The Four Color Media Monitor

In a minor conversation about the 7th issue of Think Tank, Top Cow's senior manager Hawkins and a reader said the following:

@shannoniyer Iranians are Persian, Palestinians are Arab.You might be right but Persians/Arabs historical enemies
— Matt Hawkins (@topcowmatt) May 24, 2013

Some important points to make about history and facts:

• The name "palestine" comes from a name the Roman empire gave to the province of Judea, that is, Israel, after the year 135 CE, after defeating the Jewish revolt led by Bar Kokhba. There's no such thing as "palestinian people", they are Arabs. Golda Meir made this clear in 1969. The modern day claim was all propaganda mainly cooked up by the pro-Arab/Islamic British psychological warfare experts. Even a PLO operator admitted this in 1977.
• Hawkins should consider that while Iranians may be Persian descendents and the Arabs in this region are descended from the inhabitants of Saudi Arabia, many of them share something in common today: they're Muslim.
• The first guy's assumption is only half correct. On the one hand, it's theoretically true they might not attack Israel because they wouldn't want to strike their fellow Islamists. On the other hand, given the Islamic belief in martyrdom, and that there are plenty of jihadists more than willing to kill each other, that's why the whole notion Iran would refrain is naive thinking to the max.

As for Think Tank itself, I did some more research, and according to Fanboy Nation:

For about twenty minutes after I finish an issue of Think Tank I contemplate stocking up on canned goods, water, and emergency supplies. Matt Hawkins ensures that you will think about what’s going on in our world, even if you’d planned to be blissfully ignorant and just indulge in a comic. My main warning is that if you are a staunch Fox News Conservative, this likely is not the comic for you. If you are interested in how war, science, or a combination of the two, work, this comic is something you should continue to pick up until Hawkins and Ekedal retire.

Not if it's built on liberal anti-war/science beliefs, I'm afraid. If it's negative to conservatives, and if it resorts to trutherism, as I'd worried before, then the chances of it getting any of its subjects right is extremely minimal, if at all.

Hawkins has to choose whether he's interested in fantasy adventure like Aphrodite IX or fantasy politics like Think Tank's story. It just can't be both.

Update: here's a review of the second part of this story, which describes the story as so:

After previously being betrayed by his lover in previous comics, Mirra, Dr. David Loren finds himself numb and disillusioned. His realization that the military will never let him go causes his language to become more blunt and his behavior to become erratic. Under design is a bio-viral weapon that released into the air as a gas will target distinct strains of DNA to kill intended targets. The formula is designed to be specific in its targets, meaning that should the military use it on a Middle Eastern target, they will be able to destroy only one genetic group of people’ even with the close genetic heritage of the Israeli and Palestinian people. The project clearly violates international laws on genocide, and the general in charge of the project is not pleased with his name being attached. The battle of what is moral and what is necessary comes into play.

Whatever Hawkins had in mind here, it sounds ludicrous and mind-numbing. And, it's politically tendentious.

Labels: Europe and Asia, indie publishers, islam and jihad, politics, terrorism