Anti-russian sentiments in Marvel Comics

[lordozone]

I just read Avengers #49 as well as X-force and I was a bit embarrassed.

First of all: I'm not a fan of Putin's Russia at all, but being European, knowing a minimum of the complexity of Russian politics and the way the opponents fight inside the country, I have the impression that Marvel treats the Russian situation in its comics in a totally caricatured way, a kind of evil empire a la star wars, even more than in the cold war.

Already, they show Russia as a dictatorship in the Star Wars style, without nuance. Russia is not a dictatorship, it is an Authoritarian democracy (the distinction is slim but important). There is a fragile freedom of speech, an opposition (which is often locked up and even killed sometimes, yes, but which can speak freely in some private newspapers). Moreover Russia, although still having a strong geo-strategic power in certain regions, and an important military force, is not economically what it was.

Marvel wants to talk about a geo-strategic, totalitarian adversary of the west, democracy or human rights with a real economic strength? Let them talk about China. But since they still have movies to sell them, it's not going to happen anytime soon...