Gretchen Felker-Martin, a transgender horror writer, has lost a major DC Comics contract after making inflammatory remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Hours after Kirk, 31, was fatally shot at a Utah campus event on September 10, Felker-Martin posted: “Thoughts and prayers you Nazi b-tch. Hope the bullet’s okay after touching Charlie.”
The backlash was immediate. DC, which had just released the first issue of Felker-Martin’s Red Hood series, announced it was canceling the project and offering retailers credit for unsold copies. In a statement, DC said: “We affirm the right to peaceful, individual expression of personal viewpoints. However, posts that promote hostility or violence are inconsistent with DC’s standards of conduct.”
Rather than apologizing, Felker-Martin doubled down in a Patreon essay, describing Kirk as “evil” and saying their only regret was not engaging earlier in discussions of “how violence is done and at whose behest.” Felker-Martin is no stranger to controversy. In 2022, she wrote a horror novel depicting J.K. Rowling’s violent death, and in 2023 suggested certain writers “all had one throat.”
DC’s swift termination highlights a growing corporate trend of cutting ties with creators whose public comments cross into violent rhetoric—signaling zero tolerance for speech seen as incompatible with brand values.