Dubya Doom
by Frank Santoro
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
I like to think that former President Bush’s speech writers read old issues of Fantastic Four. Maybe one of them read #57 during the ramp up to the invasion of Iraq. I mean, doesn’t Dr. Doom’s dialogue in the first panel read like classic Dubya speak?
“I have been waging a ceaseless battle for PEACE — and for JUSTICE! But, in the course of that battle, I need WEAPONS — weapons with which to defend myself from the dastardly enemies of FREEDOM!”
“THERE, for example, is my mobile, all-powerful PACIFIER! It’s purpose is to come to the aid of those who are threatened by TYRANNY — or by INJUSTICE!”
Labels: George W. Bush, Jack Kirby, propaganda, Stan Lee
after a decade of marvel comics the Joe Quesada way I keep hoping it's going to come around full circle and people will remember that these kind of comics were supposed to be funny.
I was gonna say that sounds an awful lot like our current president too who just won a Nobel Peace Prize for war.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
/2009/12/09/norway-spiral-watch-stran_n_386281.html
Yah, maybe the Galactus is watching.
It's funny, too, that that's the language that would convince Silver Surfer, who is kind of a drippy liberalist type.Not that there is anything wrong with that, ;course..
This was, of course, originally intended as an ironic commentary on the Soviet doublespeak of the cold war era, and owes a tip of the pen to Orwell. It's truly frightening to see how we have co-opted our old foes methods. It's like the old saying: "To defeat your enemy you must become him." First we became the Nazis (Korea, McCarthy, Vietnam) , then we became the Soviets (Iraq, Wal-Mart, Cronyism). I suppose we now risk becoming blinkered religious fundamentalists… At least there's comics!
I second BVS point that these were supposed to be funny – the one where the Thing destroys half of New York because he thinks the Surfer is muscling in on Alicia still amuses far more than 'Mad' has in the past 30 years!
Stan Lee was one funny dialogue writer – and was far more adept at giving his (supposedly hip) audience a 'wink' than any number of 'dark age' dorks stating the obvious.
ps. The next page of this story cracks me up too – when Doom's about to give that servsant a world-class whuppin' but checks himself to keep up the 'nice guy' image. Was always funny how guys the Surfer would end up trusting the kind of guys who design Kirby-esque robots and wear metal masks and .
I know this is an older post, but it just so happens I was looking at the original art to this very page at the Heritage Auction Gallery archive.
Here is Kirby’s original dialogue which he penciled in the top margin.
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“Of course in my noble fight for peace, and justice, I’ve got to use every weapon I can devise like this mobile all ballistic-anti- community pacifier. It puts down resistance by inequitous enemies of peace.”