A Realignment

[babbling_bookends]

DC Comics took action against Gretchen Felker Martin, unjustly firing her; now I am taking action against DC Comics, in the only way that I, a lone consumer, can: by cancelling my subscriptions for DC Comics books.

The effect won't be immediate; because I order from a shop, my comics are pre-ordered, and I didn't want to shortchange my local comic store by not purchasing comics they've already ordered for me. Additionally, there were a few limited series that hasn't passed the FOC date but were close to finishing that I decided to pick up; for practical purposes, if I ever want to give away or sell them, I would rather have the full series.

September

• Titans #27
• Nightwing #130
• The New Gods #10
• Batman and Robin #11
• Absolute Wonder Woman #12
• Green Arrow #28

October

• Batgirl #12
• Birds of Prey #26
• Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League #3
• Batman and Robin #26
• Batman and Robin: Year One #12
• The New Gods #11
• Nightwing #131

November

• Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League #4
• The New Gods #12

December and Onwards
Solicits aren't out for December yet, but Cheetah and Cheshire is a 6-issue series, so it will be my only DC pull for December and January 2026, after which I'll be done with DC and only be pulling a single comic, Falling in Love on the Path to Hell, from Image (unless I pick up more indie series - feel free to give me recs!)

Until Ms. Gretchen Felker Martin receives a public apology from DC or there is a major overhaul in the corporate structure and leadership, I cannot in good conscience continue buying from them. Their treatment of her was despicable.

I will likely still read comics from DC in the future; they will be read via secondhand sales of collected editions or accessed through my public library. However, I'm sad to say that this entire incident has soured me so thoroughly on the publisher that I've lost my love and zeal for their characters and stories. Not only that, but the number of people in the fandom who uncritically celebrated the cancellation of Red Hood has made me hesitant to continue participating in the fandom. Fandom is collaborative; and I'm not sure I want to collaborate anymore. Not only that, but I'm hesitant to talk publicly about comics from DC for fear it might encourage someone to start buying comics themselves, which is counter to my goal of pulling financial support from DC.

TL;DR: DC's bigotry and transphobia has led me to cancel purchasing comics from the publisher; additionally the celebratory attitude from people in the DC Comics fandom towards the cancellation of Red Hood has made me reconsider my presence in these spaces.


What's Next?
I'll still have a solid month of weekly comic reviews, but after that I'll only be reviewing the sole comic I'm pulling, Falling in Love on the Path to Hell, which seems to be somewhat of a backburner project for the creative teams, resulting in occasional delays, though it should still work out to a review about once a month. I'd like to dip my toes into other indie comics, maybe some ongoings eventually, though for right now I think I want to focus moreso on finished comics, or at least collected editions of finished arcs. I'd also like to talk a little more about the books I'm reading, which is something I've made lists for in the past on Dreamwidth but didn't manage to keep up with. Lately I've been having an itch to read some old pulp sci-fi stories, the kind that appeared in magazines in the 40s, so I might talk about some of those. Also speaking of the 40's, I started working my way through Captain America's original appearances in Captain America Comics, and I'd like to continue reading those. I might put together some thoughts on movies, as well; I bought a film history textbook for 3 dollars at the thrift store two months ago and haven't used it since; perhaps I'll do a film school series where I talk about what I learn from that book.

Thank You!
I first started buying comics in 2022, starting with DC's 2022 WildC.A.T.S series; in the three years since then I've read some amazing stories, some okay stories, some bad stories, joined fandom Discord servers, written fic, ran a drabble zine, celebrated when my favorite fanartists and fanwriters posted, participated in headcanon discussions and book club meetings, and made many wonderful connections with people online who I never would have interacted with if it weren't for a shared love of the DC Comics universe. If you are one of those people, I have this to say to you: thank you. You are what makes reading comics fun <3