Marvel To Remove Tea Bag Gag From Captain America, Reports Fox News

[Rich Johnston]

<p>Fox News has quoted Ed Brubaker on the Captain America furore that Bleeding Cool picked up on this morning.</p>
<p>The latest issue of Captain America features a protesting crowd, that appears to be part of the "Tea Party" organised protests in the USA, against the current adminstration. The character Falcon, a prominent black superhero comments that he wouldn't be welcomed in such a crowd, and Cap observes that it's an "anti-tax" event. And the signs are quite specific - and one is a little on the explicit side.</p>
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<p>Ed Brubaker told Fox he didn't write the protest sign "Tea Bag The Libs Before They Tea Bag YOU!" that has caused some concern and that Marvel will be removing it from subsequent prints of collections of the story. He blames the lettering and production process of the book. Brubaker is quoted as saying;

I don't know who did it, probably someone who thought it was funny. I didn't think so, personally. That's the sign being changed to something more generic for the trade reprint, because I and my editor were both shocked to see it.</p>
<p>

But it's the conflating of allegations of racism and the anti-tax movement in the comic book that is continuing to cause issues amongst the kind of people who like whipping up such issues. Fox News also quotes a number of anti-Tea Party and anti-Republican tweets by Ed Brubaker over the last few months.

Memo to Bachman and the rest of the tea crowd -- We had a revolution already, it's called an election</p>
<p>

What did we learn this week? That Sarah Palin is a lying idiot. Hey, welcome to 2008 again.</p>
<p>

Brubaker is quoted again as saying;

I was simply using them to show the mood in the country in various places outside Captain America and the Falcon's usual home, New York City. It's very similar to other things we've done in the comic, showing leftwing protest crowds back during the election season in 2008.</p>
<p>

A Disney-bought Marvel is of course an even easier target now, and the fact that this was a Captain America comic that seems to demonstrate a specific political bias is like a red rag to a bull. Especially when said news source has beenaccused of repeatedly publicising this movement and exaggerating its impact.</p>
<p>Me, I think I'm just going to buy a few copies and put them on eBay...</p>
<p>UPDATE: Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada has responded on Twitter saying;

Old news, @richjohnston we removed it from the art files two weeks ago. Explanation forthcoming, stay tuned kids.</p>
<p>

It may be old news to Joe, but it seems to have been new news to everybody else - in that no one had reported it until now. It does smack a little of the Earth X: Spidey controversy when longtime Bullpenner Al Milgrom added an insult to departing EiC Bob Harras in the comic. Despite the art files being changed before print, the original page saw publication, the issue was pulped and Milgrom was fired and indeed blacklisted for a time. Then when the trade paperback was published, it included the original page once more.</p>
<p>UPDATE UPDATE: JamieB in the Comments adds a photo that might illuminate where the offensive phrase came from - at one of the Tea Party rallies.</p>
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[Mad_Man_Moon]

What are the tweet quotes?

I'll go digging.

Also, Mr. Brubaker, bad form for responding by tweet. Sure, 140 characters might be all this deserves, perhaps only 4 then 3, but it's sometimes good to expose shit like this.

On a similar note, John Stewart went on the Hannity show the other day, it's sitting here on my netbook screaming WATCH ME, so I might do that shortly. I can only imagine it ends with Stewart crying into his tie and rocking backward and forward at the insanity of it all.

Has Colbert picked up on the Captain America bits yet?

EDIT
Here's the Twitter stuff:

He said he wrote the script "four or five" months ago, which was shortly before he posted critical messages on his Twitter account regarding former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former President George W. Bush.

"Memo to Bachman and the rest of the tea crowd -- We had a revolution already, it's called an election," Brubaker tweeted on Nov. 5.

Nine days later, he wrote: "What did we learn this week? That Sarah Palin is a lying idiot. Hey, welcome to 2008 again."

But Brubaker was adamant that he did not intend to imply that the group of protesters in the comic book were Tea Partiers.

"I was simply using them to show the mood in the country in various places outside Captain America and the Falcon's usual home, New York City," he wrote. "It's very similar to other things we've done in the comic, showing leftwing protest crowds back during the election season in 2008."

The article goes on to say how insulting it all is.

Heh ...

[winteriscoming]

So, here is a youtube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkWQ4...layer_embedded
.
Black man, Tea Party member, singing at a tea party rally. He is cheered for, and people sing a long with him.

Bru doesn't seem to know much about it.

Don't see all those redneck looking people the artist drew either. Sigh.

