DC Comics abruptly cancelled a new Batman spinoff series, Red Hood, after a social account by its writer, Gretchen Felker-Martin, responded to his shooting by posting, “thoughts and prayers you Nazi b—-,” and further jesting, “Hope the bullet’s okay after touching Charlie Kirk.”
DC immediately cancelled the run of the new comic series, and said in a message to retailers, confirmed by MovieMaker: “DC Comics cancels existing orders for Red Hood #2 and Red Hood #3, and any orders for future issues of the series. DC Comics will credit retailers for all invoiced copies of Red Hood #1, inclusive of copies that may have already been sold.”
DC said in a statement to MovieMaker: “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.”
Felker-Martin did not immediately respond Thursday to MovieMaker‘s request for comment.
The comments were extremely out of step with statements condemning the shooting from across the political spectrum. Former President Barack Obama, for example, quickly issued a statement saying that ” this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy,”
Media companies took care to address the shooting with caution: Comedy Central, for example, quickly removed an episode of South Park in which the show’s cantankerous Eric Cartman begins hosting a Charlie Kirk-style debate show. (Kirk had taken the joke in stride, saying it was a “badge of honor.”)
MSNBC, meanwhile, reportedly fired commentator Matthew Dowd for opining of Kirk after the shooting that he was “constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. And I think that is the environment we are in. You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and not expect awful actions to take place. And that’s the unfortunate environment we are in.”
The bad publicity generated by the Felker-Martin remarks, widely circulated on BlueSky, comes at an especially crucial time for the DC brand. DC Films co-chief James Gunn just injected new life into DC’s cinematic universe with Superman, one of the year’s biggest hits.
Background on Gretchen Felker-Martin, the Red Hood Writer Who Joked About Charlie Kirk Being Shot
Felker-Martin, who is trans, was previously the subject of criticism for writing a 2022 novel, Manhunt, in which Harry Potter author JK Rowling is burned alive in her home.
The New York Post reports that the book features two trans women “attempting to survive in a world ravaged by a plague which transforms anyone with enough testosterone in their system into a shrieking monstrosity.”
They find themselves doing battle with a group called “the Knights of J.K. Rowling.”
Kirk was speaking at an event at Utah Valley University when he was fatally shot. He was answering a question involving trans people and mass shootings when the shot was fired.
The Wall Street Journal reports that an audience member had just asked him, “Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” to which Kirk replied, “Too many.”
The audience member said that there have been five, and continued, “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”
Kirk replied, “counting or not counting gang violence?”
Those were his last words.
More on the Charlie Kirk Shooting
The Wall Street Journal also reported Thursday that “Investigators found ammunition engraved with expressions of transgender and antifascist ideology inside the rifle that authorities believe was used in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.”
But The New York Times subsequently reported that a “senior law-enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation” advised caution about the engraving report, saying that it had not been verified by analysts from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and did not match other summaries of the evidence. The Times‘ source also said the information could turn out to have been misunderstood.
If confirmed, the engraving of ammunition would recall the shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was killed in December with bullets bearing the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose.” Critics of the insurance industry say they refer to tactics insurance companies use to avoid paying for customers’ treatments.
Luigi Mangione has been charged with murder and other crimes in Thompson’s killing, and has pleaded not guilty.
As of this writng, no one has been arrested in the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Red Hood was to have followed Jason Todd, a former Robin who worked alongside Batman, striking out in Louisiana, where he finds more violence.
Main image: Red Hood. DC Comics.