The Four Color Media Monitor

Here's something I'd wanted to write about for a while, the 4th issue of Marvel's new Angela series, which features a bizarre moment with the father of Odin, Bor, who's basically the grandparent of Thor. We'll use this video commentator's entry to provide a starting address of the subject:

So he's depicted as a gender/racial bigot, replete with "unsolicited opinions on Israel"? (What's disturbing about this is that they may be depicting him as pro-Israel, as a way to make him look really bad in a bizarre way.) I'm not sure what they're trying to achieve here, but it's pretty tasteless. Yet Bleeding Cool sees nothing wrong with the subterfuge, and goes on to say:

It was rather funny, and a very clever use of comic book storytelling, with an unreliable narrator inserting themselves into the dialogue presented to the reader. It’s the kind of trick that can only be used in comics, but is used far too rarely. It reminded me of Cerebus, in a good way. So I highlighted it.

I don't see what's so funny about that kind of prejudice, even if it hadn't been forced onto a character whom you'd think was meant to be a goodie. And I don't think Cerebus makes for a great comparison, recalling that cartoonist Dave Sim was accused of misogynist positions, and here's a guy who found valid worries about his work, forcing him to reevaluate his opinions on Sim. Some people have to realize that satire does not always mix well with serious issues. And to say the "trick" can only be used in comics fails to consider it can wind up failing if the story is badly written to start with.

As the video commentator notes, Angela's been selling pretty low, as are plenty of other mainstream superhero titles today. And this is only bound to get worse as they all turn SJW-pandering.

Labels: marvel comics, misogyny and racism, moonbat writers, politics, Thor