Hurm

[Calax]

It would appear that while there can be tonsil hockey and enough innuendo to make a high school geek accidently mess him self in regular marvel comics (Spiderman, avengers, captain america... you get the picture) as soon as said tonsil hockey and innuendo takes place with a homosexual character it gets labled a MAX brand comic.

 

Now for those who don't know MAX brand is essencailly marvel's way of putting comics in the "extra room" at a movie store (you know the one with the beads in the door so little innocents can't see in?) and is designated for Excessive violence, extreme swearing, and explicit nudity. There are very very few titles currently run under this brand. the only two I know of is Punisher (it has scenes of a mobster sleeping with his aunt (who's bigger than a rhino) so he can get a leg up in the family and then he suffocates her. It also has scenes of brains flying all over the place when castle takes a M60 to a 100 year old mafioso's birthday party with all the wiseguys there.) and Supreme power/supreme squadron (nudity and sex run rampant through this particular comic. some very very disturbing images (guy chucking families off of a second story bacony in a mall trying to distract the protagonist)). And now they've added.... (wait for it)....

 

Rawhide kid. A homosexual cowboy comic that has massive amounts of innuendo about the same sex. The entire reason for this move is so that the company doesn't recieve much backlash from "concerned parents" (ie the type that will probably make a kid paranoid)

 

Anyway the story is in the link below and a few rows down with a few other links.

 

Discuss

 

http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/...tg&article=2375

[Krookie]

[Craigboy2]

It time for me to go get some of that Rawhide, someone had to say it.

[metadigital]

The entire reason for this move is so that the company doesn't recieve much backlash from "concerned parents" (ie the type that will probably make a kid paranoid)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Please elucidate.

[Kaftan Barlast]

Joe was saying that Marvel could not publish a series starring a gay character without it being labelled a MAX - the same label used for comics featuring extreme swearing, extreme violence and explicit nudity.

 

 

Thats just rubbish, MAX comics arent more explicit than the average hollywood film.

 

 

But I think that its a great hypocrisy to brand the same type of story to be "Rated R" when its heterosexual counterpart is considered PG13. It is understandable though, Marvel probably dont want the Christian right on their trail.

[mkreku]

Are you having a Brokeback Mountain moment on us, Calax..?

[Calax]

not quite... what I'm saying is that if brokeback mountain was a comic for marvel it'd recieve the Max rating.

 

Joe Quesada explained to me that this was the act of a responsible publisher in the current marketplace, given a reactionary media, and widespread and increasingly vocal parental concerns.

 

More than a judgment on Marvel, this is a reflection of changing American reaction. With high profile examples such as Janet Jackson and Howard Stern, there's far more potential hysterical reaction that could harm Marvel as a brand than at the peak of Bill Jemas' excesses.

 

Action groups are much more likely to target companies through their directors, shareholders and advertisers. And Marvel has a very public brand right now. Marvel believes that the single act of publishing a comic starring a gay character without a MAX label, no matter what they do or don't get up to, could cause a backlash Marvel can ill afford.

 

Thats the reasoning behind the move. Marvel does have other labels (T and Parental advisory) but seems to think that the Max label fits it best.

 

"MAX: EXPLICIT CONTENT - 18+ years old Most Mature Readers books will fall under the MAX Comics banner, (created specifically for mature content titles) MAX and Mature-themed titles will continue to be designed to appear distinct from mainline Marvel titles, with the "MAX: Explicit Content" label very prominently displayed on the cover. MAX titles will NOT be sold on the newsstand, and they will NOT be marketed to younger readers."

 

Essencially it just got the "AO" or NC-17 of comics... because of the fact it's a homosexual character.

[Kaftan Barlast]

Maybe in 10 years from now, this kind of crap will be as gone as the Comics Code. Its very strange that something like the very casual and natural nudity of comics like "Y : The Last Man" merits them being hushed away from the mainstream news stands.

[Darque]

Thread pruned.

 

Let's keep things friendly for the whole family please.

[Kaftan Barlast]

It wasnt me! "