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Sep. 21st, 2004 12:28 amOn the way to work this morning, I noticed a woman with a tattoo on her shoulder of Will Eisner's The Spirit.
"Cool!" I said.
"I used to think so," she said glumly, "but then I actually read some and it was really racist. He had this little black kid as a sidekick, y'know? So instead of covering it up, I got this added." She pointed to where the words, "RACISM EXPOSED" were headlined on a stack of newspapers near the Spirit's feet.
"But consider the time it was written in," I argued.
"That's no excuse," she said, firmly.
I had a sore throat, I hardly knew this woman, and my stop was coming up. I didn't defend Mr. Eisner as ably as I should have. I could have argued that surely any racism he may have unintentionally propagated in the 1940s has been atoned for by three decades of graphic novels like Dropsie Avenue and Fagan the Jew which examine prejudice and social issues. Afterwards, however, I remembered that I have a blog. So, although I suspect The Engineer is the only one who actually reads this, I encourage you all to check out Mr. Eisner's extensive body of work, and then judge him for yourselves.
"He was a hell of an artist, though," the tattooed woman admitted.
"Still is," I said; but I don't think she heard me.
"Cool!" I said.
"I used to think so," she said glumly, "but then I actually read some and it was really racist. He had this little black kid as a sidekick, y'know? So instead of covering it up, I got this added." She pointed to where the words, "RACISM EXPOSED" were headlined on a stack of newspapers near the Spirit's feet.
"But consider the time it was written in," I argued.
"That's no excuse," she said, firmly.
I had a sore throat, I hardly knew this woman, and my stop was coming up. I didn't defend Mr. Eisner as ably as I should have. I could have argued that surely any racism he may have unintentionally propagated in the 1940s has been atoned for by three decades of graphic novels like Dropsie Avenue and Fagan the Jew which examine prejudice and social issues. Afterwards, however, I remembered that I have a blog. So, although I suspect The Engineer is the only one who actually reads this, I encourage you all to check out Mr. Eisner's extensive body of work, and then judge him for yourselves.
"He was a hell of an artist, though," the tattooed woman admitted.
"Still is," I said; but I don't think she heard me.
