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Orson Scott Card writing Superman? And a controversy?
Planeis
Posts: 980
I may not have spelled controversy right. Sorry. Anyway, did we know Orson Scott Card is going to be doing some writing for DC Comics?
I certainly didn't. Everything I just read says its some kind of digital only comic for Superman. First of all, I love him. Why isn't he writing the main title. Too busy maybe? Too expensive?
Secondly, there's some controversy around this because of Cards statements or actions regarding gay marriage and the LGBT community.
https://www.allout.org/en/actions/dccomics-osc
Does anyone have any thoughts? About his writing, Superman, or the controversy?
I certainly didn't. Everything I just read says its some kind of digital only comic for Superman. First of all, I love him. Why isn't he writing the main title. Too busy maybe? Too expensive?
Secondly, there's some controversy around this because of Cards statements or actions regarding gay marriage and the LGBT community.
https://www.allout.org/en/actions/dccomics-osc
Does anyone have any thoughts? About his writing, Superman, or the controversy?
Comments
As for his writing, I think sometimes he’s excellent (Ender’s Game), and sometimes he’s awful (The Memory of Earth), but usually he’s simply very good. I haven’t read any of his previous superhero comics work, but if I had to pick a character suitable for him to write, Superman would be at the top of the list. The religious undertones (often overtones) to his writing would fit right in with a Superman story. Maybe they could get Ethan van Sciver to draw it. They’re both North Carolina residents, and they’d probably see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues.
But on the other hand, I disagree with his opinions on homosexuality/gay marriage and, especially, the manner in which he has expressed them, and I don't want to support him with my money.
But I do want to support continuity-free/continuity-lite comics featuring DC characters the way I like them.
So I ignore politics all the time. But... Ive never really been a member of a targeted group before either.
For those interested in his views in his own words, there is an essay he wrote in 1990
Including this excerpt, in which he moves from how the LDS should keep gays and lesbians our of their church, to what he feels should be done in America: Gay=jail is (I only hope) a pretty far out of the mainstream view, even for opponents of equal marriage.
It is, of course, his right to believe and write what he wants. And DC or anyone else's right to hire him.
And my right to not buy anything with his name on it.
But this case, this aint his livelihood. His role seems to be pretty small, but what if he took on a more prominent role? Would we just stay away from DC altogether? I don't think it would be out of line to tell DC "this guy aint cool"
A guy who deals blows like that should be able to take a severe reprimand. Maybe it's not too late for him to learn a thing or two.
The more he writes beyond his fiction, the harder it is to respect him. (And I, too, have met and liked him.)
Off the top of my head three names spring to mind - Frank Miller, Billy Tucci, and Ethan Van Sciver - three people whose politics run about 180 degrees from my own. I buy Frank's books pretty much sight unseen, Billy and Ethan have sketches in my sketchbook, and I follow both of them on facebook (and if you do the same, you know what a no-man's land their posts are for left-leaning pinko commie nuts like me!) :)
It isn't easy to separate the artist from the art, but it can be done.
Ultimately, I think it comes down to your own beliefs, and your application of those beliefs to a particular individual. While I support gay rights, and hope we see a day in my lifetime where anyone can marry anyone in any state...it's not a push-button issue with me. If I were to find out tomorrow that Miller was 100% certifiably caught molesting children, all his books would be in the trash the next day. If I found out Tucci gets his rocks off abusing animals or running a dog-fighting ring, I'd remove that page from my book and shred it.
This is coming from a man who reads manga on a regular basis, so feel free to appreciate the irony/hypocrisy in the above paragraph. :)
If the guy can write a good Superman story, then let him be. I think it is stupid for people to try and have him removed from the book because of his political views.
Of course, Legends of the Dark Knight has been really good so far, and I'm looking forward to seeing them take this same approach with a Superman series. But still, it's easily missed and doesn't "count," so they're making it pretty easy to pass on.
With someone like Card, I think he has been at times rather belligerent in his statements, and I have a much harder time with that. And this isn't just a political thing. My terrible con run-in with Evan Dorkin soured me on his work, and Tony Harris's little explosion of dickishness toward cosplayers and "fake" girl geeks a month or two back made it so I'll be skipping anything he produces from here on out.
I can easily overlook differing opinions. I cannot overlook someone being a hateful douchebag.
On The Comic Forums?
Madness!
:O)
You either believe in freedom of conscience, speech and thought or you don't, and if you freak out every time someone gets a JOB who doesn't agree with you, I can assure you that you do not.
Now, if you were talk with me about the issue, what you would find out is that I support Domestic Partnerships for ALL households/families, gay, straight or whatever else. Because to expand marriage to include two men or two women is no less arbitrary or exclusionary than the current definition, only it doesn't even have the benefit of a unique biological foundation. It's Constitutionally indefensible, and it's STILL an imposition of the morality of the majority on the minority in ways that are frankly none of the government's business. Or mine. I don't care if someone falls in love with a chair, and they can marry it for all I care. So I personally do not think "gay marriage" is fair ENOUGH.
All that to say, I will be buying me some Orson Scott Card Superman.
I participated in these forums in the early nineties. And exchanged the occasional email with Card. He always seemed like a gentle and compassionate person. He rarely discussed politics directly. And his indirect comments weren't controversial.
I'd heard that he'd expressed some extreme views in publications geared at Mormons. But it didn't jibe with my experience so I discounted it.
By the mid to late nineties, he'd become much more public with his right wing views. And his online presence went form generous and compassionate to surly and belligerent.
I don't really know if Card had changed. Or if that early persona had been an act. But his views on a lot of things, including writing. Went from rather interesting to very odd.