Ardian Syaf

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Ardian Syaf
Born
Tulungagung, East Java, Indonesia
NationalityIndonesian
Area(s)Penciller
Notable works
Batgirl, Brightest Day and Welcome to the Jungle

Ardian Syaf is an Indonesian comic book artist. He has worked for DC Comics,[1] Marvel Comics, and Dynamite Entertainment.

In April 2017 he became embroiled in controversy for inserting hidden anti-semitic and anti-Christian messages in X-Men Gold #1, for which his contract with Marvel Comics was terminated.[2][3]

Early life

Ardian Syaf was born in

comics artist in 2003, deciding that leaving his interest in drawing comics and working in a conventional job was not something he was willing to do.[5]

Career

Syaf started his career in 2007 with

Dabel Brothers Publishing, illustrating The Dresden Files for 11 issues.[4] Syaf's work on the 2008 graphic novel Welcome to the Jungle was nominated for the 2008 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story, losing to Girl Genius.[6] Take a Chance, written by novelist C. E. Murphy was published after that,[7] although it had been written and drawn first. Syaf later signed to the Spanish agency, Utopia Studio.[8]

At one point Syaf met an Irish screenwriter named Catie through Dabel Brothers, through which began to get work with

Justice League of America (Vol. 2) #34 (August 2009) with Eddy Barrows, but its quality was decried by critics.[9][10]

In 2009, he signed a two-year exclusivity contract with DC. That contract ended in September 2011, though he indicated that it would be renewed, and that he would be drawing the

CraveOnline for the manner in which Syaf adapted his style during different parts of the story, effecting a "light and airy" during the daytime scenes with Barbara Gordon, a darker, shadowy look for in-costume scenes, and a grainy, old-fashioned cinematic appearance for the flashbacks.[18]

When asked in a 2011 interview what projects he would like to work on, Syaf responded that he would like to draw Wolverine, as that is a character that he adores. He also stated that he would like to do a Tomb Raider story set in Indonesia, which would involve the superstitious beliefs of his home country.[11]

Easter egg references and X-Men Gold controversy

Syaf is known to engage in the practice of hiding Easter egg references to political figures in the backgrounds of his artwork. In Batgirl (Vol 4) #9 (July 2012), for example, Syaf included a storefront sign that referenced the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, although the text that accompanies the image of Widodo in Syaf's penciled artwork is covered by a caption in the final, published issue.[19][20]

In April 2017, Syaf was at the center of controversy for including multiple Easter eggs in

Quran Surah 5:51, or QS 5:51, is commonly translated in Indonesian as "Muslims should not appoint the Jews and Christians as their leader." The quran.com translation reads, "O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you—then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people."[19][28] Citizens and pundits reacted to Basuki's statement as an insult to the Quran,[27] in part because one of the videos of the speech uploaded to the Internet was edited in a way that changed the meaning of his words.[29][30][31][32] Although Basuki publicly apologized for offending anyone with the remark, the resulting outcry over it led to calls for him to be arrested and prosecuted under laws prohibiting insult to religion. It also sparked protests, led by the hardline group Islamic Defenders Front (FPI),[26][33] including one on 2 December 2016,[34] which was attended by Syaf, who called it "memorable".[35] Basuki's blasphemy trial began on 13 December.[36]

Colossus
' shirt in Panel 2 from Page 12 (right).

On the double-page spread of Pages 10 and 11 of X-Men Gold #1, in which the Jewish X-Man

Colossus wears a shirt prominently displaying the text "QS 5:51". This led to an outcry on social media on Saturday, April 8, three days after the book's publication, by readers who viewed the verse as support of intolerance towards other religions.[37][38] Syaf was also angrily denounced by Marvel writer G. Willow Wilson, a Muslim herself, who wrote an essay elucidating the verse and warning of the danger of the conservative Indonesian interpretation of it.[38] The Easter eggs also drew negative reaction from Syaf's fellow Indonesian comics creators.[35]

