Kerry Picket reports that Marvel Comics is partially apologizing for a storyline that portrays Captain America investigating white supremacists and observing a Tea Party protest for research. The source of the controversy: a photo I took for TWI at the first Tea Party protest on February 27, 2009.
In preparation for the infiltration, Marvel Comics depicts the two super heroes out of costume and observing from a rooftop a street filled with what can only be described as a Tea Party protest. The scene shows crowds of people in city streets carrying signs that say, “stop the socialists,” “tea bag libs before they tea bag you,” and “no to new taxes.” Naturally, the people in these crowds are depicted as being filled with nothing but white folks.
“According to to Mr. Quesada,” writes Picket, “the book was ready to go to printer, but the panel in question had a group of protesters handling signs with no words on them, so the editor asked the letterer to ‘fudge in’ some quick believable slogans at the last minute. The letterer referred to this sign as a sample to work from.”
That sign was photographed by me, here.