to try to boycott someone or something simply because you disagree with them.
I view art to be born out of the politics of the times. Look at painting, photography, poetry, sculpture, all forms of art typically reflect their times and the politics. Often times these works of art HAVE to be allegorical for fear of persecution by a King or Emperor or some other Political leader.
One of my favorite episodes of Deep Space Nine is when the crew is back in the 50’s writing Science Fiction and Sisko isn’t allowed to make the main character black…so imagine why an allegory would be made of say Klingon and Human or American and Russian…I don’t think the allegory downplays the politics and the political point the artist is making…
I love how you describe the Republicans and Democrats. All of it is just marketing, who sells you on what they’re selling. That’s why it sucks right now, there is no true substance to politics. True leadership comes with finding middle ground and compromise and that is when America works best, not the current state it’s in. Uncompromising and angry. But we’re angry at the wrong people. Why are we supporting Billionaires when those are the exact people we should be toppling and getting rid of? Trace the money, they are the ones manipulating political discourse. They are the ones with money invested all over the world and handing out hookups to anyone with money to burn. People are stupid and volunteering themselves to friendly fire, especially on Social Media.
Comparing anyone to Hitler is ridiculous until that person murders millions of people, left wing or right wing. Although no one, not even his supporters can deny the man’s appeal to White Nationalists. That should kind of, you know, be like, a clue. LOL…doesn’t it make you think what’s up with that? These people weren’t coming out for Mitt Romney or John McCain…let’s be honest so it’s not that they vote Republican…lol…
Given that we’re adults for the most part, lol, (I laugh at myself and the irony of being on a comic book forum) it is impossible to defend the crude and outright disgusting comments this particular president has made and continues to make. As a person he is a low class individual, not matter how many billions of dollars were handed to him by his father, any person who can publicly shame and mock a disabled person is low class. Plain and simple. Grandparents and Parents teach us better. If you’re a religious person, your religion and faith teach you better than that. He is the most divisive person I’ve ever experienced in my lifetime.
And he IS a racist. He’s not Archie Bunker…it’s not groundbreaking comedy that is being misinterpreted by a younger generation….let’s not confuse his commentary, his refusal to condemn what happened in Charlottesville, his actions against black tenants, his immigration policies, etc the list goes on as him simply challenging Political Correctness, I mean, it’s not the WWF, it’s not the Celebrity Apprentice, this isn’t supposed to be entertainment and for most it is.
Just as Marvel and Disney do the right thing when crude and divisive behavior is perpetrated by one of their employees, so should the American People do the right thing with one of their employees who is doing nothing but driving a huge wedge between people in this country. It’s time to let this guy go. Let him go and let’s stand United again.
“Every man thinks his burden is the heaviest….who feels it knows it Lord” -Bob Marley, Running Away
And one last thing. I don’t think you would be steadfastly saying that what Waid did was good if it was against President Obama or Clinton, whereas I would still be saying it is partisan and should be kept out of comics.
No I wouldn’t be saying I agree with that person unless it was something that was deserved by Obama and Clinton.
For example, I have always been of the opinion that Obama may have been the worst Foreign Policy President of my lifetime. Most likely so. Absolutely terrible, indecisive, yet committed more troops to Afghanistan. And Syria, complete disaster.
I’m no sycophant…that’s the problem in America today…people go to worship in the cult of personality…it’s sick
So I bash Obama where he deserves to be bashed. As for Hillary, she blew it, thought she had it, she didn’t realize how much people didn’t trust her…stupid, conceited, etc…and she’s murdered everyone Bill ever slept with…lol…
Did anyone actually enjoy the comic?
Any spec potential on this Mask hero showing up in 2020 worth mentioning?
There’s supposed to be some advertising blitz by Marvel this weekend for the issue. Any idea where it can be viewed? It’d be nice to see a national ad for something. Last one I can remember was for the Chia Pets last Christmas and those were available all over the place so it may not have helped much.
Cha cha cha chia!!