Smoke

So, awhile back, I read a little news blurb about how Joe Queseda, Editor and Chief over at Marvel Comics, had made the decision that no Marvel characters would be depicted smoking in an all ages Marvel comic again. To say I had a rather adverse reaction to such a meaningless piece of news would be an understatement.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't like tobacco. Besides the obvious Lung Cancer thing, cigarettes are addictive, cause premature aging, screw up your voice (Joseph like to sing with the radio), and make you smell like butt. I don't smoke, and I don't condone or promote smoking. If I ever have kids (insert laughter here) I will do everything in my power to make sure they don't take up smoking.

Now, having said all that, smoking is a facet of life. I've had lots of friends who smoke, not mention a very large cross section of my family smokes. In the Marvel Universe (finally bringing this back to comics) there were numerous smokers, including Mr. Fantastic, the Thing, Nick Fury, J. J. Jameson, and the big gun himself, Wolverine. Were these guys promoting smoking? Hell, I never really thought so. If anything, you'd think a superhero would promote the idea of acting like a good guy way more than he'd be pushing cigs. Being a smoker was just part of their character, that's all.

So, here's my little declaration. My comics have smokers in them. My comics had smokers in them before now, and there'll be smokers after now. I'm not promoting or condoning smoking, I'm just saying, as an artist and a writer, that some people smoke. That's it. Heck, I've got one character coming up in "SDF: Perfect/Ugly" called El Gorio who will always be drawn with a big, fat, cigar sticking out of his mouth. That's just part of who this guy is. Hm, wonder if I'll win one of those Black Lung awards...