Is my comic book store dealer a bigot?

[wonderfly]

I went in and asked my comic store dealer to add some titles to my list of comics that he sets aside for me. One of the ones I asked him to put aside for me when it comes in is Truth #1. You know, the whole "The first Cap. America was black" shock miniseries. He said he already hasn't ordered issues 1 and 2. I said why not? He said rather frankly that it didn't look interesting to him. I thought to myself, "Umm...shouldn't it be the buyers that make you choose which comics to order?"

I heard that you could still order Truth #1 till the end of October, but the way he said he's already missed ordering issues 1 and 2, I felt it best to drop the subject. Do you suspect, (as I do) that he was uncomfortable with the subject of the miniseries?


Hell, for the record, I'm uncomfortable. Not because I'm bigotted, but I don't want them messing up Cap. America! He's my favorite character of all time, (next to Spidey of course). I, like many people, had some reservations about the plot when I first heard about it, but...I read some news articles about the comic, and my curiosity has been peaked. I don't want the comic to be a "Bash the White man" comic...but the plot idea: That the U. S. Govt. did testing of the Super Soldier Serum on a few Black soldiers first before they gave the serum to Steve Rogers...well, that does sound like something the Government of the U.S. in the 1930's would do. I read in a news article about it that one of the editors behind the project said "It's great that we're getting so much controversy...that means we're making people think. America is never served by not hearing all sides of a story." Or something like that.


I still have my reservations, but I was willing to read it and give it a try. Still, I don't think I'll ask my comic dealor for a copy. What should I do?

[kid_flash]

Well, your comic dealer is a bit short-sighted. I mean, having a political agenda and boycotting a comic series is one thing. But I think TRUTH will be getting mainstream attention, so if someone walks into the shop looking for it (and believe me, this really does happen quite frequently) and the dealer says "yeah, well, I didn't order it" I doubt that person would come back.

As for what YOU should do, you should seek out the series. If you're a fan of Cap, you'll want to. Because, after all, it is set in-continuity and should therefore have an effect on Cap. So whether or not the series is good or something you support, I'd say read it. Unless you can get a good summary from someone.

[Cogliostro]

Your comic book dealer seems alittle odd. Doesn't look interesting???? This book will sell out in days. Both people interested in reading the mini-series and one's that think its stupid and should be made will be checking it out. As the editor of the book and others have said time and time again this does NOT change anything with the Cap we always knew just the history of the super soilder serum and that he is the second Cap. I don't think its a big deal he's the second one. The second version of many comic characters are better then the first. I will be checking it out and think that you should try to pick up the copies else where and that your comic dealer seems scared or something...

[Sharklady]

> That the U. S. Govt. did testing of the Super Soldier Serum on a few Black soldiers first before they gave the serum to Stev Rogers...well, that does sound like something the Government of the U.S. in the 1930's would do. <

Unfortunately, this is true.

I can rather understand why fans might not like the idea of a favorite character's origin story being tinkered with, but at least this appendium is feasible (painfully so), as opposed to being a tacked-on nod to political correctness.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Your comic dealer didn't do anything explicitly that would make me conclude he's being a bigot. At most, he can be faulted for being short-sighted and rather puritan in his comics world. Short of saying something like, "Some <insert favorite ethnic slur here> was never Captain America," I don't think you're going to find out the reasons one way or another (although if messing with an established character is cause for him to dump a title, one is forced to wonder if he ordered all 3 issues of The Dark Knight Strikes Again).

There are plenty of on-line dealers (www.midtowncomics.com comes to mind) who will be happy to sell you a copy. Heck, I bet someone on the forums would be willing to buy and ship a copy if need be.

-- Ed/Ace

[wonderfly]

Originally posted by Ace the Bathound
Howdy,

Your comic dealer didn't do anything explicitly that would make me conclude he's being a bigot. At most, he can be faulted for being short-sighted and rather puritan in his comics world. Short of saying something like, "Some <insert favorite ethnic slur here> was never Captain America," I don't think you're going to find out the reasons one way or another (although if messing with an established character is cause for him to dump a title, one is forced to wonder if he ordered all 3 issues of The Dark Knight Strikes Again).

There are plenty of on-line dealers (www.midtowncomics.com comes to mind) who will be happy to sell you a copy. Heck, I bet someone on the forums would be willing to buy and ship a copy if need be.

-- Ed/Ace


What I fear is, well...I live in a Southern State. Let me put it that way. And I for one hate stereotyping the South, but...I've heard rumors...and I've read in news articles that a couple of dealors in Georgia, (or maybe Alabama, niether are my state by the way) are going to boycott the miniseries. This sounds incredibly short sighted...and perhaps bigotted. You shouldn't judge any book by it's cover, (or by word of mouth only). I don't know if I'll like the story, but I was willing to give it a try.

