DC Comics Cancels Red Hood Following Writer's Praise of the Murder of Charlie Kirk

Comic book media scrambles to soften headlines in response.

Yesterday, political commentator, activist, and founder of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk was murdered while visiting Utah Valley University. The assassination has sparked outrage from the majority of Americans, but in the world of pop culture, fringe actors and hardened activists have been crawling out of the woodwork to sneer at Kirk's death. Among those doing so was writer Gretchen Felker-Martin, who took to Bluesky to share the following horrific statements:

For those unfamiliar with the writer, Felker-Martin was cast to write the new Black Label Red Hood series for DC Comics. This move was met with consternation back in June of this year owing to Felker-Martin's hateful conduct on social media, including wishing death upon Harry Potter writer J.K. Rowling, as well as works like the book Manhunt which gleefully deals with the killing of TERFs (including Rowling), among other dark subject matter. At the time, many fans questioned why DC would hire someone like this for one of its mainstream comic books, but there was never any explanation given why it was acceptable for a writer who has made such threatening posts to work for the company.

Flash forward to Wednesday and even prior to the Charlie Kirk comments, Felker-Martin was again igniting controversy over a post about the portrayal of suicidal police officer's in the first issue of Red Hood, which coincidentally had just gone on sale the same day as the assassination. Of the content in the comic book, Felker-Martin said the following:

As one might reasonably expect, none of these comments were going over well with either fans or other comic book creators and pundits, with a large smattering of personalities taking to social media to call for the firing of Gretchen Felker-Martin, as well as the cancellation of the writer's remaining Red Hood issues:

It's commonplace in recent times for companies like DC to ignore fan outcry, but the brazen, cold-blooded nature of Kirk's killing has struck a nerve with the overwhelming majority of everyday people. While the comic book industry, like much of mainstream entertainment, currently employs many creators based largely on identity politics, Felker-Martin's conduct was so beyond the pale the publisher would have been crazed to forge ahead here. The company has thus announced that Red Hood is canceled and is now offerings refunds to retailers. Here's the statement that DC made about the situation to Popverse:

At DC Comics, we place the highest value on our creators and community and affirm the right to peaceful, individual expression of personal viewpoints. Posts or public comments that can be viewed as promoting hostility or violence are inconsistent with DC’s standards of conduct.

Note that DC doesn't mention Felker-Martin, instead opting to make a vague comment about "promoting hostility or violence" without stating what comments were made, and about whom, or which situation. It's certainly a step in the right direction to have canceled the series, but to avoid mentioning specifics is pretty distressing.

This debacle has also recentered the conversation around questions about how creators like Felker-Martin are even being drafted into the industry in the first place. As noted above, when Felker-Martin was initially hired, volatile, hateful comments about J.K. Rowling, whose Harry Potter franchise is one of the jewels in parent-company Warner Bros.' crown, had already been unearthed. So, why would Felker-Martin have been offered an opportunity at DC, with the publisher knowing this? These are the questions that remain.

Of equal concern is how some of the mainstream comic book outlets are reporting on the situation. Bleeding Cool, which was heavily criticized for its handling of reporting on the Neil Gaiman sexual misconduct allegations, is known for being biased, and that bias seems to be continuing here. As can be seen in the screenshot above, rather than point out that Red Hood was canceled because of Felker-Martin's inappropriate posts, the headline instead reads. "DC Comics' Ongoing Pattern of Cancelling High Profile Batman Books."

This is, as many feel, a disingenuous way of describing the situation that is meant to obfuscate reality. Regardless of any supposed pattern of cancellations that Bleeding Cool EiC Rich Johnston is observing, the cancellation of Red Falls beyond that because of the nature of the events that led to it. Indeed, if you click through to the article itself, the fact that the book was canceled because of Felker-Martin's statements about Charlie Kirk is barely mentioned, and not until the end. One can only speculate as to Johnston's intentions, but the end result is problematic no matter how it's framed.

Ultimately, Felker-Martin's comments, DC's response, and the ensuing reporting by outlets like Bleeding Cool are emblematic of the systemic rot within the industry that has been crippling sales and spurning droves of longtime fans.

Source: Popverse