Superman To Fight For 'A Better Tomorrow' So Obviously Terrible People Are Piiiiiissed
The video features well-known comics fans [checks notes] Leo Terrell, Lara Trump, Raymond Arroyo (who made extremely homophobic remarks to Laura Ingraham when discussing the sexuality of Superman last week), and Alicia Acuna. Arroyo and Terrell particularly complain about DC Comics "changing the origins of Superman" to cater to "wokeness."
This narrative was furthered when Fox News published a story of the colorist on "Superman: Son Of Kal-El" quitting over this change. They were so excited to add their new favorite phrase "cancel culture" to their Superman outrage that they created a new word which has yet to be corrected as of this writing:
We can only assume that Superman's "wokness" is delicious, out of this world stir-fry.
In its article, Fox News links to disreputable Comicsgate propaganda website Bounding Into Comics. Both articles published part of a rant colorist Gabe Eltaeb gave during a four and a half hour YouTube livestream run by Comicsgate's self-appointed leader, former DC Comics artist and bigot Ethan Van Sciver.
After telling an anecdote about The Joker creator Jerry Robinson, Gabe Eltaeb went on a rant that was published in most conservative websites.
I'm tired of this shit. I'm tired of them ruining these characters. They don't have a right to do this. [...] It's not about gay or anything like that. What really pissed me off was saying truth, justice, and a better world. Fuck that it was Truth, Justice, and the American way. My Grandpa almost died in World War II [...] We don't have a right to destroy shit that people died for to give us. It's a bunch of fucking nonsense.
Arguably, no one is destroying or taking anything away by adding more diversity and creating new characters. But Eltaeb continued with his rant against "SJWs" (Social Justice Warriors), as Comicsgate likes to call anyone not in their hate group.
They call us bigots and racist and shit [...] they're the fucking bigots.
Funny that Eltaeb has an objection with them being called bigots or racist considering the "hightlights" of the livestream (which included comics has-beens Jon Malin, Dan Fraga, Graham Nolan, Aaron Lopresti, Art Thibert, and Billy Tucci) that all these conservative publications left out:
- Van Sciver using a homophobic stereotypical "lisping" voice
- Van Sciver saying they are going to "give Superman HIV"
- Art Thibert referring to LGBTQ+ as a "sexual preference"
- Making a "joke" about a character raping the new Superman
- Jon Malin, after Dan Fraga asking "What's next after this," saying that they will pivot to pedophilia and saying "You're gonna have Batman fucking Robin."
- Gabe Eltaeb comparing LGBTQ+ to bestiality after Malin's rant
That last part (and possibly leaking story information weeks prior to Van Sciver to get the hate machine going) is why Eltaeb was probably fired, as posited by this piece by Bleeding Cool and this pinned tweet from Eltaeb (whose Twitter is now in protected mode) in which he describes being "pushed" out rather than "quitting."
Twitter
Eltaeb's and Fox News's meltdowns are both a word salad of conservative dog whistles and ahistorical. "Truth, Justice and the American Way" did not originate with the first Superman comic books by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. In fact, Superman's original motto in his first appearance in Action Comics#1 was one that today would fit more progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Bernie Sanders or, as Comicsgate likes to say, SJWs:
Superman for President in 2028!DC Comics
As noted by this piece in Variety, the version of the motto conservatives are screaming about was created for the "Superman" radio serial in the early 1940s during World War II. But even as early as 1948, in Superman's first film serial, it was adapted to "Truth, Tolerance and Justice," as noted by the writer of Superman Smashes The Klan:
The "American Way" motto was revived for the "Adventures of Superman" TV series that aired in the 1950s (during the Cold War paranoia and McCarthyism) before it was changed again to "Truth, Justice and Freedom" in the 1960s on the kids cartoon series "The New Adventures of Superman." The "American Way" part came back in arguably the most well-known version of the character, 1978's "Superman: The Movie" starring Christopher Reeve.