:(

[Calhoun07]

This is an example of why I just order from www.westfieldcompany.com and I don't deal with comic book stores any more. That's just one more thing on my growing list of why privately owned comic book stores suck: personal politics come into play of what they order. Of course, you get the same thing in corporations as well, it's just a problem with society as a whole, but I just have learned to not put up with the whims of fanboy wanna be store managers at these comic book stores to turn the shop into their own personal store. They have a customer base that they need to consider and their personal reactions to books need to be set aside for the sake of running a business.

[Dub]

Originally posted by wonderfly
What I fear is, well...I live in a Southern State. Let me put it that way. And I for one hate stereotyping the South, but...I've heard rumors...and I've read in news articles that a couple of dealors in Georgia, (or maybe Alabama, niether are my state by the way) are going to boycott the miniseries. This sounds incredibly short sighted...and perhaps bigotted. You shouldn't judge any book by it's cover, (or by word of mouth only). I don't know if I'll like the story, but I was willing to give it a try.

:(

Same with me. I went home to Alabama this weekend from school and stopped in one of my local comic hangouts and heard several guys talking about how they wouldnt buy it because it messed too much with the Captain America bit that they knew...I didnt really pay attention to the conversation, but it struck me as being very single minded and short sighted.

And yeah - this isnt the first time I've heard of the boycott. But then again Alabama and Georgia are known for being extremely conservative in some areas. I guess comic books can now fall into that category. Personally I think its all rather silly. Its a very plausable thing for the US Government to have done back then unforunately... -______-

I'm assuming you're probably in either one of the Carolinas, Mississippi, or Louisina.

[Calhoun07]

I just can't believe people are getting this worked up over this. It does not mess with Captain America's origin for one. The Captain America we all know as Steve Rogers does not have his origin changed at all. All this series does is postulate the idea that the serum was tested on a lab rat type person (in this case a black man) before they tested it on one of their own soldiers. Not to mention, this is just a mini series, and it will soon be forgotten. Who's talking about the Sentry today? But this idea is not only plausible for the time period back then, but drug testing on certain people who are not as finacially or socially advantaged still goes on today. Heck, I hear commercials all the time on the radio for local drug companies looking for volunteers to test some new drug out, and you know the people who reply to those things are not very well advantaged in society to have to take money from those people.

[Dee]

Originally posted by wonderfly
I went in and asked my comic store dealer to add some titles to my list of comics that he sets aside for me. One of the ones I asked him to put aside for me when it comes in is Truth #1. You know, the whole "The first Cap. America was black" shock miniseries. He said he already hasn't ordered issues 1 and 2. I said why not? He said rather frankly that it didn't look interesting to him. I thought to myself, "Umm...shouldn't it be the buyers that make you choose which comics to order?"

I heard that you could still order Truth #1 till the end of October, but the way he said he's already missed ordering issues 1 and 2, I felt it best to drop the subject. Do you suspect, (as I do) that he was uncomfortable with the subject of the miniseries?


Hell, for the record, I'm uncomfortable. Not because I'm bigotted, but I don't want them messing up Cap. America! He's my favorite character of all time, (next to Spidey of course). I, like many people, had some reservations about the plot when I first heard about it, but...I read some news articles about the comic, and my curiosity has been peaked. I don't want the comic to be a "Bash the White man" comic...but the plot idea: That the U. S. Govt. did testing of the Super Soldier Serum on a few Black soldiers first before they gave the serum to Steve Rogers...well, that does sound like something the Government of the U.S. in the 1930's would do. I read in a news article about it that one of the editors behind the project said "It's great that we're getting so much controversy...that means we're making people think. America is never served by not hearing all sides of a story." Or something like that.


I still have my reservations, but I was willing to read it and give it a try. Still, I don't think I'll ask my comic dealor for a copy. What should I do?

Tell him if he doesn't consitder your request, youll be forced to seek a better store. (im smelling a comic book guy episode of the simpsons brewing!)

[Beyond Batman]

Wonderfly, why don't you go to your local newspaper or call the local news broadcast station and tell them what happened? Because of one store owner's narrow-mindedness, that shouldn't stop you from buying something you have every right to read. I bet this is a news worthy topic, and maybe it'll wake him up from his close-minded pipedream of a world.

[Dee]

Originally posted by Beyond Batman
Wonderfly, why don't you go to your local newspaper or call the local news broadcast station and tell them what happened? Because of one store owner's narrow-mindedness, that shouldn't stop you from buying something you have every right to read. I bet this is a news worthy topic, and maybe it'll wake him up from his close-minded pipedream of a world.


YEAH--- he's got a point!

Where I live, when stuff like this happens we have a thing called "8 on your side" and you contact the local news people or the paper and theyll probabaly do an article. Its great if you've ben ripped off or have met with bad business people.

write to your paper atleast. GET THE WHEELS ROLLING!

[wonderfly]

Originally posted by Beyond Batman
Wonderfly, why don't you go to your local newspaper or call the local news broadcast station and tell them what happened? Because of one store owner's narrow-mindedness, that shouldn't stop you from buying something you have every right to read. I bet this is a news worthy topic, and maybe it'll wake him up from his close-minded pipedream of a world.

