Marvel Issues Apology For Captain America Gaffe Involving Tea Party Movement

Marvel Comics has found itself in the midst of a, pardon the use of the expression, tempest in a teapot. In the latest issue of Captain Amierca, issue 602, current Captain America, Bucky Barnes and The Falcon are attempting to infiltrate a group called "The Watchdogs", an anti-government militia group that has begun to swell in its numbers as of late. That in itself is not the sole source of controversy. What has caused a stir is the appearance of several protest signs that, unintentionally or not, point to the Tea Party movement that has popped up in parts of America. Cap and Falcon are observing an anti-tax gathering, and several of the signs in the crowd indicate anti-tax and governement sentiment. One sign that stands out ties directly to the Tea Party movement, and that link has caused a minor wave of uproar amongst Tea Parties for this depiction, which puts them on the opposite side of a popular American superhero. In reacting to the controversy, Marvel Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada defended the issue itelf, but did issue an apology for the protest sign, which read "Tea bag the libs before they tea bag you". Quesada said, "There was zero discussion to include a group that looked like a Tea Party demonstration. There was no thought that it represented a particular group." The theory that this was intentional, however, was compounded by the fact that Falcon, an African-American superhero, comments that he "didn't see a black man from Harlem fitting in with a bunch of angry White folks", in response to Cap's suggestion that they try to infiltrate the group. Quesada went on to explain that the issue was on a tight deadline for release, saying that when they noticed several of the protest signs at the rally depicted in the book were empty, the editor of the book ased the letter to "fudge some quick signs", which were pulled off the internet from images of Tea Party protests in order to make them more believable. Even though that happened, Quesada did admit that "a series of stupid mistakes" occured in order to get the issue out the door. In speaking with Yahoo New, Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips said it sounded less like an actual apology and more like a "sorry we got caught."