INDONESIA — An Indonesian comic book illustrator is facing disciplinary action from his employer after sneaking political and religious references into his work without approval. <br /> <br />On April 8, Marvel Studios confirmed controversial issues about a religious text YouTube doesn’t want us to mention have been cited in a newly released comic, X-Men Gold. Marvel says they will proceed with penalties against one of their Indonesian illustrators, Ardian Syaf. Syaf subtly slipped his political views into the X-Men comic as his way of supporting anti-Ahok movements. <br /> <br />The first illustration in question is “212,” referring to a mass demonstration in Jakarta on December 2 to protest Ahok. The second number is written on Colossus’ shirt, in reference to the holy book’s Al-Maidah 51 verse, which Ahok has complained about in a speech. Marvel and Ardian’s fans who’ve noticed the sneaky symbols in the comic are surprised and disappointed. To voice his displeasure, one Indonesian fan has gone so far as to pen a public letter addressed to Marvel Comics. <br /> <br />In the middle of this chaos, Ardian now admits he intentionally snuck in his stance against Ahok in his artwork. He even screen-captured a conversation with one of his fans on Facebook, revealing the reason he supports the anti-Ahok movement is because he subscribes to a particular religion YouTube doesn’t want us to mention. <br /> <br />Marvel Comics will remove the controversial panel from X-Men Gold #1, and Ardian will incur his penalties soon.
