Music

Sufjan Stevens disses DC Comics with 10 year anniversary reissue

by Jesse Locke

In the simpler days of the early aughts, twee-pop troubadour Sufjan Stevens aimed to write an album for each of the 50 states. Though the project stalled out after two records (with Stevens eventually calling it “such a joke”), it did result in 2005’s wildly popular Illinois a.k.a. Sufjan Stevens Invites You To: Come On Feel The Illinoise, a song cycle featuring tributes to Casimir Pulaski Day, poet Carl Sandburg, and serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Fun for the whole family!

The album’s original cover also became a source of contention with its image of Superman soaring above Chicago in a reference to his comic book home of Metropolis. According to various reports, DC Comics either issued a cease and desist or lawyers from Stevens’ label Asthmatic Kitty made the decision to remove the unauthorized image. Later editions either included an empty space or balloons in Superman’s spot, with rare original LPs with the Man of Steel fetching hefty prices on eBay.

With the album now set for its 10th anniversary, Stevens has updated the Illinois cover art yet again to include Blue Marvel. As any comic book fan will tell you, this African-American superhero comes from DC’s biggest rival, Marvel. The 2015 edition will be available in a limited run of 10,000 copies, with coloured vinyl in “Antimatter Blue” and “Cape White.” See the cover art in full below: