This story is weird, but in interesting ways (and if you are trying to avoid ever setting eyes on profanity, then I must ask you to avert them now). First, Superman was depicted as grunting in a recent comic book. Here’s the relevant panel:

A Christian comic book store owner decided to boycott the comic, because apparently he thought that Superman had decided to speak out loud in internet abbreviations. And that abbreviation “GD” he understood to stand for “God damn.” Or did he mistake it for the Jewish custom of writing G-d?

What makes it weirder is that the authoritative database of internet abbreviations says that “GD” stands for “Gangsta Disciple.”

What makes it weirder still is that the owner of the store, The Comic Conspiracy, used the word “schmuck” in complaining about the matter. Here is a snippet from his Facebook page:

Christian comic book readers and shop owners. Join us in the Grant Morrison Boycott. Action Comics #1 is a slap in the face to Superman, Christians and Superman creators Siegel and Shuster!!…It grieves me to see a liberal Scottish schmuck like Grant Morrison take these liberties. I’m sorry, Superman would NEVER take God’s name in vain.

He later offered this “apology”:

I was wrong about some things. Mainly about calling Grant Morrison a “liberal Scottish schmuck”. I have apologized for this numerous times in these posts and do so again right now. I’m sorry Mr. Morrison. I do want to clear something up though. When I used “Scottish” I in no way ever meant that as a racial slur. Poor choice of words? Absolutely. The last time I looked Grant Morrison and I were both Caucasian.

Clearly he should have looked up “schmuck” at the same time that he should have looked up GD.

This story is bizarre, and I apologize for the vulgarity (and pseudovulgarity) that needed to be quoted in order to share it with you. But since Superman comics and Christian comic book store owners are definitely an example of religion and science fiction intersecting, I thought it worth sharing. Presumably there is nothing else I need to add except “WTH?” which as you all know is the internet abbreviation for “What on earTH is wrong with some people?”