So this just creeps me out. Product placement has been a staple in movies since I was a kid, so I’m used to it there, I guess, but in the past few years it’s been popping up in Marvel comics, which is just kind of… I don’t know. Creepy and weird. I think of reading comics the same way that I think of reading books, and just as I’d be pissed if Herman Melville had slipped in a reference as to where Ahab goes on his shore leave or whatever, it seems pretty fucking crass to be subjected to an awkwardly placed Pepsi logo or whatever in the middle of a good read.

But hey, Pepsi’s fine, comparatively. Comic blog Lying in the Gutters points out that, at least in the latest issue of X-Factor, Marvel’s got a new sponsor.

As Gutters’ columnist, Rich Johnston, asks:

It’s not exactly something new—Marvel has used Nike logos before now as product placement, and of course during World War II, it was a propaganda partner. But now, with so much criticism aimed at the ongoing war in Afghanistan and Iraq (with a possible extended crossover into Iran) is it really the best time for a series that features violent, fantastical escapades to seek to ally themselves with army recruitment?