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'Punisher' writer's comic book about vigilante border agent pulled from Kickstarter after woke backlash
By Taylor Penley
Published December 19, 2022
Woke critics are pushing to cancel a comic book about a border agent who hunts down fentanyl dealers, with Kickstarter removing the creator from its platform and one Daily Kos article slamming the comic as "racist propaganda."
Mike Baron, author of "The Private American," deconstructed the outrage Monday on "Fox & Friends First," defending its place as a vigilante story that tackles a real-world issue.
"There's nothing wrong with [taking on drug cartels]. It's a classic vigilante story in the American mode," he told Todd Piro.
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'Private American' comic book cover. (Fox News/Mike Baron)
"I used to write ‘Punisher’ for Marvel, and this is the same type of character. In fact, this book came about when I asked myself ‘what would The Punisher be doing today?’ He'd be down on the southern border trying to stop the flow of fentanyl into the country," he added.
The comic follows a Cuban-American protagonist Marcos Zamora, a former Army Green Beret who tackles the drug epidemic by taking on cartel members firsthand, an element generating controversy from some on the left.
Baron said the global crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, a major source of Baron's exposure, has since pulled the comic from its platform in response.
Kickstarter pulled the controversial 'Private American' comic book from its crowdfunding platform. (Fox News/Mike Baron)
"There's nothing against the immigrants who are trying to cross over just to get a better life," Baron said. "In fact, he's there to save them, and that's when we first meet him, as he's saving a young girl from being raped."
Daily Kos writer Starr Mignon called the comic "racist AF" in the headline of her piece on Dec. 7, going on to lambaste the protagonist's use of the Gadsden flag among other elements.
"The use of the Gadsden Flag snake is an obvious dog whistle to the Tea Party and Trump Rally goers who popularized the Gadsden Flag to use in substitute for the Rebel Flag," Mignon claimed.
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Mike Baron's 'The Private American' garnered criticism from 'woke' leftists who claimed the book had 'racist' elements. (Fox News/Mike Baron)
She also claimed the comic violated Kickstarter's terms of service by containing "offensive material" and "promoting discrimination."
"A number of us who don't produce comics that fit into the rigid left-wing mode, we are exploring new crowdfunding possibilities… [The comic book industry] is pretty woke, and the sales are falling. There's the question of whether Marvel and DC will continue to publish comics in the future because sales are so low," said Baron.
"Meanwhile, there's a whole bunch of us who call ourselves ‘Comicsgate’ that produce comics outside the normal realm, and we crowdfund our comics, and they're highly entertaining."
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