Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Eric Palicki, Gerry Conway, Gerry Duggan, hannah blumenreich, HRL, marvel, northrop grumman, saladin ahmed

How Did Marvel Creators React To Marvel's Northrop Grumman Partnership?

On Friday, Bleeding Cool told you about the team-up between Marvel Comics and Northrup Grumman, a company which a 2012 report by 247 Wall St named the sixth largest war profiteer with $25.2 billion in sales, $19.4 billion of which came from arms sales, and over $2 billion in profit. In addition to producing planes and shipsfor the military including first strike nuclear weapons like stealth bombers, as well as nuclear-capable ICBM missiles and drones, Northrop Grumman is also responsible for more outlandish weapons like a new "150-kilowatt-class solid state (electric) laser weapon system" for the Navy.

Some "snowflakes" have complained in response to Bleeding Cool's reports that it's unfair to brand Northrop Grumman as an arms manufacturer when the company styles itself an "aerospace" company, as if the B2 Spirit isn't one of the world's most feared first strike nuclear weapons. If a company that makes nuclear ICBM missiles isn't an arms manufacturer, we're forced to wonder why everyone is so worried about North Korea's "aerospace" program. But we digress.

Marvel released an all-ages comic book with recruitment advertisements for Northrop Grumman, and were planning an event at their New York Comic Con booth Saturday. However, in response to backlash to the promotion, Marvel removed all traces of the partnership with Northrop Grumman, including the comic, from their website and canceled Saturday's event.

With all of the backlash on social media, some wondered why Marvel's normally outspoken creators were staying silent on the ill-fated partnership. In the midst of the outcry, the normally outspoken Nick Spencer had only this to say:

https://twitter.com/nickspencer/status/916412225883201536

But for some Marvel creators, the hustle and bustle of New York Comic Con means they only found out about the Northrop Grumman partnership after it had already been canceled, such as Black Bolt writer Saladin Ahmed:

Or Guardians of the Galaxy writer Gerry Duggan:

While Hannah Blumenreich, whose fantastic work on the fan webcomic Spidey Zine led to work on Amazing Spider-Man and Squirrel Girl, said it's only fan comics for her from here on out:

https://twitter.com/hannahblmnrch/status/916374647343505408

https://twitter.com/hannahblmnrch/status/916380565133127680

https://twitter.com/hannahblmnrch/status/916382626780389376

Blumenreich hasn't updated her stance since the partnership was canceled.

And then there's Eric Palicki, handsome indie comics star who has done some work for Marvel in the past few years, though none planned that we know of currently, who noted:

Oh, and there's a guy you may have heard of by the name of Gerry Conway, co-creator of The Punisher and the writer who killed Gwen Stacy, who had a little something to say about the whole affair:

At press time, we've yet to hear from any of Marvel's "architects" on the matter, nor gotten an official statement from Marvel's brass. Maybe after the convention is over and everything settles down? We'll keep you posted.

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