Ahead of the release of this summer’s Superman film Man of Steel, DC Entertainment is launching a new digital anthology of short comics starring the last son of Krypton entitled Adventures of Superman. Unfortunately, the series is being launched with a story written by Ender’s Game author and outspoken homophobe Orson Scott Card, leading to an online backlash against both the project and the publisher. After all, doesn’t Superman stand against such bigotry?
News of Adventures of Superman broke last Wednesday, with Card listed as co-writer on the first two installments (Aaron Johnston, who has previously worked with Card on Marvel’s Ender’s Game comics as well as a number of science fiction novels, is the other writer, with Chris Sprouse and Karl Story illustrating). Almost immediately, internet reaction condemned Card’s involvement in the title, suggesting that it was tantamount to DC supporting his views on homosexuality.
Card, who is a board member of the National Organization of Marriage, a political non-profit that works against the legalization of same-sex marriage, has been outspoken about his homophobic views for decades. In 1990, Card argued that “laws against homosexual behavior should remain on the books … used when necessary to send a clear message that those who flagrantly violate society’s regulation of sexual behavior cannot be permitted to remain as acceptable, equal citizens within that society.” In 2004, he wrote that equal marriage rights for
gay people could “strike a death blow against the well-earned protected status of [my], and every other, real marriage” as well as American civilization itself.
In the same essay, Card asserts that “the dark secret of homosexual society — the one that dares not speak its name — is how many homosexuals first entered into that world through a disturbing seduction or rape or molestation or abuse.” This conflation of homosexuality with rape and sexual abuse would surface again later in 2011 after the republication of Card’s novella Hamlet’s Father, which recasts the dead King in Shakespeare’s famous play as a gay pedophile who abused Horatio, Laertes, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Several critics have asserted that the book implies those characters become gay as a result of the abuse, although Card disputes that interpretation.
These beliefs also align with Card’s larger, fiercely conservative worldview, which has also inspired essays arguing that President Barack Obama was reelected last year because the media conspired to help him win a second term and that America’s public school system is “brainwashing” children through selective history lessons in order to create an army of Democratic Party voters – or as he calls them, the “Leftaliban.”
In response to Card’s involvement with the series, All Out, an international campaign for LGBT equality, has created an online petition calling for the writer’s removal from the title that has already surpassed its first target of 5,000 signatures and is now aiming for 10,000. This has, in turn, been seen as unjust censorship by some, with Kick-Ass creator Mark Millar going so far as to describe it as “fascistic,” suggesting that he may have some problems with the meaning of the term. (Hint: A public petition asking a company to do something may not actually fall under the dictionary definition of fascism).
Whether or not the protests or petition will have any effect remains to be seen. The issue has already bled from internet fandom into mainstream news outlets, with reports appearing in The Huffington Post, NPR, USA Today and The Guardian, which may help push DC into taking action. The publisher has recently shown itself as willing to reverse unpopular decisions based on fan reaction, after all.
When contacted for comment on the matter, DC Entertainment’s Courtney Simmons gave Wired following statement: “As content creators we steadfastly support freedom of expression. However, the personal views of individuals associated with DC Comics are just that — personal views — and not those of the company itself.”
Adventures of Superman launches digitally in April, with a print edition following in May.
Image courtesy of DC Comics
DC Comics Under Fire for Hiring Anti-Gay Author Orson Scott Card to Write <em>Superman</em>
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DC Comics Under Fire for Hiring Anti-Gay Author Orson Scott Card to Write <em>Superman</em>
