TAKING LIBERTIES (10)
By:
July 24, 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.
The Statue of Liberty was closed to the public while it underwent restoration from early 1984 to the summer of 1986; its original torch was replaced altogether. The old torch was shipped to California to appear in the 1985 Rose Bowl Parade, an incident that inspired the story (presented as a flashback) in 1987’s Web of Spider-Man #28, by Bob Layton, Steve Geiger and Vince Colletta. (The story suggests that the torch that appeared in the parade wasn’t the real one — at least in the Marvel universe.)
The scaffolding that covered the statue during that period appeared in 1985’s Amazing Spider-Man #264, by Craig Anderson and Paty Cockrum, and again in 1986’s Captain America #323, by Mark Gruenwald, Paul Neary and John Beatty. In the parallel universe seen in 1995’s Prime #∞, by Gerard Jones, Len Strazewski, John Statema, Philip Moy and Larry Welch, the statue’s restoration seems to have taken place a decade later (and Prime uses its torch as a projectile once again).
Finally, in 2018’s Doctor Strange: Damnation #1, by Nick Spencer, Donny Cates and Rod Reis, a wrecked Statue of Liberty is magically restored — but it’s not the original statue, but its 1/3-scale replica in Las Vegas, which had been destroyed during the “Secret Empire” crossover the year before.
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