Spider-Man, Diversity and "Who Cares?"

[Ihateregistering1]

The thing is, a lot of fans weren't angry for those reasons. They were angry solely because they didn't want Spider-Man to be black.

Request proof of that statement.

Many angry readers and pundits rejected them based solely on their perception that Marvel was altering classic characters to pander to recent trends of political correctness.

You just contradicted your previous statement. You first say that people didn't want Spider-man to be black or Heimdall to be black or Thor to be a woman, now you're saying they don't want to pander to trends of political correctness. Those aren't necessarily the same things.

Spoiler: The infamous fight scene with Absorbing Man and the female Thor? Sadly that's what a lot of people protesting sound/read like. Right down to the tone.

Sadly, it's what people tend to sound like when they complain about just about anything being changed, especially when it's adding any sort of diversity. Seriously.

Holy shit, is this actually real? Like it's serious? It seems like really, really bad satire.

 

[JimB]

These guys did. I'm sure they're not the only one.

Huh. Okay. Thanks.

And what the fuck are you talking about with Captain America being a promotion? You do realize that the "Captain" part is just part of the name, right?

Got the character a new, legacy mantle that others will carry on, got him international attention, and got him a monthly ongoing. All of those sound better than the deal he'd been getting, so I referred to it someone euphemistically as a promotion.

Your ignorance is not my problem.

I have not insulted you, Travis Fischer. I will thank you to return the favor. If you are not interested in actually backing up your assertions with provable facts and just want to make them without anyone being allowed to question them, then I think a public discussion forum, where any member of the public may discuss them, is a less suited venue for you than, say, a private blog over which you have banning authority.

Ask yourself, did stories get run in national news when the Falcon got a four-issue limited series in 1983?

I was five in 1983, so let me ask you a question: Did any comic book story ever get national news coverage prior to "the Death of Superman?"

Now you're just being pedantic.

Possibly. That is a thing I tend to do. Nevertheless, I think in America, where people have a tendency to act as if white and black are the only races that exist, ignoring Miles Morales's Hispanic nature is at least suggestive of the racism of forgetfulness.

That's how I'm looking at things.

Then there's nothing to do but wait to learn what Nick Fury whispered to him that made him unworthy of Mjolnir.

[Absorbing Man and Titania's behaviors are] not even a little bit [in character].

You and I have read different books, then.

Aaron turned him into a strawman caricature of exactly the opposite kind of person he is because apparently he thought the book was being too subtle about its message. (That or he couldn't afford to shoot a giant set of neon lights that say "THIS BOOK IS ABOUT FIGHTING THE PATRIARCHY" into space.)

You may wish to avoid leveling accusations of strawmanning against someone whose mouth you're putting words in.

It's true JimB. Black father, white mother.

Huh. Okay. Thanks.

While the citizens of the Marvel U may consider it a title, would the other heroes who have worked with Thor on so many occasions think the same?

No. Would they think someone who has the hammer and therefore the cosmological proof of her worthiness to wield the power of Thor owes it to them to tell them her identity, particularly in the wake of the Hero Registration Act bullshit of not so long ago, particularly when pretty much every person who's ever worn spandex is present to see the Odinson give her his approval and vouch for her?

Why would the new Thor not reveal who she is to Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, whom she knows that Thor trusts (aside from that Civil War stuff with Tony), who would then vouch for her with the other Avengers.

As far as I know, there's no canon answer to this, but if it were me? I wouldn't want to say anything Heimdall might overhear, because Heimdall would be compelled to answer the question honestly if Odin asked.

I can appreciate what you're saying, and to be honest Thor is a tough character for me in this particular argument because aside from God of Thunder I'm not big a fan of Thor in general.

Thank you. I would ask, though, that if you haven't read the source material, you please limit your comments to what you have direct experience of. It's a good rule in general, not just here, though I'll freely admit I'm asking it here because I get tired of having this same argument about things the character has said and done that never happened.

Spoiler

I have never seen that image, so I can't say. It never occurred in her own series. At a guess, I'd say it's not real, though. The "ethics in hammer-wielding" panel's color and light seem entirely different from the color and light on the rest of the page.

So maybe my point about her is invalid, because if Female Thor is written just as well as Miles Morales, than I am wrong.

