The controversy over Albuquerque's Joker cover is complete bull ****.
This is another case of the social justice warriors specifically comic lames going hard because of something they don't like. Not cuz it's objectively wrong, just cuz they disagree. It's bull ****.
I didn't want to get into this argument, but just to lay out a point that I think has been ignored.
1. C'mon son... social justice warriors going hard because they don't like it? Specifically comic lames? How can you dismiss a whole group of people's opinion on a topic like that. I don't know how many people like the cover and how many don't, but just looking at the response, I think it's safe to say that many men, women, old comic fans,and new comic fans are falling on both sides of the issue.
You obviously don't agree with pulling the cover, but if you aren't even willing to address their rationale then YOU are the only person "going hard because of something you don't like". If it doesn't offend you, that isn't a problem at all. Don't confuse yourself into thinking your moral standing is worth any more than anyone else who you may think is lame.
2. EVERYONE is resistant to change. We can't help it. It's tough and uncomfortable. We also have an internal trigger to people saying "things need to change to this way" which tells us "if that is true, then have I been doing it wrong the whole time? Does that invalidate what I did before?" The answer is NO, but it does put some question on the things you do after, if they are solely to resist change and keep up "Tradition". We tend to believe that "tradition" is always a good thing, but tradition changes with time too, and then people become attached to new traditions.
No one is saying that the way comics were done in the past is WRONG. No one is saying that at all. But the world in 2015 is telling the comic book industry that their traditions are no longer what is acceptable in 2015. For example: I go back and read plenty of older comics where there is literally blatant racism. As you move forward, you notice that the same racism starts to become vilified to the point that today it is literally viewed as a character quality common to villains or a character flaw someone needs to overcome. I'm sure at the times of blatant racism there were plenty of comic readers that we disgusted or insulted, but as sad as it is, the books tend to reflect the way many people felt at the time. Times changed though, not simply the comics. There was never an ultimatum day where social justice warriors won a battle and it was banned. Na. The world evolved and comics came along with the masses. A new american "tradition" of frowning upon racism. Did they ban any form of racism in any comic book or any racist characters. No of course not, but they did make it more in line with what we generally see on an every day basis.
America is going through a similar transition now with women.Just like racism still in america and our treatment of homosexuals, every issue can be at a different current status. Sure we enacted laws to give women equality, but I really find it difficult to believe that any male in america truly feels like females have it as well as us. Sure, there are plenty of benefits, but our society's traditions are based on males being the heads of society. We are resistant to change that would make it more equal because it sacrifices the past or the way things were. This is an issue that is being played out in the comic industry as well as so many other larger and more important arenas like the workplace.
I know it was a long rant, but just to give an analogous situation: a few months ago a women released a video of her walking around New York and constantly getting cat-called in ways she considered harassment. Personally, before I watched the video, I thought she was probably overreacting to things that we all consider normal. Then i watched it and realized, yeah that is NORMAL, but that doesn't mean it's FAIR. For example: I know that personally I tend to pull the look-back move when a female with a great body walks by. I didn't teach myself that move. It's natural and feels like what I've always been doing, but really it's just what I want to do, and something that isn't frowned upon enough to have made me realize it was unfair. Am I killing anyone, no...but would I want to be objectified in that way, hell no. Sure, I had the initial response of "Would I be mad if a few girls cat-called me telling me I'm good looking", no I wouldn't, but would I be pissed if our culture as a whole said that women objectifying men in society is completely acceptable.
Men aren't the bad guys in this whole scenario. We just happen to be the people that have long been in power. Times are changing and the people in power are always the most resistant to change. The fact is, for the world to be more fair to women, men are going to have to give up things that we didn't even know weren't just "men being men". Those things are "men being men in an unequal society to women". and as a man myself, those things are no longer worth it to me once I realized how they effect so many others that are equally important to our society as a whole.
Sorry for the rant. But this issue is so much bigger than comics. Currently the same type of war is going on in the comic industry based on the race of superheroes as they are re-interpreted. Look at race in America and tell me it isn't the same issue. Black/White issues in America are literally going through the same thing, an unwillingness to accept that the way we've been doing things for years is simply unacceptable. Does it mean the individuals are racists and bigots, no, but the way our society has been formed over the years based on the past of race in America is still out of date and it's our responsibility to change it, even if that means white people learning to do things a new way.
These issues are something I think is extremely important for people in my generation to embrace with open arms. I never thought I'd see the day Social Justice Warrior could be used as an insult. That's like shaming the whites that stood with the blacks fighting against segregation because they were simply "riding a popular social justice cause". Comments like those by
osh kosh bosh
about Runaways aren't trying to take away from the art form and industry, just trying to get it more in line with how we all feel as a diverse society in 2015.
Master Zik
I think you're downplaying just how many female heroes Marvel has to pull from, and more than a few have been around for decades. The , X-Men alone are filled with them. Jean Grey, Rachel Grey, Emma Frost, Ororo Munroe, Jubilee, Kitty Pryde, X-23, and really the list just goes on. Then move into the various teams and it grows larger with characters such as Ms. Marvel/Captain Marvel, Photon, Wasp, Black Widow, Firestar, Jessica Jones, etc. And then there's the various other teams, along with the solo acts. As I said, DC has it when it comes to giving heroines their own series, but not all of them are received that well. The main ones in particular I think, Supergirl and Wonder Woman, were in fact reviled for quite a long time before the reboot due to various choices made with the characters, and different events they took part in.
So I don't really think DC's killing Marvel in terms of numbers. I agree that it hasn't always been this way necessarily, but the consistency of heroine books in general has fluctuated on both sides, with very few having the staying power of someone like Superman for example.
jays25
is right on... but don't get it confused and think there aren't people like that on both sides. Ignorant extremists don't represent the intelligent and moderate realists on either side of an argument.
