Trigger warning for discussion of anti-Semitism and transphobia.
Via CBR, this week’s issue of “Immortal Hulk” featured a scene with several anti-Semitic tropes. Early in the issue, Bruce Banner (under the control of the Grey Hulk, Joe Fixit) visits a jewelry shop, paying for jewelry with a stolen funds so that he can pawn it later. The reflection in the window of “Cronemberg’s Jewelry” where Joe-as-Banner makes his purchase has the letter “L” in “jewelry” omitted so that it appears as “Jewer” (or “Jewery” with the final letter obscured). There is also a Star of David in the window display.
As there is no other connection to Judaism in the scene or in the issue, the scene is a visual play on several economic anti-Semitism tropes, such as Jewish people controlling the jewelry industry and being shady merchants who do business with criminals.
“Immortal Hulk” artist Joe Bennett responded, “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. The misspellings on the window were an honest but terrible mistake – since I was writing backwards, I accidentally spelled both of those words wrong. 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. 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.”
He added, “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 informed CBR that they “fully acknowledged this mistake was missed on our side as well,” and confirmed that the art will be altered in digital releases, future printings and collections of the issue.
Bennett is no stranger to controversy, having made several homophobic comments through the years. A posting of his cover for “Immortal She-Hulk” on his Instagram feed from last year had a fan comment “oh look, it’s Hulk’s angry transgender son,” to which Bennett responded with several laughing emojis. (The comic itself features a trans character, Dr. Charlene McGowan.) Most notably, Bennett said in 2019 after an attack on journalist Glenn Greenwald (who is gay) that he felt Greenwald deserved a punch rather than the slap he received in that attack. Bennett later apologized for those words.
This is not the first time that Marvel found itself in an anti-Semitic controversy. 2017’s “X-Men: Gold” #1 featured several references to Jakarta’s November 2016 protests against the city’s governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, particularly around the inclusion of a Quran verse out of context by artist Ardian Syaf. That issue also featured Kitty Pryde, who is Jewish, standing next to a sign that said “Jewelry” but in such a way that only the first three letters were visible to the viewer. Syaf lost his contract with Marvel as a result of the controversy.
“Immortal Hulk” is tentatively set to end later this year with issue #50.
