Wait, what? What’s going on here? Are people actually talking about Superman comic books? It’s not often you see DC’s mostly ignored mascot getting this much attention.
Not all the talk is positive mind you — acclaimed science fiction writer Orson Scott Card has written a story for an upcoming issue of Adventures of Superman, which has upset many due to Card’s opposition to gay marriage. Unless Card’s story is about Superman violently busting up a marriage between Luthor and Brainiac or something, I’m not sure what bearing Card’s thoughts about gay marriage have on his Superman story, but nevertheless fans have created petitions, some retailers are refusing to carry the book, and talented artist Chris Sprouse has pulled out of illustrating Card’s story. So far DC is continuing to support Card.
In more positive news, DC MVP Scott Snyder is getting his own Superman book. Illustrated by Jim Lee no less! Hit the jump for info, and an image from, Superman Unchained…
Superman Unchained will also feature backup stories written by Snyder and drawn by Dustin Nguyen. Other than its fantastic creative team, DC has offered no real info on what’s going to set Superman Unchained apart (aside from all the slave owner killing of course).
I’m certainly interested to see if Scott Snyder can prove he truly can do no wrong, by acing the toughest assignment in comics — writing an interesting in-continuity Superman story. Superman Unchained #1 hits stands in June.
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Card’s story has been put on hold, indefinitely. So DC has buckled a bit to the public pressure. It seems all the more likely that DC will quietly kill the story down the line.
Well, just because there’s nobody to draw it now because Sprouse backed out.
Yeah, that’s the official reasoning DC gives. But… come on. The story is never going to see the light of day now.
I bet they’ll slip it out a year from now or something once the controversy has died down. They probably paid a lot for it.
Yeah. No one made a peep when he did two Ultimate Iron Man series, given the movies hadn’t come out yet and it’s not Superman. I think you’re right. Even the story with baby Superman in the microwave came out after they pulped the entire run of that Elseworlds special.
It’s too bad writers can’t use fake names.
Oh wait…
When was Superman chained to begin with?
This kind of bothers me. I’m all for equality and I disagree with his beliefs, but I find it a little disheartening that he’s demonized for having views that aren’t so much appearing in this work.
I wouldn’t want to hang with the guy and I probably wouldn’t even read the Superman story to begin with, but this just seems like misguided efforts on behalf of the people protesting.
“writing an interesting in-continuity Superman story”
Continuity?
I thought they got rid of that when The New 52©™ was launched.
Well, they still have enough of it around to make Superman dull.
I’d go with more of a “douche” than “dull” but it seems like a lot of the major heroes got douchier with the reboot.
Will there a german alien who frees Supes from slaverly and teaches him the way of wearing red and blue pajamas?
Kal-Del – the D is silent
“Unless Card’s story is about Superman violently busting up a marriage between Luthor and Brainiac or something, I’m not sure what bearing Card’s thoughts about gay marriage have on his Superman story…”
Well, he DOES use the money he makes from his writing to fund his extreme anti-gay and anti-gay marriage organization. Maybe some of us comics geeks don’t want the douche making one single dime off of his Superman story that he’ll use to add to the hate-gang’s coffers.
(Also, let’s not forget, he DID advocate his fellow hate-mongers overthrowing the government in reaction to the legalization of gay marriage in some states. He’s just a dick, okay?)
So you are saying I should pirate it? Sounds good to me.
He’s almost certainly already been paid. Also, Orson Scott Card is certainly a dick, but he’s probably not going to overthrow the United States government.
So should we take a similar stance with every writer or celebrity that gives money or help to PETA?
I’m just going to put this all here:
Orson Scott Card is a LDS fundamentalist who claims to be descended from Brigham Young himself. Ender’s Game was written while he was studying at BYU. I don’t know why every internet comment I’ve seen today is avoiding this, but we’re not just talking about the deranged rantings of one man, we’re talking about the shared beliefs of religious fundamentalists.
“Well, he DOES use the money he makes from his writing to fund his extreme anti-gay and anti-gay marriage organization.”
The National Organization for Marriage may not be officially endorsed by the LDS leadership, but their organizational leadership and money are all Mormon. That’s not to say they represent all Mormons, but that’s part of fundamentalism, isn’t it?
“Orson Scott Card is certainly a dick, but he’s probably not going to overthrow the United States government.”
Probably not, but that doesn’t mean he can’t endorse it and/or try. The history is a little questionable, but there are documents suggesting that Card’s alleged ancestor declared war on the U.S. government on a few occasions. For all we know, Card might be trying to insert himself as a new prophet. He is only upholding the church’s teachings, after all.
“So should we take a similar stance with every writer or celebrity that gives money or help to PETA?”
Yes. Scientology too. I don’t hate Neil Gaiman, but he’s overrated and I can live without reading the last half of the Sandman trades if it means I’m keeping a few tenths of a penny from David Miscavige.
You had me right up until you called Neil Gaimen overrated. (Not really, you never had me)
(Also, Gaimen has been quotes as to saying that he was raised a Jewish Scientologist, but doesn’t consider himself to now be a Scientologist and doesn’t actively practice.)