The perceived inappropriateness of these messages stemmed in part from the fact

collectible.[40] He eventually acknowledged the political nature of the hidden messages,[39] though he denied that they were an expression of intolerance on his part, stating, "I don't hate Jews and Christians... I have a many good friends [among them] too."[30] Syaf, who had previously posted a detail of the pencils for the double page spread on his Facebook page, removed them following the criticism leveled at him.[41] Marvel Comics released the following statement in response to the controversy:[37][39]

The mentioned artwork in X-Men Gold #1 was inserted without knowledge behind its reported meanings. These implied references do not reflect the views of the writer, editors or anyone else at Marvel and are in direct opposition of the inclusiveness of Marvel Comics and what the X-Men have stood for since their creation. This artwork will be removed from subsequent printings, digital versions, and trade paperbacks and disciplinary action is being taken.[37][39]

On April 11, Syaf's contract with Marvel was terminated.

pressure group that has been criticized for religious and racial propaganda,[46] hate crimes, discrimination against minority groups and religious intolerance,[47][48] and which led the anti-Basuki protests. Syaf then deleted the photo,[44] and blocked his Facebook page to non-friends.[35]

The controversy resulted in an April 8 retailer rush demand for the book, which quickly sold out. The issue was still available for re-order through

USD version of the book sold for up to $7.00 while a premiere variant, of which stores were only permitted two copies each, sold for $45 as of April 9, with up to 70 copies posted on the auction website on April 8, compared to 12 the day before.[49]

