Earlier this week, DC Comics abruptly cancelled its new Red Hood comic from trans writer Gretchen Felker-Martin and artist Jeff Spokes. The decision came after Felker-Martin posted comments and jokes on social media about the assassination of prominent right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, which occurred on the same day—September 10—as the comic’s launch. DC Comics said in a statement that social media posts “that can be viewed as promoting hostility or violence are inconsistent with [our] standards of conduct.”
Now, in a new interview with the Comics Journal, Felker-Martin opened up about her posts and DC’s decision. She argued that DC had had no issue with her outspoken and sometimes incendiary social media presence when it approached her about doing a comic in 2024.
She recalled how she told the publisher at the time that it would “get between five and a hundred of the craziest people you’ve ever met in your life, screaming for my head and yours.” She went on to say that initially DC had given her “no terms or limitations” on her social media; a DC spokesperson reiterated to io9 the company’s previous stance on not abiding by posts that “promote hostility or violence.”
In the weeks leading up to Red Hood’s launch, past social media posts made by Felker-Martin on charged political topics, including the Israel-Gaza war, resurfaced. Felker-Martin told the Comics Journal that it was at this point that she received pushback on her social media activities; a spokesperson for DC confirmed this to the Comics Journal, saying the company requested Felker-Martin be more mindful of her online statements. Felker-Martin claimed she generally abided by that request until the day of Kirk’s murder.
The author said she stood by her comments about Kirk while expressing sympathy for her Red Hood co-creators, which include Spokens, cover artist Taurin Clarke and editors Arianna Turturro and Rob Levin. “I can only put it down to really just a moment of poor impulse control,” she told the Comics Journal. “Had I thought for another second, of course I would’ve known [that it would be a problem for DC], and naturally, as soon as I had said it, I did know.”
Felker-Martin also stressed that she did not want to work with DC Comics in the future: “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.”
io9 has also reached out to Felker-Martin and will update this post if and when we hear back.
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