X-Men Gold Artist on Controversy: "My Career is Over Now"

Marvel artist Adrian Syaf just addressed the controversy about the hidden political and religious messages spotted in X-Men Gold #1 and his statement is straightforward: My career is over now"

On Monday evening on his personal Facebook page, Syaf posted that the clear end of his career is the "consequence" of his actions and he has accepted it. "Please no more mockery, [debate], no more hate," the artist added. "I hope all in peace." In the post, Syaf also cited the Quran verse and protest reference that showed in X-Men Gold #1, writing that it was a message of "justice" and "love."

This past weekend, fans on social media saw that Syaf hid references to protests against Busuki Tjahaja Purnama, the Jakarta's current governor and a Christian. He drew X-Men's Colossus wearing a T-shirt reading "QS 5:51", which means Quran Surah 5:51. Here's the translation from quran.com:

"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."

The number "212" is also seen in a crowd scene in the issue (shown above) - a reference to a real protest that happened on December 2, 2016, where about 200,000 Indonesians marched against Purnama for alleged blasphemy against the Quran during a speech.

Of course, fans would be upset to see this kind of message sent against the religious minorities in Indonesia since X-Men has been a symbol for persecuted minorities. Marvel immediately responded saying that the messages would be erased from digital versions and future editions, and there would "disciplinary action" against Syaf.

Here's Syaff's statement in full from his personal Facebook page:

"Hello, Worlds…

My career is over now. It's the consequence what I did, and I take it. Please no more mockery, debat, no more hate. I hope all in peace.

In this last chance, I want to tell you the true meaning of the numbers, 212 and QS 5:51.

It is number of JUSTICE. It is number of LOVE. My love to Holy Qur'an…my love to the last prophet, the Messenger…my love to ALLAH, The One God.

My apologize for all the noise. Good bye, May God bless you all. I love all of you.

-Ardian Syaf-"

It's not clear what he meant when he said "My career is over now." This could mean that he's accepting that his actions would limit his future career prospects, or if he's taking a self-imposed exile. Syaf's public Facebook page has already been deleted. Syaff is an artist for X-Men Gold through May 4.

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