DC Ends ‘Red Hood’ Comic After Writer’s Charlie Kirk Comments

DC Comics canceled its new, mature-rated Red Hood comic just hours after it launched on September 10 because its writer made comments about the assassination of right-wing activist and Turning Point USA creator Charlie Kirk at Utah University.

Red Hood writer Gretchen Felker-Martin made comments and joked on social media about Kirk’s death—which occurred on the same day as the comic’s launch.

Red Hood, which Felker-Martin was creating along with artist Jeff Spokes, will discontinue after its first run. Existing orders for the next two issues have been cancelled, and retailers will be credited for any first issue copies, regardless of whether they’ve been sold.

In a statement to Popverse, DC said it places “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 is a trans woman, and during his lifetime, Kirk made numerous anti-trans comments, including in the moments before the shooting. Felker-Martin is not the only media figure to have faced consequences as a result of comments made after Kirk’s death: MSNBC fired its anchor Matt Dowd for remarking that “hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. […] 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.”

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