Neil Gaiman has half-heartedly claimed to not be active several times, almost always with some form of vague, possibly contradictory follow-up statement. His current wife also has potential ties, though most of what I’ve seen is rather questionable.
I’m not sure what to make of you misspelling his name twice when defending him, by the way.
knightofbob, I believe you are joking ,right? You’re right that Card is a Mormon but not a fundamentalist. That’s a different religion. Card doesn’t claim he descended from Young–he did. That’s not difficult to prove. Hell, most of Utah is related to the guy. Not that weird. As far as I can see, Card is the only Mormon in the leadership. Not to say that Mormons aren’t involved with it or donate to it.
Not to say that Card’s personal views aren’t nuts. But please stop blaming his weird views on Mormonism. Blaming fringe groups is simplistic and problematic.
I am a liberal, agnostic Mormon, and I believe my beliefs and outlook in life were as Freire suggested, rooted in many social factors, not just my religion.
watkins, you’re confusing religious fundamentalism with religious separatism. The FLDS is a separate group, or, more accurately, a group of separate groups. I’m using the term fundamentalist to describe a person who advocates following the founding ideals and practices of his religion, you’re using it to describe a similar thing, but applied specifically to the teachings of Brigham Young. The semantic argument here is that within the LDS church, you can not put any qualifier on the term Mormon, you either are or you aren’t.
Card claims to be descended from Young, or at least his parents claimed as much. I’ve never heard of an actual genome study being done here. The man supposedly had almost sixty children with almost as large a number of wives. There was probably contemporary uncertainty among the more rational-minded at the time that each and every one of them was sired by him.
“As far as I can see, Card is the only Mormon in the leadership.” I assume you’re talking about the NOM? At least one of the Catholic members also serves as an editor for the Deseret News, which raises questions. And I perhaps enthusiastically misspoke when I called the entire board Mormon, and I shouldn’t have said anything definitively about the money (since, as a nonprofit, neither they nor their donors have to admit anything.) However, their campaigns do fall in line with LDS interests, and definitely seem coordinated.
The Mormon church’s teachings toward homosexuality are highly intolerant. Though the official speeches and literature throw around words like “tolerance” and “acceptance” quite liberally, they’re mostly used to obfuscate a more sinister agenda. They’re often used in conjunction with the “Hate the sin, love the sinner,” mantra, which seems just fine until you notice that “immoral behavior” in the eyes of the church can include thoughts, feelings, and desires.
“I am a liberal, agnostic Mormon…” Your mission must have been really weird. Seriously, though, I think you’re not clear on the meaning of at least two of those three words. There is no “Mormon gene” (with the possible exception, as you suggested, of Brigham Young’s mother’s mitochondrial DNA). I don’t call myself a “progressive, atheistic Catholic.”
knightofbob. This reply was much more rational–it even made me laugh.
You’re correct on the differences between fundamentalism and separatism, but in this case the word has been hijacked to be pejorative (like the words myth and gay) and literally means a practicing polygamist. That aside, I get what you mean.
Yeah, I meant NOM. I agree with what you’re saying. The only thing I take issue with is there’s no evidence. I find it odd that normally rational people get all “Loose Change” when it comes to religion. All of sudden people get a grade-school Hitchens-logic to theology that is just as intolerant as the supposed intolerance taught in religion.
Last thing, I get what you’re saying about being a liberal, agnostic Mormon sounding odd, but it’s becoming a common movement. Authors like Joanna Brooks and other researchers have been discussing Mormonism as a culture. Lots of people consider themselves Mormon while not necessarily being religious (kind of like Judaism minus the heredity). So, while I’m an active Mormon in the traditional sense, my spiritual leaning is more agnostic. The idea of Mormons being all or nothing is slowly falling by the wayside in a social sense. So while you might consider your Catholicism not being a part of your current self, many Mormon atheist/agnostics do. But labels are silly, right? Okay, I’ll shut up now.
Card is not just against marriage equality, he’s against gays period. Did you do your homework? I mean, a simple Wikipedia search will give a summary of some of his anti-gay antics:
[en.wikipedia.org]
If it were up to Card, homosexuality would still be illegal.
It’s not just his views that are repugnant, he sits on the board of a far-Right, radical, hate organization. It’s frightening. Like I, and many have said, this goes way beyond bigotry. He’s actually pushing legislation to discriminate against an entire group of people via the political arena. Any company that would employ such a person is just asking for trouble. DC deserves to be called out.
There are two people in the comic world that a ton of us cannot stand: one is Card, and the other is Chuck Dixon — another far-Right nutcase. Dixon’s web site discussion board is a sideshow thanks to him. It’s amazing how f’ed up some people are. Dixon shares many of Card’s views, and more. His lamenting gays being able to serve openly in military was just one recent classic. You could write a book on his insanity. Dixon has actually pushed his bigotry in some of his most famous work, but that’s a whole other story.
Card is actively working overtime to punish a minority group, and that’s just unforgivable.
You know what they say about people who seem to be obsessed with the subject of homosexuality…