Has DC already crossed the line?
If there's any parents reading this, I gotta ask: would you buy your child a toy action figure based on a character who committed a rape?
Of all the marketing I've seen being done for toys, this has surely got to be the worst, most dishonest, and most incredibly immoral of all: toy action figures based on Identity Crisis, and, specifically, one that's based on a villain who committed a violent rape in the miniseries, Dr. Light, and whose crime, worst of all, was trivialized. The incredulous idea for a toy action figure to sell to children can be seen here below:
I first saw this horrific toy line two months ago at the Tel Aviv comics convention. It was while I was in the middle of buying a TPB of Gerry Conway and Paul Levitz's All-Star Comics revival from 1976 and a couple of Avengers back issues. I felt awful standing near the several toy action figures that were piled near the cash register. I hope nobody bought them, but there's no way to be sure nobody did.
These toys may not be new; they seem to have been around for a year and a half. I don't know how to say this, but with this toy product, DC Comics and the company that put this together may have crossed the line. Just how many parents who don't have any idea what goes on in Identity Crisis could've bought the Dr. Light action figure for their children, I wonder? And just how many toy stores put in on display? It could be tons. If you're a parent out there with children whom you'd like to buy comic book toys for: please, DO NOT buy the line of action figures based on Identity Crisis. To buy them is an insult not just to rape victims and battered women, but to family groups as well.
This is another reason why I've argued a few times that comic books need serious debate on television, and that means SERIOUS debate, of course. They're practically getting away with sleaze, and there aren't enough people out there who care enough to discuss this in the national media. Something that's got to be changed, and soon!
Of all the marketing I've seen being done for toys, this has surely got to be the worst, most dishonest, and most incredibly immoral of all: toy action figures based on Identity Crisis, and, specifically, one that's based on a villain who committed a violent rape in the miniseries, Dr. Light, and whose crime, worst of all, was trivialized. The incredulous idea for a toy action figure to sell to children can be seen here below:
I first saw this horrific toy line two months ago at the Tel Aviv comics convention. It was while I was in the middle of buying a TPB of Gerry Conway and Paul Levitz's All-Star Comics revival from 1976 and a couple of Avengers back issues. I felt awful standing near the several toy action figures that were piled near the cash register. I hope nobody bought them, but there's no way to be sure nobody did.These toys may not be new; they seem to have been around for a year and a half. I don't know how to say this, but with this toy product, DC Comics and the company that put this together may have crossed the line. Just how many parents who don't have any idea what goes on in Identity Crisis could've bought the Dr. Light action figure for their children, I wonder? And just how many toy stores put in on display? It could be tons. If you're a parent out there with children whom you'd like to buy comic book toys for: please, DO NOT buy the line of action figures based on Identity Crisis. To buy them is an insult not just to rape victims and battered women, but to family groups as well.
This is another reason why I've argued a few times that comic books need serious debate on television, and that means SERIOUS debate, of course. They're practically getting away with sleaze, and there aren't enough people out there who care enough to discuss this in the national media. Something that's got to be changed, and soon!
Labels: dc comics, golden calf of villainy, misogyny and racism, violence
