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Greg Kirkman
Byrne Robotics Member
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Location: United States
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| Posted: 07 December 2017 at 5:33pm | IP Logged | 1
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So, with all of the WONDER WOMAN hype, this year, I decided to finally get in some real experience with the character's long history, and bought the George Perez run's recent reprint trades. I also plan on picking up JB's run, too.
Just yesterday, I received the new GOLDEN AGE WONDER WOMAN VOL. 1 trade paperback, and noticed a curious item down by the indicia. It says that some edits have been made to the stories, since racism was "both consciously and unconsciously" a larger part of society at the time the issues were printed.
My research indicates that the old Archive Editions contain the original, uncut stories, whereas the mass-market Chronicles and Omnibus contain the edited pages (the latter due to their accidentally using the edited Chronicles versions instead of the originals).
It would seem that the edits involve redrawing the lips and rewriting the broken English for a number of stereotypical Black characters.
My question is this: What does everyone think of this sort of thing? Me, I prefer historical accuracy. I want to read these vintage stories as they were originally presented, although I do understand that modern audiences might be put off by racist content and the like.
I'm kinda miffed, though, since I'm not a fan of censorship. I mean, how can I get a clear idea of what those early Wonder Woman stories were like if I'm being presented with a sanitized version?
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
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| Posted: 07 December 2017 at 5:49pm | IP Logged | 2
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I will vote for historical accuracy every time.
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Joe Hollon
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| Posted: 07 December 2017 at 5:51pm | IP Logged | 3
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Agreed.
Everything is of its time and needs to be appreciated
and understood in that context.
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Matt Hawes
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| Posted: 07 December 2017 at 6:09pm | IP Logged | 4
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I think we shouldn't ignore history and try to rewrite it. Better, I think, to have a disclaimer and an introduction which puts things in historical context for the reader, and explains that presenting the stories as originally published is not a modern endorsement of any racism or stereotypes contain within the stories.
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Matt Hawes
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| Posted: 07 December 2017 at 6:11pm | IP Logged | 5
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BTW, Greg, check out some 1960s' Marvel reprints of 1940s' stories, like in copies of "Fantasy Masterpieces." To fit under the Comics Code, they cleaned up certain elements in some of those stories. Fangs and claws were dulled, and so on.
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Marc Baptiste
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| Posted: 07 December 2017 at 6:21pm | IP Logged | 6
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I HATE when they do things like this!! Thank GOODNESS I kept my original archives... I had thought to sell them in favor of the new omnibus volumes.
Marc
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Steve De Young
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| Posted: 07 December 2017 at 7:07pm | IP Logged | 7
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I have the original Archives, but let me tell you, there's some stuff in there that's pretty rough, man. It was hard to read/see. So I can understand the virtue of having both available, since I see the primary market of comics as still being kids (silly me). So for adult collectors, I think the uncut original should be available for people who can put it in historical context. But I don't like the idea of some kid who just saw the Wonder Woman movie getting handed a book with that kind of material in it as their first exposure to comics.
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Matt Hawes
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| Posted: 07 December 2017 at 7:19pm | IP Logged | 8
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It's not too likely that a young kid new to comics, or a parent choosing a book for their child, is going to pick up a volume of Golden-Age reprints, though. The art, right off the bat, is obviously dated, and most kids these days seem unlikely to accept anything that looks older them. I know that's a simplification, but it seems mostly the case when I sell comics to kids and parents.
As a boy, I was already into comics and by the age I started checking out comic book history books and compilations of the characters, I had an understanding of what I was reading was from another era. Of course, it sounds ageist, but kids these days, on average, seem less knowledgeable about the past than it seemed my peers did growing up.
Regardless, as I noted above, I do think there should be some disclaimer/forward to explain and put things into perspective for the reader, young or old.
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Greg Kirkman
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| Posted: 07 December 2017 at 7:44pm | IP Logged | 9
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I can understand why they'd be hesitant about this material being on the shelves at mainstream bookstores and whatnot, but I'd still prefer a disclaimer to full-on censorship.
I can't help but think that a part of this sort of censorship it comes down to comics being perceived as a "lesser" medium for kids, as opposed to literature like, say, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.
And, yes, Matt, I was aware of the FANTASY MASTERPIECES stuff. Personally, I prefer historical accuracy, although I don't have quite as much of a problem with reprints which fix typos and coloring errors and the like, like the MARVEL TALES Spider-Man stuff.
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Michael Roberts
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| Posted: 07 December 2017 at 7:47pm | IP Logged | 10
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If it’s meant for an-all ages book market, I’m fine with the censoring. It can co-exist with an uncensored version with the appropriate disclaimers.
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Mario Ribeiro
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| Posted: 07 December 2017 at 8:01pm | IP Logged | 11
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You mentioned Perez, and I wondered if we'll ever see a reprint of The New Teen Titans in which Terra and Deathstroke are just good friends.
Reprint the real thing, always.
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Greg Kirkman
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| Posted: 07 December 2017 at 9:20pm | IP Logged | 12
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If it’s meant for an-all ages book market, I’m fine with the censoring. It can co-exist with an uncensored version with the appropriate disclaimers.
+++++++++++++
That's the thing, though--correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe that the uncensored version is currently in print.
I can see having the censored version in mainstream bookstores (where kids who just saw the WONDER WOMAN film could find them), and the uncensored version in comic shops, but it seems that the censored version is the only version currently out there.
I personally would have preferred a disclaimer rather than the censoring, but I get why they did it. I'm just annoyed that I won't know whether or not I'm looking at art and dialogue that's original or altered when I finally sit down and read the book.
History should not pander to a hypersensitive, modern-day audience. I would never want to see a book like INVISIBLE MAN rewritten for modern sensibilities. That said, the inherent problem is that a character like Wonder Woman is an ongoing concern, rather than an artifact of a bygone era, and is aimed mainly at children. However, kids don't necessarily have the proper intellectual and emotional tools to put these things in proper context.
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