Stars and Gripes: Tea Party Protests Captain America Comic

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/stars-and-gripes-tea-party-protests-captain-america-comic/

February 10, 2010
Stars and Gripes: Tea Party Protests Captain America Comic
By DAVE ITZKOFF

A detail from a recent issue of Captain America comics that upset members of the Tea Party movement.Over his 70-year history, Captain America has often vowed that his duty is to the American dream — and not to any political party. It’s a lesson that has hit home for Marvel Comics, Captain America’s longtime publisher, which said it would amend a recent issue of his comic-book series after it upset members of the Tea Party movement.

In issue No. 602 of Captain America, the hero and his ally the Falcon find themselves at a rally where protesters hold signs that read “Tea Bag the Libs Before They Tea Bag You!” and “Stop the Socialists!” Captain America remarks that the assembly appears to be an “anti-tax thing,” and the Falcon, who is black, says he probably would not fit in with “a bunch of angry white folks.”

The sequence incited complaints from Tea Party officials who say it is an unfair criticism of their movement. In an interview with FoxNews.com, Michael Johns, a board member of the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition, called the characters’ apparent jabs “juvenile,” adding: “The Tea Party movement has been very reflective of broad concerns of all Americans. Membership is across ethnic, religious and even political lines.”

Representatives for Marvel Comics did not immediately reply to requests for comment. But in an interview at the Web site ComicBookResources.com, Joe Quesada, the editor in chief of Marvel Comics, apologized for depicting the protesters as members of the Tea Party and said it was “just one of those stupid mistakes.”

In the interview, Mr. Quesada said that the language on the protest signs was added at the last minute by a letterer who “started pulling slogans from actual signs.” He added that Marvel Comics “caught the mistake two weeks ago,” after the issue was printed, and has since “removed the sign from the art files so that it no longer appears in future reprints of the title or collections.”