Aquaman Joins the Trump Resistance in Upcoming Issue!

If you thought Marvel comics had a monopoly on trying to alienate fans, you’re wrong. DC Comics, Dan Abnett, and Stjepan Sejic have Aquaman join the #Resist movement.

While DC Comics has done a better job of keeping overt left-wing politics out of their comics with Rebirth, it appears times are changing. That’s not to say they haven’t made Trump references with obvious shots at his supporters and his ideas. In last year’s Catwoman: Election Night special, DC went all out to tie Trump’s ideas to the notorious Gotham villain, Penguin.

Catwoman: Election Night Penguin is Trump

Catwoman: Election Night Penguin is Trump

While that was a one shot, they are fully joining the #Resist movement in their ongoing Aquaman series. In fact the upcoming Aquaman #30 cover blasts the message so you can’t even avoid it if you are just perusing the shelf.

Check out the Cover for yourself, it’s just the beginning.

Aquaman 30 Cover resist

In Aquaman, King Rath has been slowly built up as an Atlantis Trump metaphor. The metaphor isn’t even that subtle as you take a look at the panel below.

Aquaman 30 Panel 1

Writer Dan Abnett doesn’t hide the fact at all that Rath is a Trump metaphor. In the above speech he hits on many of Trump’s talking points including the United States being weak on foreign affairs as well as the status of the nation or in Atlantis’ case kingdom going into decline.  You can even see President Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again” mirrored in Rath’s speech. The words “great” and “again” are even bolded for emphasis to make sure they are emphasized.

There is also a not so subtle comparison with former President Obama in the above panel. King Rath says, “I will not be weak like my predecessor. That half-breed had too much of the surface in his blood.” Like most of us know, the former president is bi-racial with a black father and white mother. Combine that with people claiming the only reason people opposed him was due to the nature of his heritage and it makes me think the panel is a reflection of that idea.

Aquaman 30 Panel 2

Then you have the focus on Atlantian national security that for some reason has been solely tied to the current administration even though it’s been a major talking point of both political parties since the late 90s. Warhawks are easily seen on both sides.

While our nation continues to fall into deeper political divisions it’s no real surprise to see those divisions reflected in our entertainment. Just like movies and music, comics have always been at the forefront of the current political issues.

However, the current political climate and treatment of fans is beyond out of the ordinary as you see the personal political opinions of writers, artists, and other people in the comic book community being pushed into their work for mass consumption. The political opinions are also extremely overt. It’s designed to smack you over the head. There is no nuance.

One example of this would be Marvel writer Saladin Ahmed who saw racism in a box of Corn Pops. No, that isn’t a joke, check out the story for yourself.

Thankfully there is still a market in comics. And if the quality of the product falls below a certain level fans are sure to spend elsewhere.

Unfortunately, Aquaman seems to have fallen to the whims of overt political writing. As we’ve seen with the NFL, it hasn’t been good business to push this rhetoric.

Will the Resist storyline hurt the success of the current Rebirth series? Will you continue to buy Aquaman or are you done with the series? Let us know in the comments below!

 

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