Published work

DC

Artist

Penciller

Inker

Colorist

Marvel

Other publishers

References

  1. ^ "Ardian Syaf". DC Comics. 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d Brown, Tracy (11 April 2017). "'My career is over now': Marvel terminates 'X-Men Gold' artist's contract amid controversy". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ a b "Marvel fires artist Ardian Syaf over religious references in X-Men comic book". BBC News. 11 April 2017.
  4. ^ a b c Khoiri, Agniya (10 April 2017). "Ardian Syaf, Komikus Tulungagung Pemikat DC Comics dan Marvel". CNN Indonesia.
  5. ^ Brown, Avril (2008). "Dresden File Interview". ComicsWaitingRoom.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  6. The Hugo Awards
    . Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  7. ^ Ferguson, David (October 3, 2016). "Take A Chance Available to Order From Today" Archived 2017-04-12 at the Wayback Machine. Irish Comic News.
  8. ^ Lam, Steve (2015). "Superman: Earth One Volume 3 – Interview With Artist Ardian Syaf". Bam! Smack! Pow!
  9. ^ "Justice League of America #34" Archived 2017-04-12 at the Wayback Machine. Comic Book Roundup.
  10. CBR.com
    .
  11. ^ a b Tju, Cheng (22 August 2011). "Interview with Ardian Syaff at STGCC". Singapore Comix. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
  12. ^ Cohen, Jason (26 June 2009). "Justice League of America #34". Comics Bulletin.
  13. Johnston, Rich (12 April 2017). "Gail Simone On Her Batgirl Artistic Collaborator, Ardian Syaf"
    . Bleeding Cool.
  14. ^ Esposito, Joey (7 September 2011). "Batgirl #1 Review". IGN.
  15. ^ Norris, Erik (12 October 2011). "Batgirl #2 Review". IGN.
  16. ^ Elfring, Mat (9 November 2011). "Batgirl #3 – A Breath of Broken Glass Review". ComicVine.
  17. ^ Nguyen, Minhquan (12 December 2011). "Batgirl #4 – Review". Weekly Comic Book Review.
  18. CraveOnline
    .
  19. ^ a b Johnston, Rich (April 8, 2017). "Marvel Artist Ardian Syaf Hid Anti-Christian And Jewish Messages In This Week's X-Men Comic". Bleeding Cool.
  20. Simone, Gail (w), Syaf, Ardian (p), Cifuentes, Vicente (i). "In the Line of Fire". Batgirl (Vol. 4) #9 (July 2012). DC Comics
    .
  21. ^ Cochrane, Joe (22 November 2014). "An Ethnic Chinese Christian, Breaking Barriers in Indonesia". The New York Times.
  22. ^ Harfenist, Ethan (August 17, 2014). "Jakarta Could Be Getting Its First Ethnically Chinese Governor". Vice News.
  23. Center for Strategic & International Studies
    . November 27, 2012.
  24. ^ Dewi, Sita W. (3 October 2014). "FPI members arrested during violent protest". The Jakarta Post.
  25. ^ Dewi, Sita W. (18 November 2014). "Muslims declare support for Ahok". The Jakarta Post.
  26. ^ a b c "Basuki Tjahaja Purnama: Jakarta's governor". BBC News. 4 November 2016.
  27. ^ a b Sasongko, Agung (6 October 2016). "Video Ahok: Anda Dibohongi Alquran Surat Al-Maidah 51 Viral di Medsos". Republika.
  28. ^ "Surah Al-Ma'idah (5:51)". quran.com. Retrieved April 9, 2017.
  29. ^ La Batu, Safrin (14 December 2016). "Accompanying text of Ahok video not intended as transcript: Buni Yani". The Jakarta Post.
  30. ^ a b "Buni Yani Questioned Again in Cyber Harassment Case" Archived 2017-02-21 at the Wayback Machine. Jakarta Globe. January 2017.
  31. ^ "Buni Yani, uploader of Ahok's blasphemy video, named suspect". The Jakarta Post. 23 November 2016
  32. ^ La Batu, Saffrin (21 December 2016). "Court rejects Ahok video uploader’s pretrial motion". The Jakarta Post.
  33. ^ McKirdy, Euan (5 November 2016). "Thousands rally in Jakarta over governor's alleged blasphemy". CNN.
  34. ^ France-Presse, Agence (2 December 2016). "Jakarta protests: Muslims turn out in force against Christian governor Ahok". The Guardian.
  35. ^
    Comics Beat
    .
  36. ^ Cochrane, Joe (13 December 2016). "Governor of Jakarta Issues Tearful Denial as Blasphemy Trial Opens in Indonesia". The New York Times.
  37. ^
    ComicBook.com
    .
  38. ^ a b c Riseman, Abraham (10 April 2017). "Marvel Was Rocked by a Weird Hidden Koranic Message This Weekend". Vulture.
  39. ^ a b c d e Ching, Albert (April 9, 2017). "Marvel Responds to X-Men Gold Artist Controversy". CBR.com.
  40. ^ Johnston, Rich (9 April 2017). "Ardian Syaf Tries To Explain What Happened Yesterday". Bleeding Cool.
  41. ^ Tan, Yvette (April 10, 2017). "Marvel will punish 'X-men' artist who snuck political references into the latest comic". Mashable.
  42. ^ a b Ching, Albert (April 11, 2017). "Marvel Terminates X-Men Gold Artist's Contract Following Controversy". CBR.com.
  43. ^ Ching, Albert (10 October 2017). "X-Men Gold Artist Addresses Controversy: ‘My Career is Over Now'". CBR.com.
  44. ^ a b "Officially fired by Marvel, Indonesian artist Ardian Syaf says, 'When Jews are offended, there is no mercy'". Coconuts Jakarta. 12 April 2017.
  45. ^ M Andika Putra; Raja Eben Lumbanrau (17 January 2017). "Jejak FPI dan Status 'Napi' Rizieq Shihab" (in Indonesian). CNN Indonesia.
  46. ^ Sita W. Dewi (September 25, 2014). "FPI threatens Chinese Indonesians". The Jakarta Post. Jakarta.
  47. ^ Arya Dipa (18 January 2017). "Petition calls for disbandment of FPI". The Jakarta Post.
  48. ^ "University Students in Manado Take to Streets to Demand FPI Disbandment". Jakarta Globe. 11 February 2017.
  49. ^ Johnston, Rich (9 April 2017). "Speculator Corner: X-Men Gold #1 By Ardian Syaf". Bleeding Cool.
  50. ComicMix
    .
  51. Hugo Awards
    . 19 March 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
  52. ^ Murphy, C.E. (March 2, 2009). "Preview: C.E. Murphy's Take a Chance #1". Geeks of Doom. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013.
  53. ^ Cooper, Booby (15 November 2012). "Comic Review: Evil Ernie #2". Geeks of Doom.
  54. ^ "Crepusculon". Tebeosfera. 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2013.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ardian_Syaf&oldid=1159224799"