In case you missed it, yesterday was kind of a funny day for the Man of Steel.
In the new ACTION COMICS #1, Superman gets a tank thrown at him, and a dialogue bubble pointing to Supes’ face says, “GD.” Well, a comic store owner in the Bible Belt (whose name and store I will not be mentioning, because he’s received enough attention as it is) took this as a blasphemous comment against God.
As many of you may know, “G.D.” is a typical shorthanded way to say “God Damn,” without using The Lord’s Name in Vain, to be polite to people whom that makes a difference to. Well, that’s how this comic store took it, and he was SO OFFENDED that Superman would even come close to cursing like that, he called for a complete boycott of ACTION COMICS as long as it’s being written by Grant Morrison, as well as all current Grant Morrison-penned titles.
Alright, it’s his comic store. That’s fair enough. I owned a comic store, and I know that it’s up to each owner to decide what they are and are not comfortable carrying. But, in the initial outburst this fella had, he admitted that he carries comics like THE BOYS – Which is misogynistic and reprehensible – and CROSSED, a comic about rape zombies who once beat a guy to death with a horse wiener. But Superman swearing? THAT is unacceptable, and was Grant Morrison “forcing his agenda” on us, through his comics. Because, you know, NOT selling a comic when you find something in it offensive isn’t forcing your own agenda on anybody at all.
So after hearing about this, Grant Morrison came out last night, and said that the “GD” wasn’t a blasphemous comment at all, but a grunt like the “HGNNH” and “UNGH” seen throughout the rest of the comic, and this was all just an unfortunate coincidence. And so the comic store guy apologized for the misunderstanding, and lifted the boycott on Grant Morrison books. As the saying goes, “Keep your words soft and sweet, because you may have to eat them, later.”
Let this be a lesson to us all, true believers: It’s very important to ask questions first and shoot second, not the other way around. Things PROBABLY aren’t actually as offensive as you think they are.
(Except, maybe, for clicking “Insert Into Post” in reference to an image called “Weiner.jpg.” I kind of offended myself with that one.)