See u.n. the funny papers

I seem to remember that sometimes when he left J. Jonah Jameson, Spiderman would say “See you in the funny papers.”

Apparently that’s where we’re now going to see the U.N. In the funny papers. With Spiderman. (via memeorandum)

He has fought against foes ranging from the Green Goblin to Doctor Octopus, but Spider-Man now faces an even more formidable challenge: improving the battered image of the United Nations.In a move reminiscent of storylines developed during the World War II, the U.N. is joining forces with Marvel Comics, creators of Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, to create a comic book showing the international body working with superheroes to solve bloody conflicts and rid the world of disease.

The comic, initially to be distributed free to 1 million U.S. schoolchildren, will be set in a war-torn fictional country and feature superheroes such as Spider-Man working with U.N. agencies such as Unicef and the “blue hats,” the U.N. peacekeepers.

HotAir exclaims:

This is a waste of a perfectly good ficticious super hero.

comments:

The UN has to resort to fiction to bolster its image because a book about the UN doing any good would by definition have to be a work of fiction.

and asks:

Why not set the book in an actual war-torn country and highlight the heroic acts of real, actual US military men and women to help the people who live there? There is no shortage of those real heroes. We don’t need to credit their deeds to made-up comic book characters.

While this doesn’t quite answer his question, Marvel did sort of honor the military, with a special series of comics including the recently deceased, Captain America:

Captain America may not be back from the dead, but he’s back — sort of.Four months after Marvel Comics unexpectedly killed off the champion of liberty and the American way, he appears in a comic made exclusively for U.S. soldiers. He is seen on a videotape made before his death.

One million copies of “The New Avengers: The Spirit of America,” the fifth in Marvel’s series for the military, will be available free starting Saturday at military base stores worldwide.

The impetus for the series comes from a boy.

Marvel Comics started the military series in 2005 after getting a call from a young boy, saying he could no longer afford to send comics to his two brothers serving in Iraq, Sabouni said.Marvel sent the boy a box of comics but wanted to do more, so the company started working with AAFES to develop something just for soldiers. The military series has been very popular, with books selling quickly after their release.

“You have the fantasy aspect, but they’re staying true to our culture,” said Lt. Col. William Thurmond, an AAFES spokesman. “You can’t ask for anything more if you’re a comic book fan.”

Blue Crab Boulevard really lets Marvel have it. Ed Driscoll notes that this isn’t the first time Marvel has engaged in dubious propaganda.

Let’s finish up with semi-related items:

OK so if you want Spiderman check the UN. But it you want spider webbing, check out Israel.

Now totally off-topic, a member of the U.S. Military got a writing gig with Marvel!

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.