TAKING LIBERTIES (6)
By:
July 19, 2018
The Statue of Liberty is a persistent presence in Marvel’s comics — sometimes just as a scene-setter to establish that a story’s taking place in New York, but more often as a physical presence with symbolic weight. This series spotlights some of the statue’s more interesting appearances in Marvel’s pages.
We’ve occasionally seen the Statue of Liberty being attacked on panel — the torch seems to be the most dangerous part, as when Gog uses it to attack Ka-Zar in 1973’s Astonishing Tales #18, by Michael Friedrich, Dan Adkins and Frank Chiaramonte. The Incredible Hulk rips off the torch and throws it in 1976’s Incredible Hulk #206, by Len Wein, Sal Buscema and Joe Staton; by the time of Nova #6, published two months later and also pencilled by Buscema (written by Marv Wolfman, and inked by Frank Giacoia), it’s been repaired.
A missile attack on the Statue is foiled in 2003’s The Call #4, by Chuck Austen, Pat Olliffe and John Livesay. Later that year, though, Liberty Island is ripped up in New X-Men #143, by Grant Morrison, Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning, and it still hasn’t been repaired as of the following year’s Uncanny X-Men #442, by Chuck Austen, Salvador Larroca and Danny Miki. There’s an explosion inside the Statue (seen from an unusual worm’s-eye angle) in Ed Brubaker, Butch Guice, Stefano Gaudiano and Rick Magyar’s 2011 Captain America #615; Rocket accidentally wrecks the whole thing in 2017’s Rocket Raccoon #4, by Matthew Rosenberg and Jorge Coelho.
One in a series of ten posts contributed by HILOBROW friend Douglas Wolk, whose ALL OF THE MARVELS tumblr documents what he’s been reading for his forthcoming book.
MORE DOUGLAS WOLK: TAKING LIBERTIES series | STERANKOISMS series | MARVEL vs. MUSEUM series | LIMERICKANIA series | WTC WTF series | THAT’S GREAT MARVEL series | CARBONA YOUR ENTHUSIASM: “Soft South Africans” | SERIOCOMIC: Frank in the River | QUIRK YOUR ENTHUSIASM: Family Fodder’s SAVOIR FAIRE | KIRB YOUR ENTHUSIASM: 2001: A Space Odyssey | 12 DAYS OF SIGNIFICANCE: Portable Hairdryer | HERC YOUR ENTHUSIASM: Busy Bee’s “Cash Money” | KERN YOUR ENTHUSIASM: Todd Klone | HERMENAUTIC TAROT: Dexterity | Plus: HILO HERO items on Alex Toth, Kool Moe Dee, Sheila E., Rakim, and many others.
CURATED SERIES at HILOBROW: UNBORED CANON by Josh Glenn | CARPE PHALLUM by Patrick Cates | MS. K by Heather Kasunick | HERE BE MONSTERS by Mister Reusch | DOWNTOWNE by Bradley Peterson | #FX by Michael Lewy | PINNED PANELS by Zack Smith | TANK UP by Tony Leone | OUTBOUND TO MONTEVIDEO by Mimi Lipson | TAKING LIBERTIES by Douglas Wolk | STERANKOISMS by Douglas Wolk | MARVEL vs. MUSEUM by Douglas Wolk | NEVER BEGIN TO SING by Damon Krukowski | WTC WTF by Douglas Wolk | COOLING OFF THE COMMOTION by Chenjerai Kumanyika | THAT’S GREAT MARVEL by Douglas Wolk | LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE by Chris Spurgeon | IMAGINARY FRIENDS by Alexandra Molotkow | UNFLOWN by Jacob Covey | ADEQUATED by Franklin Bruno | QUALITY JOE by Joe Alterio | CHICKEN LIT by Lisa Jane Persky | PINAKOTHEK by Luc Sante | ALL MY STARS by Joanne McNeil | BIGFOOT ISLAND by Michael Lewy | NOT OF THIS EARTH by Michael Lewy | ANIMAL MAGNETISM by Colin Dickey | KEEPERS by Steph Burt | AMERICA OBSCURA by Andrew Hultkrans | HEATHCLIFF, FOR WHY? by Brandi Brown | DAILY DRUMPF by Rick Pinchera | BEDROOM AIRPORT by “Parson Edwards” | INTO THE VOID by Charlie Jane Anders | WE REABSORB & ENLIVEN by Matthew Battles | BRAINIAC by Joshua Glenn | COMICALLY VINTAGE by Comically Vintage | BLDGBLOG by Geoff Manaugh | WINDS OF MAGIC by James Parker | MUSEUM OF FEMORIBILIA by Lynn Peril | ROBOTS + MONSTERS by Joe Alterio | MONSTOBER by Rick Pinchera | POP WITH A SHOTGUN by Devin McKinney | FEEDBACK by Joshua Glenn | 4CP FTW by John Hilgart | ANNOTATED GIF by Kerry Callen | FANCHILD by Adam McGovern | BOOKFUTURISM by James Bridle | NOMADBROW by Erik Davis | SCREEN TIME by Jacob Mikanowski | FALSE MACHINE by Patrick Stuart | 12 DAYS OF SIGNIFICANCE | 12 MORE DAYS OF SIGNIFICANCE | 12 DAYS OF SIGNIFICANCE (AGAIN) | ANOTHER 12 DAYS OF SIGNIFICANCE | UNBORED MANIFESTO by Joshua Glenn and Elizabeth Foy Larsen | H IS FOR HOBO by Joshua Glenn | 4CP FRIDAY by guest curators