As far as scapegoats go, "diversity" is a convenient one.
Marvel's VP of Sales and Marketing David Gabriel has been forced to backtrack from comments he made at the Marvel Retailer Summit over the weekend, where he appeared to blame the entertainment giant's comics sales slump on its recent focus on "diversity" and "female characters".
Gabriel was speculating on the changing customer tastes that had led to a decline in comic book purchases in October and November last year when he made the controversial comments.
"What we heard was that people didn't want any more diversity, they didn't want female characters out there. That's what we heard, whether we believe that or not," he told website ICV2.
"We saw the sales of any character that was diverse, any character that was new, our female characters, anything that was not a core Marvel character, people were turning their nose up against. That was difficult for us because we had a lot of fresh, new, exciting ideas that we were trying to get out and nothing new really worked," he said.
The comments, which signalled a sudden about-face from the comics giant following a number of lauded moves, caused an instant uproar online, with fans citing other more likely sources for Marvel Comics' profit woes, including increased issue costs and lazy crossover stunts.
Marvel Translator: We tried to use "Diversity" as a sales gimmick we weren't actually invested in at all. It failed because we never cared.??? Taneka Stotts (@neekaneeks) April 1, 2017
Marvel claims that diversity killed their sales... not the tired ass crossovers or lack of interesting characters??? Viktor T. (@wondermann5) March 31, 2017
An idiotic conclusion, @Marvel. I stopped buying your books because of the high price & event fatigue not diversity. https://t.co/uysUOwOBkh??? Anthony John Agnello (@ajohnagnello) March 31, 2017
I love how Marvel thinks people are tired of "diversity".
NO I AM TIRED OF WATCHING UNCLE BEN DIE 373929463 TIMES.??? Alisha Rai (@AlishaRai) April 1, 2017
In recent years, Marvel had sought to address reader criticism over its traditional oversight, introducing female heroes and characters of colour to its predominantly white, male stable of characters.
Among those were Miles Morales, a half-black, half-Puerto Rican 13-year-old, who became the new version of Spider-Man; Kamala Khan, a Muslim teen who's the new Ms Marvel; and 15-year-old black girl Riri Williams, aka Ironheart, would took over from Tony Stark's Iron Man.
The moves were met with mixed response from fans, with some championing the overdue push towards diversity, others questioning the hollow nods towards significant change (most writers on these series remained white), and others yet scoffing at "PR stunts" fuelled by political correctness.
In a glowing profile in Fortune, ironically published on the same day as Gabriel's comments were made, the company's Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso had backed Marvel's dedication to diversifying its traditional comics cast, saying the inclusionary strategy had "more to do with business than politics".
"When I look at what we're looking to do, we're looking to tell stories that matter in this time," he said.
In the wake of this week's uproar, Gabriel was forced to clarify his "candid" words in a statement published on ICV2.
"Let me be clear, our new heroes are not going anywhere!" he said, specifically referencing Morales and Ms Marvel and other recent additions including Squirrel Girl, Spider-Gwen, and the new female Thor.
"We are proud and excited to keep introducing unique characters that reflect new voices and new experiences into the Marvel Universe and pair them with our iconic heroes.
"We have also been hearing from stores that welcome and champion our new characters and titles and want more! They've invigorated their own customer base and helped them grow their stores because of it. So we're getting both sides of the story and the only upcoming change we're making is to ensure we don't lose focus of our core heroes," his statement continued.
Marvel Comics, part of the media juggernaut owned by Disney following a $US4 billion acquisition in 2009, is a separate division to the company's lucrative film and TV departments.
Those divisions have also seen a push towards diverse characters and stories in recent years, with Netflix's blaxploitation-inspired Luke Cage series earning critical acclaim and a second-season greenlight, and films Black Panther (starring Chadwick Boseman) and Captain Marvel (starring Brie Larson) among the studio's most anticipated upcoming offerings.
