X-Men Gold Controversy

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Overview

X-Men Gold Controversy refers to an online backlash toward controversial messages surreptitiously added by Indonesian comic book artist Ardian Syaf to the first issue of the comic book X-Men Gold in early April 2017.

Background

On April 5th, 2017, Marvel released the first issue of the comic X-Men Gold written by Marc Guggenheim and drawn by Ardian Syaf. In the comic, the number "212" is shown written on a wall in a scene about the Jewish character Kitty Pryde becoming the leader of the X-Men. The number refers to a protest in Indonesia regarding the accusations of blasphemy against Islam committed by Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (a.k.a. Ahok).^[8] Additionally, another panel featured a T-shirt with "QS 5:51" printed on the front, referencing a verse in the Quran which became a subject of controversy after being quoted by Purnama while condemning those who elect Jewish and Christian leaders (shown below).^[1]

Developments

Online Reaction

On April 8th, 2017, the comic news site Bleedingcool^[1] published an article titled "Marvel Artist Ardian Syaf Hid Anti-Christian And Jewish Messages In This Week’s X-Men Comic," which discussed the social media backlash toward the artwork. Shortly after, various threads were created on the /r/Marvel subreddit^[3]^[4]^[5], the /r/indonesia^[6] subreddit and 9GAG^[7], where many criticized Syaf's decision to add the messages to the comic.

Marvel's Response

On April 8th, Marvel released a statement to Comicbook.com,^[9] claiming that the references had been inserted in the artwork without their knowledge and that they planned taking "disciplinary action" against Syaf:

"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."

Syaf's Response

That day, Syaf issued an apology through on his Facebook page, in which he claimed he was not "anti Jews or Christians" (shown below). The post was subsequently deleted (shown below).

Ardian Syaf 29 mins I apologize for what had happened. I'm not anti Jews or Christians for sure (anyone who personally knows me must've known this). For those who oppose me and Atas semua yang terjadi saya meminta maaf dengan tulus. Yang jelas saya tidak anti kristiani atau yahudi (orang yang kenal secara personal pasti tahu)..bagi yang kontra dan mencaci maki saya, saya tidak akan pernah criticize me, I will never hate you. And for those who had membenci anda...dan bagi yang telah memberikan support dan dukungannya, saya ucapkan terimakasih yang sebanyak- banyaknya...selanjutnya semua saya serahkan pada Allah SWT, saya tinggal menjalani takdir-Nya. Saya doakan semoga semua selalu diberi kesuksesan. Terima kasih given their support to me, I'd like to say thank you. Next, I will leave it to God, I just follow His destiny. I pray for you all to be successful. Thank you

News Media Coverage

In the coming days, the controversy was reported on by various news sites, including io9,^[10] The Mary Sue^[11] and Graphic Policy^[13] and Jakarta Post.^[2]