Just when we thought Occupy Wall Street was over, DC Comics decided to resurrect and give it new life. In a new comic book series set to release in May titled “The Movement,” readers will be able to “Meet the 99%… They were the super-powered disenfranchised — now they’re the voice of the people!”
In an interview [1] with Wired Magazine’s Graeme McMillan, “The Movement” writer Gail Simone explained the vision behind the series. “It’s a book about power.” She went on to elaborate on how essential information and the internet were to her vision. “Because the sources of that information are so dispersed and nameless, it’s nearly impossible to shut down.”
It’s too early to tell if the series will focus on the violence that was so rampant during the OWS movement, or if Simone will downplay and ignore such violence like the media repeatedly did during the OWS protest – including rape, arson, attacks on police and more.
In November 2011, NBC and CBS gave minor coverage [2] of violence that broke out at Occupy Oakland while ABC ignored the violence completely. In September 2011, NBC ignored [3] violent chanting of “Kill the cops!” at an Occupy LA protest. And in October that year, CBS tried to excuse the violence [4] erupting at OWS camps across the country by referencing them as “the actions of a few."
This is not the first time that DC Comics had gone political. In 2003, DC Comics “Justice League of America” had the much beloved Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman promote the UN [5].
MRC founder Brent Bozell [6] noted that DC was missing the reason people enjoy comics to begin with. “In the real world, people want a strong defense by action heroes, not just guilt-ridden lecturers waiting for universal agreement with their pacifist dreams,” he wrote.