Marvel Comics is offering exchanges alongside an apology to readers after alleged anti-Semitic remarks made it into the art of this week's Immortal Hulk #43. In the issue, a number of problems around harmful depictions and stereotypes of Jewish people were noticed by readers, including the bizarre use of the Star of David and the unfortunate misspelling of the word jewelry.
In Immortal Hulk #43 by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy Jose, Beladrino Brabo, Paul Mounts, and Cory Petit, Joe Fixit visits a pawn shop. It's inside the shop where readers noticed a bevy of problematic elements. The window has the name "Cronenberg" as well as the Gold Star of David below it - for seemingly no apparent reason. To make matters worse, the window has the word jewelry on it, which is spelled "jewery." The number of alleged anti-Semitic details, which seemed to play up Jewish stereotypes around greed, was unfortunate, to say the least.
Bennett admitted in a statement that he had "no excuse" for the depiction of the Star of David, adding that he failed to understand how harmful the stereotype was. He apologized and said the name "Cronemberg" was a misspelled attempt to honor filmmaker David Cronenberg. Marvel commented that they were correcting future printings of the issue - both physical and digital - to eliminated the alleged anti-Semitic art. In a statement, Marvel admitted the editorial was also responsible for the issue, as they missed the background messages during the editing process. The publisher also told comic retailers (h/t Newsarama) that requests to exchange the issues for the correct versions will begin immediately.
Marvel hasn't revealed whether Bennett will face punishment for the art. Previously, the publisher's has acted swiftly in terminating the contracts of artists who hid controversial/inappropriate messages in the background of comic panels - such as X-Men Gold's Adrian Syaf, or Al Milgrom from Universe X: Spidey #1 after he insulted the previous Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras in the background of the book.
Marvel Comics is doing the right thing by offering exchanges for the issue. The alleged anti-Semitic art is completely unacceptable and the fact it made it through editing is embarrassing for the publisher. However, the biggest person at fault is Bennett. He can say that he didn't know the stereotypes and imagery he drew was offensive, but in this case, it isn't just one error, it's multiple problems. Immortal Hulk has been one of Marvel Comics' best books for more than two years, so it's extremely unfortunate that near the end of its iconic run that this happened - it's a huge blemish that readers won't (and shouldn't) soon forget.