As The Hollywood Reporter notes, the new slogan lets the new Superman live up to of the original Superman's (his father Clark Kent) oldest nicknames: "The Man of Tomorrow." The nickname, which debuted in 1939's "New York World's Fair Comics" #1, has long been associated with Superman. But with both Supermen embracing diversity, advocating to fix climate change and optimistically fighting for a better future, never have we more needed Superman as "The Man Of Tomorrow" and a symbol of hope for EVERYONE.
Both in the comics pages and in pop culture.
#ComicsForAll
Trump Jumps Into Social Media Fray, Lands In Pig Sh*t
Behold the pitch deck for Trump Media & Technology Group, a "Mission Driven Organization" which will "fight for the First Amendment protections and freedoms of all Americans, protect democracy, and defend capitalism."
When it comes to graphics, no expense has been spared.
They've done the research, and they know that 230 years of American media has been leading up to this very moment.
The country is dangerously polarized, so obviously it is time to MAKE BANK by fracturing it even more.
Of course the US population went from 100 million in the 1980s to 200 million in the 1990s, and if you didn't know that, you're a fool. But seriously, in short, it's ridiculous. It's 22 pages of crappy graphics announcing the launch of a knockoff Twitter site called "Truth" and a streaming service that will cater to your burning need for "'non-woke' entertainment programming, news, podcasts, and more." This will apparently including manly sports like boxing and sumo wrestling. (Props to the artist who included the ass shot of obese wrestler in a purple thong.)
Trump's mommyblog gets a few thousand hits a day, and yet this goob is still promising to bring 146 million followers with him to the platform – the total number of followers he had on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram put together before he got booted for that whole fomenting insurrection business.
Also, he's going to take on Netflix, CNN, Disney+, iHeart Media, and, oh, hell, why not Google, Amazon, Stripe, and Azure, too. Which only makes sense for a company that's seeking investors and values itself at $1.7 billion based on an incoherent slide show.
As is so often the case with Trump, he stumbled ass backward into the project and managed to land in pigshit — digitally, if not literally. In the most charitable interpretation of last night's debacle, a beta test version of the site prematurely ejaculated into existence and was instantly overrun by trolls. The handles for "donaldtrump," "donaldjtrump," and "mike pence" were immediately claimed, with someone posting an image of a pig defecating onto its own swollen scrotum in the former president's name.
Apt.
Within a few hours, the site was shut down and the accounts deactivated. So much for "building a 'non-cancellable' global community."
And speaking of barnyard excretions, the terms of service for this unique and wonderful platform rather undercut the freewheeling promises of the pitch. In addition to hoovering up user data like literally every other platform on earth, the site bans spam and bots, bars users from using the site to market their own businesses, and enjoins "unauthorized framing of or linking to the Site," whatever the hell that may be.
And no weird capital letters — those are all for Donald Trump!
As a user of the Site, you agree not to ... upload or transmit (or attempt to upload or to transmit) viruses, Trojan horses, or other material, including excessive use of capital letters and spamming (continuous posting of repetitive text), that interferes with any party's uninterrupted use and enjoyment of the Site or modifies, impairs, disrupts, alters, or interferes with the use, features, functions, operation, or maintenance of the Site.
The site gets to do cancel cultures to you at will, of course, including deleting your account if you "disparage, tarnish, or otherwise harm, in our opinion, us and/or the Site." So, if you criticize Trump, the Trump Organization, or this low rent Twitter knockoff site, or if you point out that this whole venture is a pathetic joke, you'll get the boot. Which is fascism when Twitter does it, but totes cool when the mods are on the Red Team.
Over at GETTR, Trump's former campaign manager is delighted. "Congratulations to President Trump for re-entering the social media fray! Now Facebook and Twitter will lose even more market share," he said in a statement posted to Twitter.
Which was more gracious than what he got from his former patron. As the Daily Beast's Will Sommer noted, buried in one of Trump's amazing pitch slides was an odd little Easter egg.
Computer, enhance!
Did these passive aggressive assholes just subtweet a competing platform by superimposing the Chinese flag onto it, a none-too-subtle reference to GETTR's relationship with fugitive Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui?
LOL!
Godspeed, gentlemen.
[Pitch Deck / TOS]
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