DoubtingTom

February 18, 2013 1:46 pm As has already been pointed out, two relevant things have happened since 2006, when Ultimate Iron Man came out: first, the Prop 8 battle in 2008 made NOM into national news, not just another face in the crowd of bigoted organizations, and second, Orson Scott Card joined their board in 2009. So, you know, it would have been kind of hard to protest Marvel for hiring a guy who was on the board of an openly bigoted organization that he hadn't yet joined. There was commentary about his hiring and views, and maybe there was a protest or two; it's not like any research was done to write this piece. That is, of course, the thing that sets Card apart from Bill Willingham, or Dave Sim, or John Byrne, or any of the other creators that people have been trotting out to say "omg ur a hypocrite look at these other conservatives and they make comix 2!", including the Orson Scott Card of 2006. If Bill Willingham were on the board of the KKK, I think there might be a protest if he came to write mainstream superhero comics. Especially at a company who was simultaneously struggling with diversity and making overtures about being committed to it. I'm fine (and so are most of the people who've been protesting Card) with people having "views," even if they're detestable and disgusting. For those people, I'll vote with my wallet. It's people who are prominently and publicly taking actions on behalf of those views that I'd actively protest. Would spiking Card's story help anyone? No, surely not. It wouldn't help send the message that being a public bigot might actually have consequences. It wouldn't help DC to show that their recent commitment to LGBT(etc.) characters like Batwoman and Alan Scott and Shining Knight has been more than just lip service and attempts to get some GLAAD awards to hang on the wall. No, instead it's better for everyone to do nothing. DC should go on and publish the book, because they never pull or change titles for lesser reasons like not wanting Superman to be friends with a Muslim or anything. Fans shouldn't do anything, because any action is hypocrisy and besides no one's going to be helped and we should tolerate intolerance and there's no perfect solution and caring about things is stupid. If only there were some middle ground between "smash" (because a protest is totally equivalent to violent action) and "obstinate apathy."