[FasterthanShaun]

I laughed out loud when I saw the protest panel just for the reference, though I would have actually liked to see it go a bit further. And, mind, the signs in this issue are considerably more mild than those seen in real life--especially as relates to "someone like" Falcon.

[winteriscoming]

I laughed out loud when I saw the protest panel just for the reference, though I would have actually liked to see it go a bit further. And, mind, the signs in this issue are considerably more mild than those seen in real life--especially as relates to "someone like" Falcon.

What are you talking about?

Here is an article written by a black tea party member. He describes how racist slurs were shouted at him..not from tea party members but from those who support this current government: http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/14789

"As to the claim that the tea party protesters are racist, they are not. Quite the opposite. At every rally with thousands in attendance, I was overwhelmingly showered with affection and thanks for standing up for America. At one rally, a sign read, “Lloyd Marcus for President.” These protesters are not racist. They are decent hard working ordinary Americans who love their country and disapprove of the radial changes planned by the Obama administration. Race is not an issue with them. They have deep concerns for their country."

[Mad_Man_Moon]

The fact that the gag was there in the first place is not necessarily in keeping with the current run anyway, which may be what pissed off EB more than anything.

This still remains to be a pretty big molehill.
The issues in question aren't saying the teabaggers are racists, it's saying that they're protesting and there is another group out there, trying to subvert these protests for their own means (I believe). This other group are not the teabaggers (yes, I'm now using that insultingly, for fun, I like it, and I like using it insultingly, yay insults), they are led by a psychopathic cap with twisted morals, on somewhat of a miniature hitler bent.

Of course, I could be wrong, and this could just be Marvel outing themselves as a force for the militant left of the world.

[JamieB]

I'm sure Lloyd Marcus being a card-carrying Republican who's been to dinner with Laura Bush at the White House, composed a tea party "anthem" and whose website's current front page features a giant fucking love heart addressed to Rush Limbaugh helps with his reception at tea party "events".

Also:

[zero cool]

What are you talking about?

Here is an article written by a black tea party member. He describes how racist slurs were shouted at him..not from tea party members but from those who support this current government: http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/14789

"As to the claim that the tea party protesters are racist, they are not. Quite the opposite. At every rally with thousands in attendance, I was overwhelmingly showered with affection and thanks for standing up for America. At one rally, a sign read, “Lloyd Marcus for President.” These protesters are not racist. They are decent hard working ordinary Americans who love their country and disapprove of the radial changes planned by the Obama administration. Race is not an issue with them. They have deep concerns for their country."

One man's experience, doesn't refute the fact that if you look at the various videos and photos of these events online and on the news the crowds are overwhelmingly white and there is a definite racist undercurrent to some of these events, just read some of the signs. I'm not saying everyone at these protests are racists, but I'm also not going to say that there isn't some of that to these protests.

In the drawings, I don't see a bunch of rednecks, I see one guy in a cowboy hat and the rest in basic winterwear, no "git er dun", no confederate flags or anything.

In the end, I thiink this story is much ado about nothing and its just Fox news trying to make news instead of reporting actual news.

[protonik]

What are you talking about?

Here is an article written by a black tea party member. He describes how racist slurs were shouted at him..not from tea party members but from those who support this current government: http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/14789

"As to the claim that the tea party protesters are racist, they are not. Quite the opposite. At every rally with thousands in attendance, I was overwhelmingly showered with affection and thanks for standing up for America. At one rally, a sign read, “Lloyd Marcus for President.” These protesters are not racist. They are decent hard working ordinary Americans who love their country and disapprove of the radial changes planned by the Obama administration. Race is not an issue with them. They have deep concerns for their country."

Except even that is a little on the racist side when you look think about it, they were singling him out, like "hey, one of Obama's boys agrees with us, see, he IS Hitler." LOL

[Dave Elliott]

Most of the people at these rallies all wear white tee shirts with slogans on. They are predominantly white. They is a large section of this base who is more than happy to blame those of another color for the country's woes if that is where their ire can be pointed. There are a lot of different feelings being mixed up at these events and when interviewers approach these people sympathetically and ask the right questions it is often revealed that they do not truly know what they are protesting about.

The organizers of these events are all people who wish to keep the rich rich and the poor poor. They know that many of these people are racist and definitely slant their comments towards those feelings without making actual comments as such.

The American political system has to be the most corrupt government I have ever known. I know corruption is world wide, but for a system that preaches God and goodness in one breath and denies basic levels of health care because politicians are making a buck from pharmaceutical companies <cough> Joe Liberman <cough> leaving thousands to die is totally immoral.