Marvel Artist Ardian Syaf Hid Anti-Christian And Jewish Messages In This Week’s

[trooper_thorn]

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/04...s-x-men-comic/

I was initially thinking of posting this in the X-Books forum but I decided that Marvel allowed it to go through so I'd post it here.

[DebkoX]

Oh dear........

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

He should be fired.

[Kurolegacy]

The 212 I hadn't noticed but I was wondering what was up with Colossus' shirt when I saw that. That one wasn't even cleaverly hidden, it was right in your face.

[LOSTie-chan]

Dang. Awwkward.

[LordUltimus]

Well, shit.

[kalai]

Marvel’s statement, provided to ComicBook.com, is as follows:
“The mentioned artwork in X-Men Gold #1 was inserted without knowledge behind its reported meanings. These implied references do not reflect the views of the writer, editors or anyone else at Marvel and are in direct opposition of the inclusiveness of Marvel Comics and what the X-Men have stood for since their creation. This artwork will be removed from subsequent printings, digital versions, and trade paperbacks and disciplinary action is being taken.”

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

Marvel’s statement, provided to ComicBook.com, is as follows:
“The mentioned artwork in X-Men Gold #1 was inserted without knowledge behind its reported meanings. These implied references do not reflect the views of the writer, editors or anyone else at Marvel and are in direct opposition of the inclusiveness of Marvel Comics and what the X-Men have stood for since their creation. This artwork will be removed from subsequent printings, digital versions, and trade paperbacks and disciplinary action is being taken.”

So this is Marvel effectively saying that Syaf has been let go from the company, right?

[Winterboy]

He is soooo fired!

[The Cool Thatguy]

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/04...s-x-men-comic/

I was initially thinking of posting this in the X-Books forum but I decided that Marvel allowed it to go through so I'd post it here.

I don't think it's fair to say that Marvel allowed it to happen so much as they had no stinking clue.

[hedgehogvampire]

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/04...s-x-men-comic/

I was initially thinking of posting this in the X-Books forum but I decided that Marvel allowed it to go through so I'd post it here.

Wow, what the hell! Good god, and I just bought X-men: Gold #1 yesterday too what the heck? This is just a totally messed up situation all together. I don't feel like I can even blame the editors for not noticing this mess. I mean, heck I would not have notice this or even know what those letters and numbers even mean if I wasn't on this website. Man, this whole thing is messed up first of all its in an X-men comic. And not only that its in an X-men comic were a Jewish character is the leader of the team too, heck the writer, Marc Guggenheim is also Jewish too. Yeah, Marvel need to fire this artist immediately.

[Pako]

So was the part were he drew it like the bat is swung into Kitty's face intentional ?

[Mike_Murdock]

So was the part were he drew it like the bat is swung into Kitty's face intentional ?

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the answer is no. It seems his actual focus is a Christian politician in Indonesia. That being said, when your entire philosophy is "don't trust Christians and Jews to be your leader," he loses all benefit of the doubt and other aspects start becoming suspect too. Also, while I'll acknowledge language as a barrier, if he wanted to distance himself from anti-semitic implications, he could have done so in his responses. He could have said "this is about the political situation in Indonesia, I wasn't trying to attack Christians or Jews in the comics." That being said, his views would still be just as hateful and bigoted even if we're reading too much into certain images. Let's not lose sight of that.

[Username taken]

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the answer is no. It seems his actual focus is a Christian politician in Indonesia. That being said, when your entire philosophy is "don't trust Christians and Jews to be your leader," he loses all benefit of the doubt and other aspects start becoming suspect too. Also, while I'll acknowledge language as a barrier, if he wanted to distance himself from anti-semitic implications, he could have done so in his responses. He could have said "this is about the political situation in Indonesia, I wasn't trying to attack Christians or Jews in the comics." That being said, his views would still be just as hateful and bigoted even if we're reading too much into certain images. Let's not lose sight of that.

Exactly.

The root of Mr Syaf's argument is hate and frankly no one should should pay heed to the nonsense he's spouting.

Discriminating against anyone because of their religion, gender or anything at all is unacceptable.

[passerby]

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the answer is no. It seems his actual focus is a Christian politician in Indonesia. That being said, when your entire philosophy is "don't trust Christians and Jews to be your leader," he loses all benefit of the doubt and other aspects start becoming suspect too. Also, while I'll acknowledge language as a barrier, if he wanted to distance himself from anti-semitic implications, he could have done so in his responses. He could have said "this is about the political situation in Indonesia, I wasn't trying to attack Christians or Jews in the comics." That being said, his views would still be just as hateful and bigoted even if we're reading too much into certain images. Let's not lose sight of that.

That is one way of looking at this, albeit a simplistic one. To unpack what you said -

"It seems his actual focus is a Christian politician in Indonesia. "

That is one way to see it, but as an Asian who has lived in Asia all his life and has explored some of the complexities of Indonesian politics, I'm not so sure. Syaf attended the protest on 2nd Dec 2016, organised by the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). The two major Muslim organisations, the Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, which are moderate, urged the people not to answer the call to protest. The people were pulled in two directions; towards a more hardline and politicised Islam, or towards a form of Islam that is in harmony with a secular state. The focus may not actually be this, as you call him, a Christian politician, but rather on how Muslims should move forward. I'm by no means an expert on Indonesian religious and political affairs, but things are not as simple as you and many others seem to think it to be.

Next, you said,

"That being said, when your entire philosophy is "don't trust Christians and Jews to be your leader," ... "

You are looking at this from a Western and simplistic perspective. And you don't know that that is his entire philosophy. Firstly, politics in Indonesia and Malaysia, when they are intertwined with Islam, is not always truly about religion alone. Scratch the surface, and often, it is about old-fashioned racial politics, with religion being a proximate mechanism. The politician at the centre of this controversy is Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, also known as Ahok. Ahok is an ethnic Chinese and a Christian. This is two layers of being a minority. Thanks to the Dutch policies during colonial times, the Chinese and the Javanese never integrated, but remained separated, with the Dutch playing one group against the other. The minority Chinese have been largely wealthy, but subjected to racial violence during turbulent times. They have always been seen as outsiders, the "other". So, it is much more likely Syaf isn't so much about being against Christians or Jews being leaders of Jarkarta, but about a commonly perceived "outsider", an ethnic Chinese, being Governor of Jarkarta, on top of the powder keg that is the confluence of the charge against Ahok for blaspheming against Islam and social media.

The way I see it, one needs to be careful about inciting anger and accusing another of religious hatred or bigotry. Is there a pattern of behaviour from Syaf of hiding religious hatred in his published works? I'm not familiar with his body of work, so I don't know. But I doubt anyone else does, either. So far, I've only seen the name Widodo in another published work. Widodo is the current President of Indonesia. There just isn't enough to show that Syaf is a religious bigot, but he's undoubtedly political.

Edit: And he's unprofessional too, but I think all will agree on this. Beyond being unprofessional, he's clearly political. But religious bigotry? We just don't see enough of it to justify calling him that.