The problem with writing about the cancellation of DC’s Red Hood is it’s impossible to write about in a vacuum.
You can’t write about the cancellation of Red Hood without writing about Jason Todd, the second Robin, the one who perennially finds himself on the outs with the Bat family for his brooding, murder-boy nature. He’s not as loyal as Dick. He’s not as smart as Tim. He’s not as related to Bruce as Damian. Therefore he must kill.
You can’t write about the cancellation of Red Hood without writing about Gretchen Felker-Martin, an accomplished trans sci-fi horror novelist whom DC brought in to write this comic about this Bat-bad boy and his friend the Huntress, another Bat character whose whole deal is revenge but with abs.
You can’t write about Felker-Martin without writing about what she posted on Bluesky the day Red Hood was canceled.
You can’t write about what Felker-Martin posted on Bluesky without writing about how quickly DC erased Red Hood from existence. You can’t find it on Lunar. You can’t find it on Midtown Comics. You can’t find a comic that, officially, no longer exists.
(Which, side note, means Red Hood #1 just became VERY valuable. I’m not a slabber, but if I were a CGC-type person, I’d be salivating.)
Quoth DC, in a blanket statement: “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.”
In an interview with Zach Rabiroff at The Comics Journal, Felker-Martin stood by her comments, but added that concern by DC about her social media presence went back farther to earlier posts she made on other topics.
In a statement to Wired, DC Editor-in-Chief Marie Javins said, “The tone of Gretchen’s posts, not her personal views, was of concern for DC, and that was clearly communicated to her on August 13. DC does not moderate the personal opinions of its talent, however, when personal statements are directly tied to DC stories or characters, or uses language that can be seen as non-peaceful, we review and act if necessary. Gretchen’s choice to continue her rhetoric despite this feedback was her own. Our decision to cease publication was a result. She is a passionate and talented writer, and DC wishes her the best with her future work.”
Now, let’s pause here, because you can’t write about how quickly DC erased a book by a trans writer for her social media posts without examining how easy it is to get works by other past DC creators who have been accused of wrongdoing.
You can still get copies of every trade of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, despite horrific allegations of sexual assault.
DC’s successful Compact Comics line includes a run of The Authority by Warren Ellis, accused of grooming and sexually harassing so many people they created their own website. That was published in July of this year.
Retailers can still order some comics by Gerard Jones, a man who was convicted in 2018 of possessing child pornography, a crime so heinous our own BatChat podcast won’t cover his work (they’ve also sworn off Gaiman).
The only other precedent for a DC comic seemingly being erased from traditional sales channels is Border Town, whose writer, Eric Esquivel, was accused of sexual harassment and abuse by a former co-worker. In that case, the other creators left the book and DC shut it down after four published issues. It’s part of what killed the 2018 Vertigo relaunch.
And you could make the argument, “But what about the other creators who worked on these books? They didn’t do the things your examples were accused of. Don’t they deserve to make a living off their work?”
Yes, they absolutely do. And so did Jeff Spokes, the artist on Red Hood.
Now, more than anything else, you can’t write about any of this without writing about the man whose death inspired the posts from Felker-Martin that were made the same day as the cancellation of Red Hood by DC.
(Tom Hardy points at roof of car)
But we’re not going there. As we’ve seen these past few days, even the most innocuous comments about what happened Wednesday in Utah are getting people fired. Suffice it to say, you have a right to your opinion. You also have a right not to feed the machine.
Also going there takes us so far away from the original point that one forgets they were writing about the cancellation of a comic book, as if Red Hood were crushed by the weight of history and not just some Bluesky posts, while people who did far worse things continue to make money from the same publisher.
One can’t help but think if this were even a couple years ago, DC would have stood by Felker-Martin, maybe even let her finish an arc of Red Hood before quietly sunsetting it, instead of loudly shutting it down on Day One. Wonder what changed.
I’m not of the mind that there’s ever been a “good” Red Hood solo series. I don’t know if Felker-Martin and Spokes’ would have been the exception to that. But, based on past examples, we should have gotten the opportunity to find out.
Dan Grote is the editor and publisher of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Paul Winston Wisdom. Follow him @danielpgrote.bsky.social.
