The assassination of Charlie Kirk, notorious for right-wing flame-fanning and peddling bigotry —or, as CNN sedately describes him, the “conservative activist and campaigner” — has inspired some less-than-respectful reactions for this less-than-respectful man. One such reaction came from writer Gretchen Felker-Martin, whose Red Hood comic debuted the day before Kirk’s murder. You can read her now-deleted post here.
DC Comics’s response was fast and unprecedented. Not only did they fire Felker-Martin and cancel Red Hood, they also instructed comic book stores not to sell any more copies of the already-released first issue.
When asked about their actions, DC issued the following statement:
“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.”
You heard it here first: DC is so committed to not “promoting hostility and violence” that they will instantly vaporize all mentions of and associations with anyone who does so. That’s why, when Neil Gaiman was accused of horrific sex crimes, DC heroically sprang into action and…continues to sell his work to this day.
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Or how about when writer Warren Ellis faced dozens of accusations of abuse, grooming, and harassment that occurred over the course of two decades, prompting DC to immediately…allow the series he was writing to finish its run and continue to reprint his work thereafter? When asked for comment on the reprint, DC said nothing, not even a grand statement about “standards of conduct.”
Well, what about editor Eddie Berganza, who was widely known to be an abuser who got away with it for years, forcing multiple women out of the industry in the process, until Buzzfeed reported on it? When asked for comment, DC simply said that they “swiftly and decisively” dealt with all company policy violations, but they offered no explanation for why Berganza had been allowed to stay on — and even get promoted — for so long.
But surely when DC found out writer Tom King served with the CIA during a particularly ugly time even by CIA standards and made reckless accusations against a cover artist, they…have continued to throw every project they possibly can at him.
It would appear that DC’s concern about “hostility and violence” is conditional.
Whether you agree with Felker-Martin’s words or her decision to post them is not the point. The point is that everyone on both sides of the aisle is so eager to defend a dead transphobic person’s right to free speech that they’re willing to trample the free speech of living trans people.
The point is that trans women have consistently been punished for not being polite enough to the people who want them exterminated, and not just by DC. Journalist Jessie Gender was temporarily banned from BlueSky earlier this year for “wishing ill” on rabidly transphobic author J.K. Rowling, who has been actively doing terrible things to trans people for years.
The point is that Felker-Martin’s Red Hood was, in her own words, “a story about fascism and corruption and abusive state power” that involved “killing a lot of police officers, killing FBI agents, killing ICE agents.” Because DC is apparently fine with lashing out at fictional fascists, but don’t you dare breathe a word against the real ones.
The point is that she could have expressed her disagreement with Kirk in the most measured tone and language imaginable, and it still wouldn’t have done any good. Not even cis men can do that.
The point is that DC is happy to support trans people when the company can make money off them, like during their annual Pride specials. But after the rainbow flags come down, they all better hush up and get back to work. In an interview conducted shortly after the cancellation, Felker-Martin pointed out that she is, in DC’s estimation, “more disposable” than the myriad cis men who have received grace and accolades despite hurting countless people who looked up to and depended on them.
As of this writing, you can easily buy comics by all of the men listed above. They are even available on DC’s online subscription service, DC Universe Infinite. Go ahead and read all you want from the people who have perpetrated violent, bullying, and predatory behavior that DC has employed over the years, but heaven forbid you read anything by the woman responsible for mocking a man who literally died while falsely accusing trans people of being more likely to commit mass shootings.
So I guess I was wrong. DC really is concerned about “hostility and violence.” It’s just that DC and I define that phrase in different ways. I interpret it to mean “actual harm done to living people.” DC and too many others think it means “criticizing the hostility and violence perpetuated by others” — which, to them, is the far worse crime.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly said Dark Horse is a DC imprint. Vertigo, which published Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series, is the DC imprint.