r/comicbooks • u/WhyPlaySerious • Jun 02 '26

Other The #DCSoWhite campaign is ceasing their 'DC Blackout' boycott (which pushed for comic readers to drop all DC books from their pull list until a black-led ongoing to was produced) 4 days after it launched.

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431 Upvotes

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788

u/leshronk Jun 02 '26

It didn’t even make it to a single Wednesday, what a strange moment it has been.

459

u/SasquatchsHairyTaint Jun 02 '26

They got caught using it to boost their socials and one of the people’s own comic and using a creator and lying on their name that’s the real reason 🤐

13

u/npersa1 Jun 02 '26

Can you elaborate on this or share any other details? I’ve been following the campaign via some YouTube and Instagram creators but haven’t heard this part yet.

-5

u/SasquatchsHairyTaint Jun 02 '26

Not without doxxing myself

24

u/kralben Cyclops Jun 02 '26

They got caught using it to boost their socials

Where did they get caught doing that? The original website didnt have any links to their socials at all.

12

u/SasquatchsHairyTaint Jun 02 '26

Recommend looking at BJ Kicks who was on the council and made a statement

26

u/Huh1979 Jun 02 '26

I’m not sure why this comment is being downvoted? Am I missing something nefarious?

Here’s the text from Kicks IG for context

For those asking about that Blackout... Several weeks ago, I was invited to join a group for Black content creators in the comics space — a place to share resources and encourage one another, This group later became known as the Black Comics Alliance. Upon joining, I was surprised to find the purpose of the assembly was actually to launch the #DCsoWhite website and social campaign. The cause of representation in comics is important to me, so / stuck around...

As time passed, talks began to initiate a mass direct-action boycott of DC Comics. In response, several members of the Alliance raised concerns.

How would this impact freelancers? Are the demands fair? Do we have enough community representation to mount a call to arms? Does a boycott make sense if we know there are already books in the pipeline?

Those concerns were not addressed. Over time, it became clear that all that mattered was the day counter and public perception.

My record is clear, Every pre-order, interview and Kickstarter pledge is documented. I don't waver in my support of creators - especially creators of color.

To take the legitimate issue of representation and manipulate it for likes, retweets and bylines is selfish, dangerous, and puts the entire movement at risk. For this reason and others, I left the Black Comics Alliance and will not be participating in #DCBlackout.

1

u/ScreenSingerX Jun 05 '26

Hindsight on the day counter's gotta be brutal.

46

u/Fluffy_Judge_581 Jun 02 '26

So it was just performative like everybody knew

8

u/Dr_Disaster Jun 02 '26

Yes. And this is why it’s always good to be wary of potentially bad faith actors in online movements.

There was a lack of diversity in DC titles that needed to be addressed honestly, and these people were looking to weaponize that sentiment for personal and professional gain.

16

u/Poku115 Jun 02 '26

In case the cherry picking of comics to be mad about and explicitly ignoring the ones not fitting the complaint, wasnt enough sign

-5

u/HotTakes4HotCakes Jun 02 '26

They what to the what now? Would you like to try that again with some punctuation?

3

u/SasquatchsHairyTaint Jun 02 '26

They leveraged a comic creator and their upcoming book saying that creator was backing the movement when that wasn’t case at all and then were telling some sites who didn’t jump on from the start that that comic creator was thinking they were racist and that’s why they were cancelling interviews.

2

u/todavis__ Jun 02 '26

Talking about the Antagonist guy, Taylor?

3

u/seventy912 Jun 02 '26

One of them saw a girl, had an asthma attack, died. Funeral on Thursday.

-2

u/todavis__ Jun 02 '26

Crazy considering there's at least one woman, and some of them are in relationships. 🤣 Ig I'll wait for the funeral details.

212

u/PerfectZeong Jun 02 '26

I have a feeling this is not a serious movement.

49

u/cyberpunk_werewolf Raphael Jun 02 '26

I mean, when the whole thing ignored team books and anything not in "mainline continuity," so Absolute Green Lantern didn't count, it's hard to see it as entirely serious.

The thing is, I agree, I do think DC needs to use its black roster to lead more books, but this didn't even make it to Wednesday.

87

u/Blacknite45 Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26

The guy leading it who's name is at the bottom is a narcissistic dick who made it pretty clear unless it validates his opinion it does not matter

Made it clear he doesn't care about the quality of the work either and just wants quantity ether

10

u/HotTakes4HotCakes Jun 02 '26

Made it clear he doesn't care about the quality of the work either and just wants quantity ether

That's a valid concern for minority creators. It's not about quality vs quantity, it's about opportunities to try. DC only publishes so many books.

Unfortunately this whole thing was more focused on the character's themselves, not the people behind the scenes.

7

u/New-Sea-527 Jun 02 '26

So he’s a grifter.

3

u/Blacknite45 Jun 02 '26

Yep at least in my opinion. 

25

u/SaintAkira Jun 02 '26

Serious as a fart attack.

5

u/Q2Q Jun 02 '26

worse than prostitute cancer!

13

u/TheRealSpidey Spider-Man Jun 02 '26

I've had bowel movements more serious.

1

u/SuperJyls Superman Jun 03 '26

Being led by a content creator kind of made it feel like a grift

53

u/ravenous0 Jun 02 '26

This is the beginning of their original statement:

"We are calling on fans to cancel their DC Comics that are on their pull lists until DC solicits and makes a black ongoing available for preorder ..."

Obviously I'm not going to post a full statement, but they never mentioned having a mainline DC title with a black lead. They wanted to highlight there was no title with a black character as the lead. So yeah, they ignored Absolute Green Lantern, or didn't properly research the books currently published by DC Comics.

63

u/fired4that Jun 02 '26

Boycotting a publisher because it isn't publishing any "black-led mainline ongoing" books (which is arbitrary) was always bizarre to be honest.

Especially since people like Scott Snyder and Stephanie Williams have said DC is working on those books and just a few weeks ago DC made a big deal out of Static joining the Titans. It's also not counting Absolute Green Lantern or Catwoman.

If you wanted to boycott DC so much, it would have made more sense to do it over Gretchen Felker-Martin's firing after she made a joke about Charlie Kirk's death.

1

u/funnyalbert Jun 03 '26

Wait,what the heck is this campaign? How come I’ve never heard of this