Marvel Comics has announced that they are editing Immortal Hulk #43 after anti-Semitism allegations. Readers noticed the offensive material in one panel from the comic and made complaints on social media. Retailers and publishers are currently honoring refunds and will send an edited version out for free. “Marvel is correcting and reprinting the main and variant editions of Immortal Hulk #43, originally on sale 2/3,” reads a statement from Marvel. “Requests to return for exchange on Immortal Hulk #43 with these corrected versions may be made starting today.”
The unedited panel in Immortal Hulk #43 finds the character Joe Fixit in a jewelry shop. In the background of the panel, the window of the jewelry shop has a sign that reads, “Cronemberg’s Jewery.” In addition to the misspelling, Fixit’s head is blocking the “Y” on the sign, so it looks like “Cronemberg’s Jewer.” The Star of David, which is a common symbol of Jewish faith, is also shown at the bottom of the store’s window. Many Marvel Comic book fans felt that the misspelling of Jewelry was on purpose when taken in with the rest of the panel.
Marvel va a reimprimir el Immortal Hulk #43 por un posible mensaje antisemita en esta viñeta
👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/tk8Y26oltN— Comics en 8mm ⊗ (@Comicsen8mm) February 5, 2021
Immortal Hulk penciler Joe Bennett is taking full personal responsibility for the anti-Semitism allegations. “I’ve been including references to famous horror directors to pay respects to the genre throughout the series, and in Immortal Hulk #43, I included a nod to David Cronenberg,” says the artist. While he was paying tribute to iconic horror director David Cronenberg, he spelled his name wrong. “The misspellings on the window were an honest but terrible mistake – since I was writing backwards, I accidentally spelled both of those words wrong,” says Bennett.
As for the rest of the Immortal Hulk panel, Joe Bennett claims he didn’t understand that he was including stereotypes in the comic. “I have no excuse for how I depicted the Star of David. I failed to understand this troubling and offensive stereotype, and after listening to you all, I now understand my mistake,” Bennett said. You can read the rest of the artist’s statement below.
“This was wrong, offensive, and hurtful in many ways. This is a mistake I must own, and I am sorry to everyone who I hurt by this. I am working with Marvel to correct this, and I am using this lesson to reflect on how I approach my stories and my work.”
Marvel Comics says they “fully acknowledged this mistake was missed on our side as well.” This is not the first time that Joe Bennett has found himself in the middle of controversy. Back in 2019, Bennett cheered on the assault of gay journalist Glenn Greenwald on Twitter, saying it “should have been a punch instead of a slap.” Marvel fans were upset by his remarks and he quickly deleted the tweet and apologized. GamesRadar was one of the first outlets to report on the Immortal Hulk edits.