I like the book. I think divorcing the character of Thor from the decades of history makes her more accessible than her predecessor, and I enjoy the mystery as to why she alone of all the people in Asgard is worthy to heft the hammer. Is it because she did so not for the sake of personal aggrandizement, personal dependence, and/or blind devotion to an idol, but rather because lives depend on the mantle of Thor being filled? I like to think so, but we'll learn the answer eventually.

 

[Flathole]

"who cares"? obviously the OP, since they made this thread. And, by that logic, so do I.

Batman wears a mask to conceal his identity. For all everyone knows, "The Bat" could be an Australian Aboriginal woman. It doesn't matter.

The Bat grows old. The Bat still has enemies, but The Bat can barely walk, anymore. The Bat discards the mask. The Bat's time is over.

Robin Picks up the mask. Who is Robin? Who knows? It's a unisex name. Robin fights, becomes tired or unable to fight, retires, and dies. Rorschach then picks up the mask. Who is Rorschach?

The mask, the gadgets, the training/backstory, the power, the costume, the methodologies, the ideologies- those are what makes a character, a character.

If an artistic creation lacks these essential factors, they have only their skin color and reproductive organs to stand on. That is not a character, that is a gimmick. That is Token, pandering, a diversity quota.

Can you imagine a creature trying to act using only melanin and reproductive organs? What a grotesque monster that would be!.... and actually, that's pretty cool, but more of a "creature of the damned" kind of cool, not the "Webshooting" kind of cool.

 

[Kameburger]

I can appreciate what you're saying, and to be honest Thor is a tough character for me in this particular argument because aside from God of Thunder I'm not big a fan of Thor in general.

Thank you. I would ask, though, that if you haven't read the source material, you please limit your comments to what you have direct experience of. It's a good rule in general, not just here, though I'll freely admit I'm asking it here because I get tired of having this same argument about things the character has said and done that never happened.

You are perfectly free to ask... I have to say though, the crowd that supports female Thor as not being this far outnumbers or at least is significantly louder than those who are in favor. Every clip, scan, or description I've read has been something to the effect of what I've mentioned earlier, and honestly, while again, I'm not stubbornly willing to stick to a particular thought on this one, I can say that the perception seems to be indicative of people no defending the writers of Thor, but resorting to labeling skeptics as misogynists. Which I'll be the first to say, is not my problem.

Spoiler

I have never seen that image, so I can't say. It never occurred in her own series. At a guess, I'd say it's not real, though. The "ethics in hammer-wielding" panel's color and light seem entirely different from the color and light on the rest of the page. [/quote] I thought that might be the case as well, but it pops up in numerous places, and it seemed as legit as anything considering if you followed many marvel writers on twitter, this seems in line with their stance.

So maybe my point about her is invalid, because if Female Thor is written just as well as Miles Morales, than I am wrong.

I like the book. I think divorcing the character of Thor from the decades of history makes her more accessible than her predecessor, and I enjoy the mystery as to why she alone of all the people in Asgard is worthy to heft the hammer. Is it because she did so not for the sake of personal aggrandizement, personal dependence, and/or blind devotion to an idol, but rather because lives depend on the mantle of Thor being filled? I like to think so, but we'll learn the answer eventually.[/quote] Could be, I hope so, I certainly am not trying to ruin anyone's enjoyment of the series. To me certainly Thor is not very accessible in any incarnation. This version may very well be more more grounded. I would say that it is a testament to how much I hate the tendency in the industry to try and create controversy to sell books, which I think certainly happened here regardless, because now I can't help but have that image in the back of my mind, that this book is trying to have a conversation that I don't really think is productive to have on the internet (yet here I am...). Spider woman, Spider Girl, the new wolverine, Ms. Marvel, all of these books came in with next to no controversy (and they tried with Ms. Marvel too which was the sad part) and I loved all those characters and don't feel threatened by them (not that I feel threatened by Female Thor either, but some do which I don't understand in the slightest...).

 

[loa]

Really?
He got bitten by a spider too and just so happens to develop the exact same powers as spiderman?
That's what they went with?
That's just silly. If it's so common, how aren't there multiple "spidermen"?

 

[Jetfan007]

The "Ethics in hammer wielding" bit is very real. Loki, Agent of Asgard issue 12. A series I liked at first. That was the last issue I bothered with.

