Art Spiegelman, comic historian. Pulitzer Prize winner and creator of ‘Maus’, wrote an essay for inclusion in the Folio Society’s proposed compilation of golden age Marvel comics. The essay gives a succinct history of the American comics industries birth and early development. While America was debating whether to join in the war against Hitler’s Germany some comic creators, many of whom were Jews, had their characters fighting fascism - most famously Captain America punching Herr Hitler. Not all Americans regarded Nazi treatment of Jews as a bad thing and Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, who were responsible for the dictator gets doffed image, received death threats. In Captain America world one of Hitler’s loyal henchmen was ‘The Red Scull,’ a fascist super-villain. Spiegelman points to the growth of right-wing extremism in America today and uses the term Orange Scull in an allusion to that counties present president who has been mocked for his skin tone, looking either like a man who has spent too long under a sunlamp while wearing goggles or one who can’t apply his fake tan efficiently. At the behest of Marvel, who say they wish to stay “non-political”, Spiegelman was asked to delete the reference to Skulls either Red or Orange. He declined and withdrew his essay. It has subsequently, with additions, been published in The Guardian newspapers weekend literary section “Review” on August 17. You can read the full thing at https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/aug/17/art-spiegelman-golden-age… A blog about a published collection of some of the anti-Nazi comics at http://www.arthurranson.com/blog/we-spoke-out. There has of late been a rise in right-wing acts of violence in the UK as well as in the USA and across Europe.. Attacks on journalists, gays, immigrants, jews, muslims, politicians - anyone adherents of this sorry hard-right mind set consider to be outsiders. Be nice to think that comics could still have something to say about that.

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Where would you find the River Thames?