Marvel removes ‘troubling and offensive’ anti-Semitic trope from Hulk comic
Artist apologizes for depicting diamond store with a Star of David, Jewish name in its window
Marvel Comics edited a piece of artwork in its latest comic book release after fans pointed out that an artist had included anti-Semitic tropes in an illustration.
Shortly after the “Immortal Hulk #43” comic was published on February 3, fans spotted anti-Semitic imagery and criticized the artwork on social media and fan forums.
The comic included a panel showing a character called Joe Fixit in a jewelry store called “Cronemberg Jewery” discussing diamonds. The store had a Star of David clearly visible in its window.
A writer for the ComicsFX fan site said, “The only conceivable interpretation, to put it frankly, is that this is a visual play on the old and antisemitic trope of Jews running the diamond business.”
Hey @CBCebulski…. This is incredibly gross. The stotefront window for the diamond store omits the L and says Jewery? I wish an editor had caught this and I wish Bennett hadn't drawn it. pic.twitter.com/MC8LtlDpeT
— Chris (@strictlyworse) February 3, 2021
The Brazilian artist who drew the image, Joe Bennett, apologized on Facebook.
“I have no excuse for how I depicted the Star of David,” he said. “I failed to understand this troubling and offensive stereotype.”
“This was wrong, offensive, and hurtful in many ways. This is a mistake I must own, and I am sorry to everyone who I hurt by this,” Bennett said, adding that he was working with Marvel to correct the issue.
The jewelry store’s sign was misspelled and the name was a reference to horror director David Cronenberg, he said.
I’ve been including references to famous horror directors to pay respects to the genre throughout the series, and in…
Posted by Joe Bennett on Wednesday, February 3, 2021
Marvel said in a statement it “fully acknowledged this mistake was missed on our side as well.”
Marvel removed the Star of David and writing from the comic’s digital edition and began reprinting the hard copy of the comic. It told retailers they could return the issues they already have for replacements.
The Comic Book Resources fan site said the original versions may become collectible items.
Okay, too late to the party I guess. I'm only reading this week's Immortal Hulk now, and Comixology gave me the opportunity to download an updated version of it. And the window detail is just… gone! That was fast. pic.twitter.com/lkoWDro8bU
— Luka Nieto Garay (@LukaNieto) February 5, 2021
In 2017, Marvel retracted hidden messages in an X-Men comic, which included references to Koranic passages that are regarded as anti-Semitic and anti-Christian.
Many of Marvel’s iconic superheroes were created by Jews. Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor and the X-Men were all created by Stan Lee, who is the son of Jewish immigrants.