It wasn't her main book, no, but from what I've read of that (~4 issues, give or take a few pages browsing) it's not much better. The Absorbing Man bit was cringeworthy at best, and Titania hasn't receded from fighting a woman in decades. Both instances, in character or not, were very overtly forced. After-school special-level forced. The rest of the writing ranges from bad fanfiction to bland prose. Everything else I've read involving her character has been similarly bad, with no exceptions that come to mind.

I tried liking her, I really did. I wanted this to be an interesting change, despite wishing it was Sif or Valkyrie or Enchantress under the mask (or that they'd have just flat out taken over the series, which makes a *lot* more sense than

Spoiler

Jane Foster with cancer

). It was just so awful, I felt like I could write better without trying. I *rarely* feel that way about comics, considering I've tried writing them.

I gave Slott the benefit of the doubt with Superior Spider-Man, and I ended up loving that series (and being thankful Peter was back afterward). This I just couldn't stand. Gender had nothing to do with it, garbage writing killed it for me.

 

[Erttheking]

Really?
He got bitten by a spider too and just so happens to develop the exact same powers as spiderman?
That's what they went with?
That's just silly. If it's so common, how aren't there multiple "spidermen"?

Uh. Did you know about the storyline Spider Island where every single person in Manhattan gets Spidey powers? Spidey even fights alongside J.J.J.

http://i.stack.imgur.com/2cspC.jpg

 

[Therumancer]

Warning I can't get /spoiler to work below but it should be for a minor thing at this point since I figure anyone who cares enough about Marvel comics to be reading this is already aware of the events of the most recent Secret Wars, but I include this just the same.


As far as I'm concerned ethnicity-gender changing of existing characters is wrong. If they want more diverse characters, then they should create new ones and if they are good they will catch on. Yes, that is hard to do, but that's part of the process. Consider for example how DC-Wildstorm did a lot for diversity when it existed, and some of those characters were even popular enough to survive the company collapse into the main DC continuity.

To me you can't (correctly) protest the so called "whitewashing" in Hollywood, while at the same time saying that this is okay.

That said Peter Parker survives, and I'm sure Thor and Steve will inevitably take back their mantles, if they don't, I won't be supporting their books.

Right now one of the reasons we see the PC stunts I think is because it continues to generate attention from irate fans and positive press from the left-leaning media.

I'll also be honest in saying that as much as I loathe the entire PC movement I think some comic fans have been going overboard at times. Of course then again the writers putting political bait into the comics (Creel, etc..) doesn't help matters.

One thing I will point out though for racism hunters is that you don't generally see complaints about the two big heroes in the final equasion of "Secret Wars" (the most recent ones)both being black. I'd think if there was some kind of genuine racism involved there would be. [/Spoiler] Black Panther actually wields an infinity gauntlet, and Miles winds up giving Molecule Man a 3 week old cheeseburger

Spoiler

. People are less concerned about minorities playing a role in the comics than changes to long-running characters as opposed to the creation of new ones. I'm sure there are some racists out there, but I don't think they represent much of the population.

Not something I'll argue or get into, that's just my take on the situation.

 

[maninahat]

"Who cares?"

People obsessed with identity politics, that's who. It's tainted every creative medium.

People as a whole really don't have a problem with creators using other races/genders in a given role, people like Miles Morales as spiderman, they just don't want changes made because the creators feel they are pressured and "have to" or going down a checklist. Fans of a given genre sometimes feel they have to question the motives now. Of course comics are known for taking big turns out of nowhere anyway.

I accept that fans don't like the status quo being changed. The problem is that they will try to rationalise their annoyance. People complain about it being pandering to make a few characters non-white or female, but apparently don't think it is pandering to have 75 years worth of comic book characters being almost entirely white and male. There is a assumption that if a character is re-cast, it is because the creators are cowardly appeasers of tumblr, and not because they made a simple creative decision to change the comic (perhaps they might have even agreed with racial/feminist criticisms of their medium, and factored it into their decision).

 

[happyninja42]

I'm definitely in the "who cares" category of this discussion.

I don't know, I just don't really give a shit about Peter Parker the way he is portrayed. He is designed to be so very "Everyman", that he has no defining characteristics that are at all unique in any way.

Awkward, nerdy, smart, new yorker. That's about it. And none of those traits are at all unique to being a white person. Peter Parker is basically a tabula rasa for the reader to inject themselves into, and personally, I couldn't care less if the blank slate I'm reading about is black, white, male, female, whatever. If you make a character that is almost a Color By Numbers stereotypical hero cliche, then you've made a character who has no personal identity at all.

