There’s been controvery over the past few days following DC’s decision to hire Orson Scott Card, a pioneer in contemporary homophobia, as one of the writers on a new digital-first Superman anthology series. And although the internet has been going back and forth on the subject for the past few days, the first active step towards boycotting the book happened in Dallas today, as shop owner (and Eisner award-winner) Richard Neal has announced his shop will not be stocking the book once it comes to print.

This begins a movement which the internet has been trying to get moving for the past few days to boycott the book, with a petition already online asking for his removal. But this is the first move which will actively see sales and money taken away from DC as a result of the hiring, rather than empty words on an internet page.

Not just a homophobe, Card is one of the board members of the National Organization of Marriage, which openly seeks to prevent anybody from getting married apart from a male-female pairing. It’s not simply the case that Card has personal politics which are shameful – and they are SHAMEFUL – but that he works tirelessly to dismiss and degrade LGBT rights as part of a hate group.

He has included his personal views in several of his works, including one particular piece in which he rewrote Hamlet in order to include more gay characters who were also paedophiles. There were previous movements a few years ago when he was hired by Marvel, but this is the first time that we’ve seen that momentum carry through into something tangible.

The main problem here has been that DC have been actively trying to court an LGBT audience over the last few months… but have now for some reason decided to give up on that by hiring one of the most prominent homophobes in literature to write their single most heroic and admirable character. Several creators have already spoken out against the hiring, and comic critics have roundly condemned the decision.

Writing on his facebook page, Zeus Comics owner Neal states:

Card sits on the board of the National Organization of Marriage which fights against marriage equality. His essays advocate the destruction of my relationship, that I am born of rape or abuse and that I am equated with pedophilia. These themes appear in his fiction as well. It is shocking DC Comics would hire him to write Superman, a character whose ideals represent all of us.

Which is very well said.

UPDATE: When pressed for comment on the issue, DC have released the following statement:

As content creators we steadfastly support freedom of expression, however the personal views of individuals associated with DC Comics are just that — personal views — and not those of the company itself