We can't let Marvel get away with this
We just can’t. We stood by their side through countless deaths/returns to life, retcons, cancellations of good books, questionable choices of artists and writers, PR scandals, offensive decisions, but this is too much. Retconning Wanda and Pietro Maximoff into no longer being Magneto’s children, into probably no longer being mutants, Jewish-Romani either, is simply too much. It’s the latest of a series of screw-ups, of “f*ck you“‘s to the loyal fanbase that stood by their side in their worst moments, that made campaigns in support of Marvel and their books, that defended them from criticism, that asked for patience when they made attention-grabbing decisions that would be undone months later. No more.
We must let our discontent be known, we must write Marvel expressing our disgust at their lack of respect to their fans. They take us for granted, think we’ll just accept anything they throw at us, any status quo changes. We must show them they’re wrong. Here is information on how you can contact Marvel. Tom Brevoort, the editor in charge of AXIS, can be found on Tumblr. Don’t hesitate to contact them, but I ask that you remain as polite as possible so that our concerns will be heard, not disregarded as another case of “the internet overreacting”. Also, though Rick Remender was the one to write said issue, and though we all have our problems with his work, keep in mind that this is not on him, Remender is not high enough on the company to make such decisions, or to reverse them, so you can express your discontent to him, but please refrain from sending him hate, because, this time, it’s not his fault.
Others have expressed better than I ever could the significance of the Wanda-Pietro-Magneto connection, be it for how important it is to have such high-profile members of forgotten minorities in the comics, or for their own private history with the characters. Personally, the reason I connected so strongly with them is because, in their effort to come to terms with the fact they were related to someone who had wronged them so severely in the past, I saw my own struggles to deal with my abusive father. Their courage and strength inspired me, told me I mattered, that I could survive this. And now Marvel is throwing that to the wind. These aren’t “just stories”; these characters are part of our life, and by disregarding thirty years of growth, Marvel is telling us that our own struggles are irrelevant.
We have to prove them wrong. Brevoort is always telling us about how we “vote with our pockets”; well, let’s follow his suggestion, then. They are erasing the Maximoff’s connection to Magneto and mutantkind, and possibly their Jewish-Romani heritage, all for the sake of corporate synergy, of making the comics fit into the little world they’re creating in the MCU? Good for them, but I’m afraid they can’t count on my money. Yes, I propose we boycott Avengers: Age of Ultron, as well as all the Avengers and Inhumans comics Marvel publishes from now on. We don’t watch it, especially not in the movie theater, andwe don’t give them the free PR they so desperately need from the fandom chatter. And, in sympathy to our fellow FF fans’ problems of seeing Marvel’s first family lose their comic series over movie rights shenanigans, I propose we do our part to make Fox’s The Fantastic Four the most successful superhero movie of the year (yes, I know it will probably suck, but Marvel deserves that, don’t you agree?). Marvel will say what we’re doing is “censorship”, or some other such nonsense that people who have never lived in an actual dictatorship love to repeat when they realize their bad decisions have consequences. It’s not censorship; it’s us, consumers, using our right of not supporting companies that lack a basic understanding of the meaning of respect.
From now on, this blog will no longer be posting panels from comic books published after this change. Actually, we’ll be ignoring everything that happened from Uncanny Avengers #14 onward. “You can’t ignore continuity to suit your own needs, that doesn’t make it any less true”, you say? I’m sorry, but the reason why Marvel has been around for all these decades, the reason why there’s any continuity these days to begin with, is the fans who have stayed by their side come hell or high water. But if now they’re saying we don’t matter, well, neither do their decisions, then. I’m also creating a blog called marvelusedtomatter where we’ll be expressing our love for the pre-2004 comics, for the stories published before their editorial decisions began to be informed by their movie plans. The idea is to post panels, edits, mixes, fics, fanarts, testimonies… everything, about how much Marvel meant to us once upon a time. I’m looking for co-mods, so if anyone would like to help out, send me a message.
One last suggestion: we should start a campaign on various social networks to broadcast our indignation and garner support for our cause. I propose we use the hashtag #marvelusedtomatter to talk about the time we could be proud to call ourselves Marvel fans. Let’s make this trend. There’s still time to reverse this, we just have to stick together and not let the indignation die.