Now, that being said, if you replace him with someone else, and then tell an equally bland, and superficial story (I'm looking at you FemThor), I will be annoyed, highly annoyed, and consider what you did utter crap. But I won't have an issue with the idea of changing up the character. I love legacy stories, the passing of the torch from one person to another. It hits a really strong emotional button for me that I just really can't explain well. So if you set it up right, like they did with Miles Moralis, I'm all on board. Yeah, the way he got his powers was a little heavy handed, but considering the spider had 42, on it's back, I felt like it was a bit of a nod from the writer "Yes, this is our deus ex machina, we needed to get him powers, and this was the easiest way, deal with it" Which I was ok with. But where they took Miles' story was what was engaging to me. I actually was rooting for him, I could appreciate his struggle, way more than I could Peter's problems. How Miles didn't become Spiderman out of some self inflicted martyr-complex of guilt (like every other fucking superhero ever), but that he just wanted to help people. And that he felt what Spiderman did for the city was a good thing, and that it should continue. That someone should carry on his legacy. And why not him? I'm all for that kind of a story, rather than another variation on Peter's perpetual teenage/early 20's problems that he usually inflicts on himself.

So please, change that shit up. The current iterations of the heros have have decades worth of time to have their way, and if fans have taught us anything, it's that they don't want you to dare make any changes in their heroes, or they will burn your house down in a nerd riot. "The heroes must not change!! It must be the same Peter/Bruce/Clark/etc that we've seen for 60+ years! We fear change!"

Fuck that noise. Change them up, but make the changes an improvement.

 

[Nazrel]

But Female Thor isn't selling all that well and there are two ways to look at it. One is that the readership is just too misogynistic or the writing is not good enough to make the changes believable. Now since the book isn't selling to well, that would suggest the former is true, but since racists didn't stop Morales from becoming a now popular Marvel Staple, I'm not so sure I buy that. I think Thor #1 didn't generate the kind of word of mouth that would make people like me, who are not looking to be allies and would rather remain neutral (choosing a side is what my vote is for), I wasn't convinced that this comic wasn't interested in having that fight with readers who may disagree. Again I may be wrong, but a first impression is difficult to change.

Don't take this as a defense of it, as there are a litany of valid complaints against it, but Female Thor is not selling badly, it managing at least 50,000 of single issues (those are admittedly wholesale figures), keeping it in the top 20, and it always breaks the top 10 in digital sales, and none of this is taking into account the potential sales of Trades (collected graphic novels).

It does admittedly seem to be declining. (It's Pre-Secret War run didn't dip below 70,000)

 

[Kameburger]

But Female Thor isn't selling all that well and there are two ways to look at it. One is that the readership is just too misogynistic or the writing is not good enough to make the changes believable. Now since the book isn't selling to well, that would suggest the former is true, but since racists didn't stop Morales from becoming a now popular Marvel Staple, I'm not so sure I buy that. I think Thor #1 didn't generate the kind of word of mouth that would make people like me, who are not looking to be allies and would rather remain neutral (choosing a side is what my vote is for), I wasn't convinced that this comic wasn't interested in having that fight with readers who may disagree. Again I may be wrong, but a first impression is difficult to change.

Don't take this as a defense of it, as there are a litany of valid complaints against it, but Female Thor is not selling badly, it managing at least 50,000 of single issues (those are admittedly wholesale figures), keeping it in the top 20, and it always breaks the top 10 in digital sales, and none of this is taking into account the potential sales of Trades (collected graphic novels).

It does admittedly seem to be declining. (It's Pre-Secret War run didn't dip below 70,000)

hmm if that's true if stand corrected. I remember reading somewhere that the first issue massively under performed and it was closer to the 20,000 range but that could just be me remembering incorrectly. I also seem to remember the article I read talking more about physical book sales as opposed to digital so that's also possible. But I'll remember that. Thank you.

 

[votemarvel]

Really?
He got bitten by a spider too and just so happens to develop the exact same powers as spiderman?
That's what they went with?
That's just silly. If it's so common, how aren't there multiple "spidermen"?

This is the Ultimate Universe (which has now been destroyed with a few characters crossing over to the main Marvel U.

