Mickey Mouse: Soldier of Satan, by John Ostrander

John Ostrander

John Ostrander started his career as a professional writer as a playwright. His best known effort, Bloody Bess, was directed by Stuart Gordon, and starred Dennis Franz, Joe Mantegna, William J. Norris, Meshach Taylor and Joe Mantegna. He has written some of the most important influential comic books of the past 25 years, including Batman, The Spectre, Manhunter, Firestorm, Hawkman, Suicide Squad, Wasteland, X-Men, and The Punisher, as well as Star Wars comics for Dark Horse. New episodes of his creator-owned series, GrimJack, which was first published by First Comics in the 1980s, appear every week on ComicMix.

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12 Responses

  1. Andrew Bergstrom says:

    Hmmm… Maybe we should threaten to airlift thousands of Mickey Mouse plushies and drop them on Saudi Arabia Cities unless OPEC lowers their price per barrel of Oil? Nah, that would be insensitive of us, 'cause we're PC and love everybody.What's the worst that could happen with a "Mouse Drop"? The poor kids would have fun playing with them?OH! How about we have Mickey Mouse and the gang dressed up as "KISS" plushies dropped on S.A.?!? Wouldn't that justify a Fatwa!

  2. Vinnie Bartilucci says:

    Statements like this serve no purpose other than to make the people who say them, as well as the people who follow them, sound and appear to be catastrophically stupid. It's no less ridiculous than when Jerry Fallwell outed Tinky-Winky. The delineation I've always drawn is that it's EXTREME religious fervor that's scary and dangerous. I'm what they now like to call a Salad-bar Catholic, picking and choosing the bits I like and leaving the rest to molder, and usually bumping my nose on the sneeze guard. I am willing enough to believe there is a higher power, rational enough to understand that most of the Old testament (at the very least Genesis) is allegory, and I'm cynical enough to know that most organized religion is interested in having, wielding and maintaining power more than they are in shuttling people to heaven. The people who try to claim that the proper answer in the science textbook is "because God said so" are the ones that need to be kept away from rational humans. I keep asking, all those compounds where the religious nuts are walling themselves in and separating themselves from the country…explain to me again why we're stopping them? Seems like they're doing our job for us. Heck, let's GIVE them Utah, wall the whole thing in, and they can live there happy as Larry. If they want to leave, and enter the USA, they have to answer a few simple questions:-When did the dinosaurs live? (The correct answer is "a long time ago", but any answer other than "They did not, they are a massive trick perpetrated by the scientists" will be acceptable)-What do you like to do on Wednesday mornings? (Any answer other than "go to church" will be counted as correct)-What was Pat Robertson talking about on the 700 club last night? (If they know the answer, back in they go.

  3. Mark Behar says:

    Great response, Vinnie. It’s like an article unto itself. I actually view it as positive when these zealots clarify their positions on issues like the corrupting influence of a cartoon mouse. Better that they let us know how they feel, so that the apologists for their extreme views in this part of the world (often coming from the extreme left, if you ask me) can no longer make excuses for fundamentalism, or write off our disgust to ethnocentricity. I feel the same way about Mahmoud Ahmedinejad of Iran. Better that he comes on Larry King Live and denies the Holocaust in order to justify his views on Israel. At least we know where he stands; with the lowest of the low. If Ahmedinejad tempered his views in public, those without the intestinal fortitude to denounce him in turn could simply write off his positions as legitimate differences of opinion. Additionally, I might add, radicalism will always encounter opposition when it opposes FUN. It’s all well and good to badmouth the Zionists, but you will begin to make your followers uncomfortable when you outlaw smiles and celebration. Yahoo recently posted an article about the illegality of birthday parties in Saudi Arabia, where the government only permits celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday. The more, the better, I say! Let the zealots market themselves as the purveyors of dull and obedient servitude. That’s one of the most important steps in turning people AWAY from fundamentalist religion. If I recall correctly, the Puritans opposed (among many other things) the eating of sweet foods, as humble and heaven-worthy folks should not partake in decadent consumption. Now imagine trying to push that crap on the modern American public. Can I have my own column now, Mike?!! ;-)

    • John Ostrander says:

      Recommended viewing/reading: Persepolis. Shows what happens when you keep trying to mandate only certain views.

  4. Alan Coil says:

    This Sheik is obviously out of touch with current pop culture, otherwise he would have put the fatwa on Spider-Man for making that deal with Satan just under a year ago.

  5. Elayne Riggs says:

    I was reminded of this when reading an article about Paul McCartney performing in Israel (to which I linked in the byline to yesterday's column). Seems the Beatles were supposed to play Israel in 1965, but the government refused to have them there for fear they would "corrupt" the youth, which was characterized as a pretty big disappointment to their Jewish manager, Brian Epstein.

  6. Jeremiah Avery says:

    How the heck can you put a death sentence on a FICTIONAL character?! Reminds me of the bit George Carlin did about Mickey Mouse's birthday being celebrated as if it's an actual event. I miss Carlin, I would have liked to have heard his take on this.Granted, Disney is really screwy when it comes to IP, but satanic? C'mon! Vinnie – Pat Robertson and this nutjob deserve each other. So much for the religions of "tolerance" and "peace". And my family wonders why I'm skeptical about religions!

    • John Ostrander says:

      Actually, my better half, Mary Mitchell, had an interesting if chilling thought on a death sentence on Mickey. There's a place where he ISN'T fictional. The Disney theme parks. She thought this could offer justification for akilling terrorist attack on Disneyland/world. If I was Disney, I'd be paying attention to security at the parks.

  7. Jeremiah Avery says:

    That is horrifying, and sadly, a distinct possibility. Those "brave" lowlifes killing children and families just on vacation really sickens me. Though there would be apologists anyway.It's a shame that a place where some would go to relax, would wind up being a potential target. Nowhere is safe anymore.

  8. Micha says:

    I doubt he Fatwa is actually a call to kill Mickey Mouse as much as ban him. If anybody attacks disney's parks it will be part of a greater plan than this Fatwa. Mickey Mouse might appear in Islamic prpaganda more. If something happens to insite riots they might burn some Mickey effigies, stuff like that.The Hamas actually had a TV show with a Mickey-like character. Unfortunatly he was martyred and replace by a bee. An Israeli punlication named him Mickey Hamouse