I’ve never met Brian Henry and probably wouldn’t have taken the time to learn about him if it wasn’t for an article he wrote for the Fox News website. It was an article that illustrates some of the worst manipulative aspects of the network. I know people who have bad feelings about Fox News are saying to themselves ‘what did you expect’ but I think it’s informative to point out, from time to time, how the network will push the buttons of their audience without regards of presenting the facts. Furthermore, I doubt many of the Fox News watchers would take the time (which for me took less than 20 minutes) verify the facts of a story.

On the Fox News website front page I saw a little blurb about Superman fighting the police in the comics and the outrage it was generating. When I clicked on the link I was taken to the Fox411 portion of the website and under the Movies section I saw the headline Superman punches cop. Clicking on that link I got to the title of the article which read “Superman fights the police in new comic paralleling Ferguson riots.” The byline was by someone named Brian Henry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I read the article, which had hallmarks of many articles I see about comic books by people who don't read comic books. Instead of exploring the changes that have gone through the industry, such as trying to make comics relevant to the readership, the writer of this article seems to metaphorically clutch the pearls in surprise about the changes that have been made to the characters in the last few years and is upset that Superman, an iconic superhero, would have such a dark story. This is the synopsis Brian Henry gives to the Fox News website readers of the storyline for Action Comics 42:

In the issue, Clark Kent’s secret identity has been revealed, he has been stripped of most of his powers and he’s ditched his tights. Instead, Kent wears just a T-shirt and jeans, along with tatters of his Superman cape over his fists.

The downtrodden hero returns to a town that is fearful of him. Although a group of his supporters decide to celebrate his return, the police department soon arrives to break up the party. One of his supporters gets unruly, the police get angry, and before long, a full blown riot breaks out. The comic ends with Superman punching a police officer in the face.

To bolster the image of America’s beloved superhero being reduced to a thug, Brian Henry talks with Patrick Colligan, president of the NJ State Policemen’s Benevolent Association. He immediately says the comic is disgraceful. He complains that the police are always painted in broad strokes, that there are good police officers and that it doesn’t shock him that DC Comics would use this gimmick of making the police look bad to sell comics. Brian Henry does interview the manager of Midtown Comics in New York to support the approach the creative team used in the comic, but it is left to Colligan to emphasis the main theme of the article, that those crazy comic book creators are ruining Superman by making him a thug:

Colligan, however, argued comic books should go back to the basics.
“Comic books are taking on social issues lately and maybe they should get back to taking on superheroes and making people laugh,” he said.

The article was posted today, July 31, 2015 and over 3000 comments have been posted. The comments are what I would expect from the Fox News readers. Lots of blame for Obama, liberals and Hilary Clinton for making Superman less of an icon for truth, justice and the American way. A few try to break through the cemented thinking that the Superman story is a way of undermining American ideals, but those people are quickly shouted down.

Something I found a bit ironic was when I started looking into the claims the writer made, I found an article in the International Business Times, one of quite a few articles on this issue, that praised what the creative team did in the comic. In an article titled DC Comics' New Superman Is Depowered, Secret Identity-Less And The Most Relevant He's Been In Years the author gives a very different interpretation of the issue.

In Action Comics #42, which came out Wednesday, the Man of Steel takes on one of the most pressing issues facing the nation: excessive use of force by police. It’s a gripping and breathtaking story with powerful visuals -- never have we seen Superman bleed this much -- that also doubles as an examination of what it really means to be a superhero.

The new direction of all of the Superman books is part of DC Comics’ revamped comic-book lineup that launched in June. Among other things, it places an emphasis on giving creators the freedom to take old and well-known characters such as Superman and Batman in new and exciting directions. We’re seeing some of the most innovative Batman and Superman stories in a while. And Action Comics #42 offers people a good reason to begin reading DC Comics’ offerings right now. 

I have to point out that the IBT article was posted on July 3, 2015. I makes me wonder if the Fox News writer or the representative of the police force read the issue in question. I would think they would, considering the time frame from when the issue came out to the posting on the Fox news page was almost a month. I would have to suspect the over 3000 people who made comments on the Fox News article haven’t had the time to read Action Comics 42.

What I find disturbing about the Fox News article is the writer Brian Henry doesn’t put the riot in context, just focusing on Superman punching the police officer in the face. I obtained a copy of the issue and well before the Superman punches the officer, it is made very clear that there are some in the police force that don’t like Superman and are trying to do anything in their power to arrest him. When they think Superman is away, they come into Kentville to oust the residents. Superman returns and literally uses anchor chains to block the police from harming the residents. Brian Henry neglects to mention the savage beating Superman gets from the police, where he does nothing and that inspires the residents who had been neglected for so long by the police in the area. Brian Henry neglects to tell his reading audience that Superman stands his ground and is beaten by the police for a number of pages. He neglects to tell his audience that chaos doesn’t occur until the police begin shooting tear gas into the crowd. He neglects to tell his audience that the people run away from the police and the one person he might call a troublemaker is stopped from doing any violence by someone. It is only when that person is hit and we have seen the chaos and the beating of Superman by the police for six pages does Superman hit the police officer who was the main antagonist for the riot.

In my mind, giving those details would have put the proper context to the story of the issue, but proper context wasn’t the objective of the article. The objective of the article was to feed into the narrative of a country falling apart, of even our beloved superheroes being twisted by liberal dogma. When I read the issue I looked up information on Brian Henry. I wanted to confirm whom he worked for. What shouldn’t have been a surprise to me, I found out he is on staff at Fox News as a web producer. He has written a number of articles on pop culture.

I hate that Action Comic 42 will be talked about by people in a bad light without reading the issue and understanding what the message of the issue is. I hate that instead of verifying the story many are going to take the Fox News bait hook, line and sinker, adding this to the mythical notion that liberals are out to destroy their way of life.