Here Peter got his powers through being bitten by a spider that had been genetically altered. Miles also got bitten by a test subject that had been altered in a slightly different way.

Miles don't have powers which are exactly the same. He doesn't have a Spider-Sense for example but has a bioelectric sting and a cloaking ability.

There were also more spider-people but they were clones. There were several flawed clones of Peter and Jessica Drew was a clone of Peter who had been created as a woman.

 

[webkilla]

I liked the comic with its jab at putting race/minority representation above the actual acts and moral worth of the hero.

We have superheroes who are sentient trees that only say one line, we have superheroes who are the result of deals with demons, we have superheroes who were born by gods with great powers, and superheroes who were born into super magitech societies with kit that give them powers not unlike gods

nothing of the above says anything about the race or gender of those heroes

I personally dislike pandering greatly - same reason I dislike the fem-thor comic for increasingly blatant shoe-horning of contemporary pop-politics and SJW bullshit, never mind that it takes a huge crap on established comic-Thor lore. You wield the hammer, fine? You wield the power of thor, but you don't get his name. That has never been how it worked.

Miles Morales getting annoyed at a fangirl who cares more for his skin-color than the fact that he just rekt a freaking demon - ya, I would frankly get annoyed too if I was in his situation.

 

[irish286]

I think what pisses people of is the way they get rid of old characters to make way for their pandering counterparts. Thor gets disgraced and loses his powers? Peter Parker gets killed? There wasn't much kerflufle about Falcon becoming Captain America because Rogers was incapacitated not killed. And like people said before, he earned the mantle by being his own unique character. Not only that, Sam had a personal connection with Rogers so making him into Rogers' replacement made sense. Now if they did something similar with Thor, like Asgard needed him but he didn't want earth to be undefended in his absence so he gave his hammer to some one worthy I think people would have accepted it more. I think the issue isn't so much making them different race, it's more how they do it that's the issue. Killing a character or disgracing them in order to replace them with a more PC pandering version is the problem.

 

[Silvanus]

never mind that it takes a huge crap on established comic-Thor lore. You wield the hammer, fine? You wield the power of thor, but you don't get his name. That has never been how it worked.

Well, no, but there's nothing stopping Foster calling herself Thor. As I understood it, she took the name because she believed the world needed a Thor in Odinson's absence-- much like Jean-Paul Valley or Dick Grayson taking the mantle of Batman. They're not literally becoming him, but they believe the role needs to be filled.

That's not a crap on Thor-Lore (Thore?).

I think what pisses people of is the way they get rid of old characters to make way for their pandering counterparts. Thor gets disgraced and loses his powers? Peter Parker gets killed?

If people are upset about the original characters losing their powers, they need some memory-training. Heroes and supervillains lose their powers and die every other week, and almost always get them back-- and their role usually gets filled in their absence, too.

 

[Nazrel]

But Female Thor isn't selling all that well and there are two ways to look at it. One is that the readership is just too misogynistic or the writing is not good enough to make the changes believable. Now since the book isn't selling to well, that would suggest the former is true, but since racists didn't stop Morales from becoming a now popular Marvel Staple, I'm not so sure I buy that. I think Thor #1 didn't generate the kind of word of mouth that would make people like me, who are not looking to be allies and would rather remain neutral (choosing a side is what my vote is for), I wasn't convinced that this comic wasn't interested in having that fight with readers who may disagree. Again I may be wrong, but a first impression is difficult to change.

Don't take this as a defense of it, as there are a litany of valid complaints against it, but Female Thor is not selling badly, it managing at least 50,000 of single issues (those are admittedly wholesale figures), keeping it in the top 20, and it always breaks the top 10 in digital sales, and none of this is taking into account the potential sales of Trades (collected graphic novels).

It does admittedly seem to be declining. (It's Pre-Secret War run didn't dip below 70,000)

hmm if that's true if stand corrected. I remember reading somewhere that the first issue massively under performed and it was closer to the 20,000 range but that could just be me remembering incorrectly. I also seem to remember the article I read talking more about physical book sales as opposed to digital so that's also possible. But I'll remember that. Thank you.

Those numbers are referring only to the single issue physical sales (admittedly the wholesale ones); they don't give out numbers for digital sales, just relative rankings.

Maybe it was Angela they were talking about? Her series has done poorly; which is why it's been canceled.

