• MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca
      116·
      3 days ago

      He’s dressed up as venom, but it looks like blackface. Which has a history of being used terribly, and racism, so he will get cancelled.

        • BlueOysterCultist@lemmy.zip
          311·
          3 days ago

          Took me a few read throughs to get it too

          I think panel 4 could make it more clear that Peter’s bad costume is a problem. I was confused why the chick was concerned about looking like Poison Ivy

          • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
            53·
            3 days ago

            Maybe I’m confused, but I’m assuming that that is Venom and Poison Ivy. Like, those are their supervillan costumes, not play costumes, and they’re just taking the opportunity to appear openly while appearing to be dressed up for festivities. I think that at some point, Venom was bonded with Peter Parker.

            searches

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venom_(character)

            Hosts

            Spider-Man (Peter Parker)

            Hmm. According to this, Peter Parker was the original Venom host, not just a host.

            • MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca
              11·
              3 days ago

              I don’t think so. I think it’s peter and maryjane talking about what costumes they’ll wear later.

              The 4th panel is maryjane, dressed as poison ivy, commenting that Peter’s venom (blackface) costume is a bad idea.

              The clue is in the earlier panel where Peter talks about taking a break from fighting crime. Traditionally, venom isn’t a crime fighter but a villain. Or at least an anti hero.

              • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
                21·
                3 days ago

                The clue is in the earlier panel where Peter talks about taking a break from fighting crime.

                Hmm…that’s fair. And while I think that Venom can cover only part of a body, normally, I think he does the whole thing.

                And apparently, Peter Parker does have a red-headed love interest, who I guess “the chick” is supposed to be, not actually Poison Ivy.

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Jane_Watson

                Mary Jane Watson is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, making her first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (August 1964), and subsequently designed by John Romita Sr. in #42 (November 1966). Since then, she has gone on to become Spider-Man’s main love interest and later his wife (as Mary Jane Watson-Parker). Mary Jane Watson has also served as a supporting character to Iron Man.

                Like I said, I don’t really follow Spider-Man, so don’t know the story terribly well.

        • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
          72·
          3 days ago

          I don’t follow the series, but isn’t Venom some sort of alien symbiote, not a demon?

          searches

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venom_(character)

          Venom, known formally as “the Symbiote”, is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a sentient alien symbiote with an amorphous, liquid-like form, who survives by bonding with a host, usually human.

          Although maybe there’s some retcon or something that I’m unaware of.

          thinks

          Maybe you’re thinking of Spawn? Isn’t he a demon, and has kinda similar eyepatches?

          searches

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spawn_(character)

          Simmons is a government assassin who died and went to Hell for his crimes against humanity. Following a deal with Malebolgia, Simmons is given new life as a Hellspawn and the chance to see his wife Wanda once again. The deal is revealed to be a trick, as Simmons is brought back to life five years after his death, unrecognizable to his wife and missing many of his memories. With little other choice, Simmons adopts his new hell-inspired identity as Spawn in an effort to atone for his past sins and use his newfound powers for good.

    • rishado@lemmy.world
      373·
      3 days ago

      Probably because the artist chose “Oh no Peter this is a terrible idea” instead of an actual punchline

      • Lumidaub@feddit.org
        281·
        3 days ago

        Having understood it now, I think it might work if they’d just swapped panels 3 and 4. 3, with Peter from behind, would make you think “huh, I wonder what the problem is”. And 4 would be the reveal of the face, putting emphasis on the face being the issue.

        • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
          6·
          3 days ago

          Yeah that would help, but I think it’s a problem where if you’re really familiar with venom, you’re just thinking “that looks like venome, why would there be a problem with him dressing up as venom?” So you’re thinking along the lines of maybe it’s because he’s bonded with the venom symbiote again just for a halloween costume or something like that.

          It also wouldn’t work for someone that’s not familiar with the character of venom, because it’s just a guy putting on blackface and you wouldn’t understand why that would be funny.

          So it’s just in a weird valley where it’s not going to be funny to those too familiar with the venom character and also not funny to those who don’t know who venom is.

      • modus@lemmy.world
        1·
        3 days ago

        Unless you’re doing it ironically. While on horseback. Covering it by a white hood. Then it’s just American tradition.

  • PattyMcB@lemmy.world
    72·
    3 days ago

    Terrible execution. I had to come to the comments to find out what the joke was. It’s never a good joke if you have to explain it.

  • lacethespace@sh.itjust.works
    43·
    2 days ago

    Sorry to be that person, but is this AI? It has the same cursed face expression as well as them starting straight ahead vaguely instead of being in the scene.