Once again, I've found the letters page in the back of one of my old Iron Man comics quite revelatory. The above letter and editorial response was published in the early 1970's after my most beloved Marvel mag directly addressed the burgeoning environmentalist movement in two separate one-shots. Please notice how the Bullpen responds to the fan's complaint that they are over-stressing the pollution threat. They stick to their overall desire to talk about the environment in their fiction, but at the same time, they're mindful of their principal job: to entertain the reader. Consequently - and crucially - they admit they may have laid it on too thick and promise to lighten their touch.
A few months ago, I addressed the disingenuous argument that "comics have always been political" by noting the many ways the "political" aspects of the comics medium have become more obtrusive, more radical, and more exclusionary. This discovered exchange further bolsters my original thesis. In the 1970's, Marvel's creators had - and expressed - their personal worldviews, but they were still willing to listen and talk to the fans like said fans were fellow human beings worthy of consideration. In 2020, that's no longer true -- and that's a problem.
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