The Four Color Media Monitor

Since we were on the subject of Kurt Busiek's ultra-leftist politics the other day, here's also two panels I scanned from the 3rd issue of an Avengers vs. Thunderbolts miniseries from 2004 he co-wrote with Fabian Nicieza (if it was paperbacked, I think the subtitle was "Best Intentions"), one with a flattering reference, but the other irksome. First, there's this:
In this one, North Korea is cited as a hostile country where the Thunderbolts might be operating in, as part of their ostensible quest to cripple despot governments. It's flattering this was brought up, because after that flap with The Interview movie being censored by its own studio, one can only wonder if Marvel would allow even the remotest negative reference to North Korea today. We've seen how far they've come in terms of censorship, after all.

Now, here's the part that spoils everything:
"Al Jazeera"?!? If they needed to cite a cable channel originating from a foreign-language country, just what makes Al Jazeera worth a mention and not TV channels like TV5-Monde (France), RTV Castilla-La Mancha (Spain), or Rai-Uno (Italy)? Those European outlets aren't saints either, but Al Jazeera is one of the worst conveyors of anti-American and anti-Israel propaganda around. They've even sided with terrorist movements, and once excluded two women from a mail project out of gender bias. Cliff Kincaid once noted that the Qatar-based company has also been suspected of ties with al Qaeda. This was a TV channel Busiek/Nicieza thought was worth slipping into the script? Sigh. Very easy, very irresponsible, and very insulting to the intellect.

But even if that hadn't been put in, what I read of this 6-issue miniseries was already pretty slow and mediocre. Even Busiek's earlier work on Avengers (and Thunderbolts) was better paced than what this turned out to be. Obviously, this Avengers vs Thunderbolts story must've been a victim of the written-for-trades padding mandate that overtook mainstream comics at the time, more than ever before. But, with a citation of a bad TV company lurking within, it's also an early sign of Busiek's leftist leanings turning up, and could explain why he's become as dreadful politically as he is now. The same goes for Nicieza and Tom Brevoort, who was still an editor on these titles at the time.

Labels: Avengers, bad editors, Europe and Asia, islam and jihad, marvel comics, misogyny and racism, moonbat writers, politics, terrorism