Sunday, September 14, 2025

Censorship Corner: DC Cancels Gretchen Felker-Martin

From Cydney Yeates' 9-11-25 DAILY MAIL article entitled "DC Cancels New Comic Book Series as Writer 'Celebrates' Charlie Kirk's Death":

DC has cancelled a brand new comic book series on the same day as its launch after its writer made insensitive comments about Charlie Kirk's death.

Red Hood, which was slated as an ongoing monthly series, was pulled on Wednesday just hours after its first issue was released.

The dramatic move came after its writer, Gretchen Felker-Martin, appeared to celebrate the death of right-wing commentator Kirk, who was gunned down during an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.

The conservative commentator, 31, was hit by a single bullet while speaking to a crowd at the public university in Orem at lunchtime after speaking for about 20 minutes.

Taking to Bluesky, Gretchen reposted a news article about Kirk's assassination.

Alongside it, she wrote: 'Thoughts and prayers you Nazi b****.

'Hope the bullet's okay after touching Charlie.'

Shortly afterwards, DC announced its decision cull Red Hood to retailers, revealing that they will also offer refunds on copies of the comic that have already been sold.

To read the entire article, click HERE

From Zach Rabiroff's 9-12-25 COMICS JOURNAL article entitled "Horror 'It Girl' Gretchen Felker-Martin on DC Pulling RED HOOD After Charlie Kirk Comments: 'I Had No Regrets'":

At 10:30 p.m. ET, Felker-Martin said she received a phone call from DC Editor in Chief Marie Javins, who told her: “The story of the issue's release had gone from being celebratory to something that DC and Warner Brothers couldn't stand behind or defend.” When Felker-Martin asked why this was the case, she says that Javins replied, “That any kind of promotion of violence or harm is unacceptable to them.”

“I said that I've listened to Charlie Kirk being an overt Nazi for years of my life, and I had no regrets for what I said about him,” Felker-Martin said.

A DC spokesperson confirms that Felker-Martin was informed of the book’s cancellation in a phone call on Sept. 10, and that Javins was among those on the call, though the spokesperson did not offer further specifics as to the content of the conversations.

Others in the comics world have been less reticent to speak out about the firing. Writer David Brothers wrote of Felker-Martin’s cancellation on Bluesky: “Comicsgate ran wild for years, nurtured by people in comics who really should've known better because it kept them relevant or lined their pockets, but this right here is the line to draw? not when your own staff was getting harassed and hassled? C'mon son.”

Writer and academic Roxane Gay, who has previously worked for Marvel Comics, wrote on her own Bluesky account: “It’s an absolute shame that DC fired Gretchen Felker- Martin for exercising free speech. … Every writer here should be decrying this because we have to stand up for each other! This is ridiculous.”

For her own part, Felker-Martin said that she regrets that the rest of her creative team had been drawn into this situation, and that she had spoken privately with them following the book’s cancellation. For DC, however, she remains blunt. Referring to herself as “a more disposable person,” to the publisher, partly due to her transgender identity, she cited instances of what she feels were other controversial writers given more leeway by the publisher, noting specifically two high-profile former writers of Batman, Tom King (a former employee of the CIA during the Iraq War) and Jeph Loeb (accused in 2020 of making disparaging comments about Asian actors on television shows he produced).

“Frankly, I feel that they were interested in my cachet as a transgressive horror author,” Felker-Martin said. “And the moment that became politically disadvantageous for them, they cut and ran.”

She expressed that while she would be very surprised if they offered her work again, the point would be moot, as she would not accept it. “I have no desire to be part of any organization that wants to pretend that people like Charlie Kirk are decent human beings who deserve respect,” she said.

To read the entire article, click HERE

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