Ardian Syaf’s penultimate issue in his short, bizarre run as penciller is due 4/26.
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X-Men Gold #1 got a lot of attention for all the wrong reasons and there’s no way to hide it: Ardian Syaf hid a bunch of messages in the art that are considered anti-Christian and anti-Semitic. Marvel did the right thing and quickly terminated his contract. (For his part, Syaf has declared his career “over.”) But deadlines being what they are, Issues #2 and #3 were already at the printer, the company said, and so Syaf’s art remains for now. (For a list of replacement artists in forthcoming issues, click here.)
Here, then, is an EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW of Issue #2 and, no, there don’t appear to be any hidden messages. I’m guessing Marvel throughly went over the art before pressing the final button. Still, I’m sure internet detectives will be poring over the pages of the full comic once it comes out Wednesday.
Putting all that aside, the first issue was a fine start to the X-Men relaunch. What unfortunately got lost in all the controversy was writer Marc Guggenheim’s storytelling and the contributions by others, like inker Jay Leisten and colorist Frank Martin. They’re back for Issue #2, as well:
Ardian Syaf cover
Adi Granov variant
April 21, 2017
I think you want to correct “anti-Muslim” to “anti-Jewish”. The messages that were pointed out were about a demonstration against a politician who is a Christian, the “Jewellery” text next to a Jewish character’s head and a verse of the Quran that has been interpreted to mean that Muslims shouldn’t seek allies who are Jewish and non-Muslim in general (in a comic where the leader of the team is the aforementioned Jewish woman).
To my knowledge, there were no anti-Muslim messages and the artist identifies as a devout Muslim.
April 21, 2017
Thank you for catching that. All our stories have made those points. This was a simple typographical error.