Comic writer and artist Bosch Fawstin, who appeared on Tuesday’s The Daily Show, went on his website to talk about what we didn’t see.  As a whole, we all know the show’s strength is with impressive editing.  Fawstin on the News Real Blog describes what he actually said at times, versus what was shown.  Fawstin though begins by claiming The Daily Show is left leaning.  I’d argue it’s moved towards the center and isn’t right or left, it’s anti-stupidity and hypocrisy, but that’s not the point.

On why he did the interview (a question we’re often left wondering):

After trying with dozens of agents, editors, and publishers to get someone to take on the project, and finding that not even those who were sympathetic were willing to do so (some cited Muslim reprisal as a reason,) I needed to get publicity however I could. In this context, one day I received an e-mail from one of “The Daily Show” producers, asking me to appear and discuss my views on Nightrunner, the “Muslim” Batman, which I had discussed in this post here at NRB. After having long conversations with two different producers, and realizing their interest in having me on was real, and included an interest in discussing Pigman, I decided, for better or worse, to go ahead with it.

On meeting The Daily Show crew:

When I arrived at the shoot, I learned that my interviewer would be Aasif Mandvi, the show’s “liberal” Muslim correspondent. When I commented on this to the producer (he had actually mentioned a different correspondent in one of the e-mails leading up to the shoot), he played dumb (of course.) I smelled a rat, but proceeded anyway.

On some of of what was left out:

The most egregious omission/dropping-of-context was with respect to my answer to the question that was supposed to be the focus of the piece: “What is wrong with a Muslim Batman?” The aired segment makes it appear as if my answer was “Nightrunner could be a Jihadist.” During the actual shooting, I was prompted to state that as a complete sentence, after responding “yes” to Aasif’s question, “Could Nighrunner be a Jihadist?” That statement was NOT given as an answer to the question, “What is wrong with a Muslim Batman?”  My answer to that question is and was a lot more involved. The short answer, which I stated immediately after being asked the question, and which was edited out, was, “What’s wrong with Batman, during WWII, recruiting a German Batman with no mention of Nazis?”

Fawstin goes onto mention in his blog post that the reason Mandvi has a job and Nightrunner is a “Batman” is because they’re Muslim in a post-9/11 world.  Definitely an odd comment.

On Muslims and Jihad that was edited out:

They cut from the segment the following statement, which clearly distinguishes average Muslims from Islam’s consistent practitioners: “Your average Muslim is morally superior to Mohammed. They are individuals who may or may not be a problem. It’s Islam’s consistent practitioners, it’s organized Islam, that is the problem.” Obviously, this statement made me seem too reasonable (or maybe they thought it was too blasphemous) for it to be included in the segment.

Fawstin also recounts some jokes left on the editing room floor (and some sounded pretty funny).  Overall, it’d be fascinating to compare the unedited film, with what aired.  Chris Sims, who also appeared on the segment, recounts his experience at Comics Alliance.