New episode of MATT & BRETT LOVE COMICS!
LAUREN HUNTER and SUPERMAN ANNUAL #11!
If you’re not pumped for “Man of Steel,” then listen to this podcast and GET pumped. We read one of the most respected Superman stories ever (“For the Man Who Has Everything” by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons) and oh yeah, we had things to say. Good things. Check it out!
ORSON SCOTT CARD HIRING SENDS MIXED SIGNALS TO DC COMICS’ LGBT FANS
I wrote this last Friday after the news broke, and after my friend Michael Hartney alerted me to it via his Tumblr. At the time of writing, I was very big on the idea that petitions do nothing. I mean, for the most part they don’t. For the most part they’re just the result of extremely passive people adding their name to an online thing without really lifting a finger to right the wrong. So my piece closes with a call to counter whatever money DC gave Card, and whatever money he’ll therefore put towards hurting the LGBT community, with donating to the HRC. Putting your money where your mouth is.
Then over the weekend, a petition actually gained traction (unlike every other comic petition ever) and my good friend Michael’s heartfelt plea blew up on Tumblr. To which I now say screw not signing a petition. Sign that petition and donate whatever money you’d give this Superman comic to the HRC. DC Comics has to know where their fans side (that side is the right side of history, by the way).
Hi, DC!
My name’s Michael Hartney. I’m as big a Superman fan as you’ll ever meet. I have bought Superman comics every Wednesday since I learned to read, which was nearly 30 years ago. Superman was the subject of my blog and my one-man show. My name is tattooed on my arm in Kryptonian, for Zod’s sake. Oh, and I’m super-gay.
I can’t and won’t support the hiring of Orson Scott Card on Adventures of Superman. There’s a difference between having conservative political beliefs and being an active force of bigotry and hatred. Card is the latter. So draw away, Ethan Van Sciver, you fabulous Republican! Fine with me! Orson Scott Card, however, is in an entirely different, unjust league.
If this was a holocaust denier or a white supremacist, there would be no question. Hiring that writer would be an embarrassment to your company. Well, Card is an embarrassment to your company, DC. This is the same. The LGBTQ community will no longer take this lying down. Our civil rights are no longer up for debate or discussion.
Ugh. And of all the characters Card could have been hired to write, you give him Superman? The character that taught me to lead by example? To do the right thing, even when it was hard? To keep going, even when it seemed hopeless? What an insult. Kids are killing themselves. They are killing themselves in a climate of intolerance and homophobia publicly fostered by people like Orson Scott Card. You don’t have to contribute to this. You shouldn’t. You mustn’t.
What can you do to keep my business, and the business of other LBGTQ readers (and their straight allies) who feel utterly betrayed by this thoughtless, illogical decision? Great question, DC. Yank the story. Don’t publish it. You don’t have to fire Card. Pay him, thank him for his time, and run something else. Say, by Phil Jimenez, or one of the other incredible LGBTQ talents you have in your stable that have been alienated by this colossal blunder. Then, publish an It Gets Better comic. With 100% of the proceeds going to the Trevor Project. Stories starring Batwoman, Bunker, Alan Scott, and straight heroes too. I’ll do you a favor: I’ll write the Superman story, free of charge. I’ve got more than thirty years of Superman research under my belt, so I think I know him pretty well.
I wish you did too.
OUTRAGE: DC Comics has just hired anti-gay writer Orson Scott Card for their new digital Adventures of Superman.
He’s written publicly that he believes marriage equality would lead to the end of civilization. He’s also on the board of a notorious anti-equality organization.We need to let DC Comics know they can’t support Orson Scott Card or his work to keep LGBT people as second-class citizens. They know they’re accountable to their fans, so if enough of us speak out now, they’ll hear us loud and clear. Sign and share!
Fuck Orson Scott Card forever.
Not only has DC Comics hired anti-gay bigot Orson Scott Card to write a Superman story, but Bleeding Cool’s Rich Johnston thinks I don’t have the right to be pissed about it: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/02/07/orson-scott-card-superman-and-here-we-go-again/
Rich, there’s a difference between political beliefs and bigotry. There really is. My mom is both a Republican AND someone who believes I’m entitled to civil rights. Also, Card is not just a de facto activist because he’s famous. HE’S ON THE BOARD OF NOM.Basically I’m just pissed that a Superman comic is coming out and, for the first time in my entire life, I will not buy it. Shame on you, DC.
Signal fucking BOOOOOST.
I stopped reading Bleeding Cool around Christmas time because Rich Johnston pulled some more shady, grody, inappropriate stuff.
Things I did this week:
*You can access AR recaps by downloading the Marvel AR app for your iPhone or iPad and then holding your device over the cover of the issue
Welcome to my Tumblr, where I infrequently post musings on comic books, esoteric bits about improv comedy and pictures of Colin Meloy. If you want to see what what else I am up to, please check out:
digsy is comics
the damage is done: the music of the features
mission: marvel
what if i was dc?
x-men in your face tumblr!!!
