A major theme in the Marvel Universe deals with the fear and persecution of mutants in society, such as having in-universe (or “in-altiverse”) laws like the Mutant Registration Act or Mutant Control Act that darkly echo the classification, restriction and ultimately liquidation of Jews and others under Nazi Germany.
It’s pretty ironic, then, that Marvel’s own Real World lawyers are making the argument that Marvel’s mutants are not human to make use of a taxation loophole. You see, most toys nowadays are made in overseas factories in Asia - in China, Vietnam, etc. These are subject to fairly high import taxes… And “dolls” - toys defined as “representing a human figure” - are taxed at 12% versus 6.8% for any other kind of toy, including anthropomorphic but non-human figures like robots, teddy bears and the like.
You see where this is going? They’re arguing that those X-Men action figures depict not “human figures” but “mutants”. Which is awfully ironic. How do you differentiate between, say, Mr. Fantastic and Stretch Armstrong? One’s “human” and the other’s not? And what about in-universe “augmented humans” like Spider-Man or Captain America?
Not ‘are.’ Were. The case started in 1993 and ended in 2003. Furthermore, the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and their villains were also ruled not human.
Details that don’t involve listening to the Radiolab podcast,here. And the difference in tax rate between dolls and other toys is gone.
Wow. Thanks for the follow-up info, I was just searching to see if there was any (I had no idea the case was so old, the article I linked to didn’t mention and and no, I didn’t listen to the podcast as I have no headphones at work).
I haven’t listened to the podcast either, but it’s been linked to on every site that’s even vaguely geeky. Io9 just didn’t have a very good write-up of it.
I dunno, but I seem to recall it was a problem decades earlier for Hasbro when they imported G.I. Joe dolls (or “action figures” to use the preferred, less-girly term).
At least, that’s what I vaguely recall from a documentary called Our Favorite Toys, narrated by that Wonder Years guy.
I don’t think there’s any irony to be blind to. Comic books are one manifestation of the creative entrepreneurial mind; nitpicking about commercial and tax law is another.
I prefer to think that Daredevil, my favorite Marvel Character “Was blind , and irony.” His hyper-developed senses did the rest. He could hear you before he could see you. Blindness was not his weakness.