Without getting into the entire series of circumstances here (which you can read about in this article), the new fairly-well-anticipated ongoing Red Hood series that came out last Wednesday has already been canceled by DC Comics, who issued a statement regarding “standard of conduct” policies, credited the full cost of the comics back to retailers, and, I don’t know, probably salted the earth besides.
Anyway, I had a few copies still on the shelf come Thursday morning following the news of the series’ ending, for which I had a sudden influx of folks immediately interested in picking it up. Sometimes even multiple copies.
Now, when I posted about this on Bluesky, I had some folks asking maybe if they were being bought to be destroyed in protest of the comic’s writer, and no, I didn’t get that vibe from anyone. Most likely it’s either 1) curiosity about the comic itself, or (especially in the case of the multiple issue pick-ups) 2) immediate flipping on the eBays. Sure enough, we’ve got some wild prices on that #1 over there already, so “an ill wind…” and all that.
It’s a weird situation, brought about by the most unfortunate events. And just so we’re clear…no matter how abhorrent or even dangerous I found the man’s beliefs, shooting him was not the answer. If anything, regardless of the shooter’s reasons for doing so, it’s just made things more difficult in sociopolitical conditions that are already deeply damaged.
And frankly, given some of the man’s past statements, I can understand why the comic’s writer would be extremely unhappy with him. And that’s fine. You don’t have to like anyone. You don’t even have to mourn someone you didn’t like when they’re gone. But let’s draw the line at, like, shooting them. Maybe just yell at them instead.
Sigh. I said I wasn’t going to get into it, but it’s kind of hard not to. I didn’t even want to write about this for today’s post, but I felt like I just couldn’t ignore it. So there you go, a real world ugly political mess that’s pushed its way into comics. Not what anybody wanted.
And please, also, don’t forget the victims of the Evergreen High School shooting that happened the same day. Or the Historically Black Colleges that are under lockdown over what will hopefully be spurious bomb threats.
Just…be careful out there. And be good to each other.
All I know is trump is WAY more upset about one guy dying, than ALL SCHOOL SHOOTINGS EVER combined.
I much prefer posts about the history of super-rabbit (or is that super-bunny?), but sometimes the real world intervenes.
Galatians 6:7
Those super-kittens are super cute as well!!
DC has every right to cancel the series. I’m not sure it’s a very good look for them, but I understand the action. I find the administration’s behavior fairly telling, in that they didn’t record a video and put the flag at half-mast for the recent political assassinations, but do for this private political operative. Which again is their prerogative, but again I don’t think is a good look.
For what it’s worth, @SnarkShark, I get what you’re saying and it’s not wrong, but in his first term this president did express some sense of horror about the (I think) Parkland shooting and grief for the victims, as well as a somewhat unprecedented (for high-level R politicians) suggestion that the gov’t should do something about guns… at least until his fanbase threatened to revolt and he quickly stopped talking about hat last part.
Good points as always Mike.
The last thing we need to do is to turn a real life Glorious Godfrey into a martyr.
I’m honestly surprised by the vitriol I’ve seen (in other places, not here) hurled at a person who was just killed. I mean, I didn’t like the guy, but he was still a person.
I hold onto hope that my “side” is the one that will remain civil and respectful, and that we really do want what’s best for everyone. But I worry that even that decorum is breaking down these days.
The impulse to throw your first thoughts on to social media is one of those things I don’t get. I’ve had plenty of harsh thoughts that I either kept to myself or just shared with friends. Heck, I read this several times before putting it out into the world.
I’m 66 and can still remember Denny O’Neil turning Joker into a maniac killer in the mid-70s.I remember the Epic line at Marvel cancelling VOID INDIGO over violence in the early 80s.
I’ve never read a Red Hood comic. But I don’t think DC did a knee jerk here. I know people who were on social offering their own opinions in Kirk before I was even aware of it. Social media–for me it is Instagram, as it has great voice-to-text–reflects someone whose political views will not change. You type it, you own it.
That said, will the writer become blacklisted? I highly doubt it. Maybe at DC. Maybe not. I suppose learning the killer’s political affiliations will shift to simply delaying RED HOOD. Was a writer or artist pushed away because they cheered for Luigi Mangione?
Also, it was stupid luck that the first issue had just come out. Same with DC having all their books delivered on 9/11. Imperiex had blown up Luthor’s twin tower HQ.
But back then, was there even MySpace? All I heard was older people suddenly hating Muslims. Word of mouth was all there was.
Glad Evergreen HS’s shootings were mentioned here. Best to all today.
Yes, Kirk was a person. And this is the person he was:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/11/charlie-kirk-quotes-beliefs
And after reading that, I want you to remember that there is a not insignificant part of MAGA who think Kirk was TOO CENTRIST.
Mike, as always, you are a voice of calm reason, honesty, and human-ness in these difficult times. Always have appreciated that about you.
Here I am invoking what might be called ‘Thumperism’: “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”
Hoo boy, I most definitely am biting my tongue and invoking Thumperism.
Going back to what I wrote yesterday, does anyone think the writer won’t find work in comics again? She’s wrong for jumping on social media, but she wasn’t being racist or antisemitic. At least she wasn’t posting memes, the laziest thing a person can do.
I’m just curious. Is what she did that bad or just a bad coincidence? Would she have been taken off of RED HOOD#3 with the book still going?
I dropped all my DC subscriptions over the company being this cowardly and giving in to these people
Wayne – she’s an established horror novelist, I believe…she doesn’t *need* the comics jobs. All this has done has made her probably stop considering comics, and DC Comics in particular, as a possible paying outlet.
Thanks, Mike. Novels over comics, no doubt. There are a few male novelists who wrote a book a year and then got into comics but just put a new novel out every 2-3 years.
I can’t see her even returning a call from DC, though.
Take care.
“I believe…she doesn’t *need* the comics jobs”
Ah, good. She’ll be fine.
and DC will still be #2, after Marvel.