TAKING LIBERTIES (8)
By:
July 21, 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.
Planet of the Apes popularized the trope of the smashed or submerged Statue of Liberty as a symbol of a disastrous alternate future or parallel world, and Jack Kirby’s 1972 DC series Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth brought it to comics. It’s turned up repeatedly at Marvel, too, in 1984’s ROM #60, by Bill Mantlo, Steve Ditko and Tom Palmer; in 1987’s Marvel Fanfare #32, by J.M. DeMatteis, Kerry Gammill and Dennis Janke; in the 1999 one-shot Team X 2000, by Sean Ruffner, “A. Smithee” (oh dear), Kevin Lau, Sean Parsons, Mario Alquiza and Cabin Boy; in 2006’s Exiles #81, by Tony Bedard, J. Calafiore and Mark McKenna; and in 2009’s Guardians of the Galaxy #18, by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Wes Craig. But the cleverest variation on it to date is in 2007’s Wonder Man #3, by Peter David, Andrew Currie and Drew Hennessy, a sequence whose punch line is that the ruins of Lady Liberty appear near the ruins of the Arc de Triomphe.
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