North Carolina Comics Retailer Boycotts ‘Action Comics’ Over the Letters ‘GD’

A comics event as big as DC's line-wide relaunch is bound to provoke some pretty extreme reactions among fans, but perhaps the most extreme came from the proprietor of Asheboro, North Carolina comic shop The Comic Conspiracy. This week, he announced on Facebook that he was boycotting DC's Action Comics and any future projects by Grant Morrison after becoming fed up with having the writer's "liberal agendas force fed" to him.

So what was it that set him off? A panel in Action Comics #1 where Superman says "GD." And no, that's not an abbreviation. It's just the letters.

It is certainly and unquestionably within the rights of retailers to decide for themselves which products they carry in their stores, but this particular decision has been attracting a lot of attention, both for its angry public announcement and the reasoning behind it. According to the Facebook page, the Comic Conspiracy's decision came as a result that the belief that the "GD" in this case was short for the blasphemous "God damn."

This, according to The Comic Conspiracy's Facebook page, is a problem because Superman was created to be a character who was pure good, and who consequently would never use such foul language, as it is offensive to both Christians and to Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Sadly, those two men are no longer alive and can't voice their own displeasure, but they can rest easy knowing that the the Comic Conspiracy is defending their honor.

The boycott has even prompted a reaction from DC Comics and Grant Morrison themselves, who posted a clarification on The Source:

"It should go without saying that the offending panel and caption, a mere 'GD', is a sound effect grunt – to suggest Superman's breath being forced through gritted teeth – much like 'DHH', 'GNUHH' or the many others used throughout this book and in general in the comics business. It's not in any way representative of God or a curse." -- Grant Morrison

So maybe it's all being blown out of proportion. Maybe Morrison's motivations here aren't that sinister. It could be, as legendary writer Mark Waid suggested, just another example of Morrison reaching back to a character's past for inspiration, in this case a 1964 classic from the Silver Age:

Personally, I didn't think anything of the panel when I first read it, assuming that, as Morrison said, it was just the same sort of onomatopoetic grunt that shows up in a comic book whenever someone gets hit. After reading through the Comics Conspiracy's thoughts no the subject, though, I have to agree that it seems like they're onto something.

I grabbed a handful of comics by Morrison -- who is referred to as a "liberal Scottish schmuck" in a statement for which the Comics Conspiracy later issued a "formal apology" -- and looked through them to see what I could find. And what I discovered was that this is not just an isolated incident. Once you know what you're looking for, you can easily see that Morrison has a pattern of advancing his liberal -- maybe even socialist -- pro-cussword agenda through super-hero comics!

I'm not sure where it started, but I first noticed it in JLA #1, where Morrison has Batman use what is unquestionably an abbreviation for the abominable swear "Holy Hell!"

It crops up again in JLA Classified #1, where he goes even further into wallowing in filth by forcing readers to imagine overweight, underclothed grandmothers by having a character talk about "Heavy Naked Nans."

And it only gets worse in All Star Superman -- a comic adapted into a cartoon for children!! -- when General Sam Lane served as a mouthpiece for Morrison's hatred of re-enacting WWE events with labor-organized cats with the outrageous "F***ing Royal Rumble Umbrella Union Kittens."