 

[happyninja42]

never mind that it takes a huge crap on established comic-Thor lore. You wield the hammer, fine? You wield the power of thor, but you don't get his name. That has never been how it worked.

Well, no, but there's nothing stopping Foster calling herself Thor. As I understood it, she took the name because she believed the world needed a Thor in Odinson's absence-- much like Jean-Paul Valley or Dick Grayson taking the mantle of Batman. They're not literally becoming him, but they believe the role needs to be filled.

That's not a crap on Thor-Lore (Thore?).

Thlore is the word I'd go with. Those other examples though, have the benefit of having their name being a title. Thor is his actual name. I personally don't really care, as it's obviously something done so that they don't have to rename the comic line "Person Running Around Using Thor's Powers But Who Isn't Actually Thor". That just doesn't fit at the top of a comic like "THOR" does xD

It's a mantle of power, and also a specific person's name, so it gets a little fuzzy. I personally don't care, because my issues with FemThor is the terrible writing and direction they took the story. You want to shake up the story and do something new with it? Fine, I applaud you, go for it. But you better make it work, or kiss my ass.

 

[Nazrel]

never mind that it takes a huge crap on established comic-Thor lore. You wield the hammer, fine? You wield the power of thor, but you don't get his name. That has never been how it worked.

Well, no, but there's nothing stopping Foster calling herself Thor. As I understood it, she took the name because she believed the world needed a Thor in Odinson's absence-- much like Jean-Paul Valley or Dick Grayson taking the mantle of Batman. They're not literally becoming him, but they believe the role needs to be filled.

That's not a crap on Thor-Lore (Thore?).

Thor wasn't gone, he was just unworthy to wield the hammer... because of "reasons".

He still had his inherit godly powers, still on the avengers, but gives up the name he was born with because of "contrivance".

Odin can't lift the hammer, despite the fact he controls the Odinforce, the thing powering both the hammer and the worthiness spell, and Mj?lnir has traditionally been the plaything of him and any others who might posses even the tinyist fraction of the Odinforce, including when old school God of Evil Loki was possessing his body... because of "reasons".

Jane, among all who might try to pick it up, is alone worthy because of "reasons".

She then appropriates the name of this still living god without permission (after the fact doesn't count.)

This half dead mortal with no martial training is now wielding it better then the actual god with the millennia worth of experience... because of "reasons".

There is a half Black half Hispanic Spider-Man, a Black Captain America, and a woman Wolverine, but these threads always inevitability turn to an argument about Thor.

Want to know why? Because it's the one that's stupid!!!

P.S. Read the Masterson arc to see this concept done competently.

 

[Silvanus]

Thor wasn't gone, he was just unworthy to wield the hammer... because of "reasons".

He still had his inherit godly powers, still on the avengers, but gives up the name he was born with because of "contrivance".

Odin can't lift the hammer, despite the fact he controls the Odinforce, the thing powering both the hammer and the worthiness spell, and Mj?lnir has traditionally been the plaything of him and any others who might posses even the tinyist fraction of the Odinforce, including when old school God of Evil Loki was possessing his body... because of "reasons".

Jane, among all who might try to pick it up, is alone worthy because of "reasons".

Honestly, this doesn't seem any more contrived than a hundred other comic occurrences. Circumstances contrive to further the plot in highly unlikely ways on a daily basis in comics. Superboy-Prime punching time in order to reset certain events probably takes the cake.

There is a half Black half Hispanic Spider-Man, a Black Captain America, and a woman Wolverine, but these threads always inevitability turn to an argument about Thor.

Want to know why? Because it's the one that's stupid!!!

But people do complain about Miles Morales being Spider-Man, and I don't doubt people moaned about a black Captain America and a female Wolverine, too. It's simply not true that it's just this example that provoked people.

It's a mantle of power, and also a specific person's name, so it gets a little fuzzy. I personally don't care, because my issues with FemThor is the terrible writing and direction they took the story. You want to shake up the story and do something new with it? Fine, I applaud you, go for it. But you better make it work, or kiss my ass.

Certainly, I agree. From what little I've seen of the writing, it doesn't seem stellar.

...But it also doesn't seem uniquely worse than a dozen other contemporary comics I could pull up. It only seems to grind peoples' gears to the same extent when it's a situation like this, in which political correctness (or what-have-you) can be blamed.