I can't do that. #1: I live in Small Town America. It would cause an uproar. People that live in Small Town America don't like uproars that make their community look bad. I could write to the state newspaper, (which gets distributed down here in my town,) but I don't see what good it would do.

#2: He's the only comic book dealer in town, (there is a small town dealer 15 miles down the road in the next town, but they sell baseball cards mostly, comics are just someting extra he occasionally orders for a few scant people. My dealer on the other hand has a huge inventory of back issues from which to look through, and orders usually enough comics for the "New release" stand that you can look through and issue, and maybe come back to is later without fearing it will sell out because it's the only copy in the store.

#3: He's my friend. Well, he's not a close friend, but when I go in there, I can crack up a conversation with him about anything, and have a decent time, while looking through the new comics. Hell, I went to college with his wife, (don't know her personally, or either of them personally come to think of it). But they seem like good people.

But the way he basically said he's not ordering the miniseries 'just cause it's not interesting' got me wondering if I should have "made" him order it. By saying something like "Listen, I'm the customer, order what I want!!!"

But I don't want to risk offending him. I'm just wondering if he's not ordering because of short sightedness, (maybe he thinks it's not going to sell), or maybe he's truly disturbed over the comics contents, or maybe he's a bigot.

By the way, I live in Southern Kentucky. (You assumed wrong Jon WB Gray! :p I wondered if anyone would take a guess ;) ) Think about Kentucky is, it really doesn't know whether it wants to be a Southern State or a Midwestern state. You've never seen two halfs of a state act entirely different! I live south of Lexington (which lies in the middle), and that city somehow split the state in two: North and West it becomes a Midwestern state, South and East, it becomes a Southern State!

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,


Originally posted by wonderfly
But the way he basically said he's not ordering the miniseries 'just cause it's not interesting' got me wondering if I should have "made" him order it. By saying something like "Listen, I'm the customer, order what I want!!!"


Might I suggest an alternate possibility for his somewhat cryptic explanation: he isn't a bigot, but some of his other, less enlightened customers are, and he doesn't want to deal with some dumb redneck hick thrusting the issue in his face and saying something like, "Why'd them folks at Mar-vel Cawmics make Cap'n 'Merica into a <insert ethnic slur of choice here>?" Maybe he's already had these conversations with enough of his other customers to make him think there's no benefit to his store (and the possibility of great harm) if he carries the book.

I guess it's a choice of which customers he wants to alienate. People can get mad and stop buying at his store if he doesn't carry the book, or if he does. If he thinks more people will boycott or protest his store if he DOES carry the book than if he DOESN'T, then his decision NOT to carry it is just business sense.

In any event, if you know him well enough to actually talk to him, I think your concerns could be explained away pretty quickly by just pulling him aside (i.e., out of earshot of anybody else) and asking him to order you a copy of the book privately.

-- Ed/Ace

[John Delaney]

If I may be so bold, I think you might be reading a bit too much into this. As a collectibles dealer he may truely not see the point in ordering this book (although personally I think the sales are going to go through the roof) and therefore dismissed your request. It would be quite another thing if you REQUESTED he order the book and were willing to pay in advance and he still said no. The difficulty for a small shop is being left with copies he can't sell now that Marvel has changed it's policy about returning unsold merchandise.
He's probably just looking at it from a pragmatic view as opposed to anything racially motivated.

Request again and tell him you're prepared to pay for it upfront I'm betting you'll get what you want.

Good luck
John

[Anthonynotes]

>>That the U. S. Govt. did testing of the Super Soldier Serum on a few Black soldiers first before they gave the serum to Stev Rogers...well, that does sound like something the Government of the U.S. in the 1930's would do. <

>Unfortunately, this is true.

What Sharklady said...specifically, the infamous "Tuskegee Institute studies" of the 1930's, where various African-Americans (jail/prison inmates, IIRC) were administered syphilis to study whatever detrimental long-term effects it would have. The study lasted for some number of years... I gather this Capt. America story (which still leaves his origin perfectly intact from what I can tell) might have been modeled off of this real-life case...

As for someone Black being offended by the idea of the story, I'm not... I'd suggest ordering the story off some website like others suggested...

-B.

[Jin Kazama]

Maybe I'm a bit off in saying this, but does anyone see this as just a prelude to something in the regular series? I mean, all this looks a tad to "comic-ish", I guess.

I could easily see this mini-series playing out how everyone expects it to, but then this new (or would it be old?) Super Soldier shows up in the new comics, angry at his injustice. Boom! New villian. It seems the current ideal with the comics are to stray from villians like Red Skull to keep it more real life. I see this as the prefect plot to give Cap a new arch nemesis.

If this happens, I for one will be a tad angry. Not that I have a problem with a black man being the first Cap, but to do it just to create buzz and not for the better of the series, it's a loss for everyone. Dare I say "Ben Riley wasn't the Spider Clone"? Something like that.