DC Comics has announced they are cancelling the Superman bisexual comic book series due to declining sales.
The publisher revealed at New York Comic Con that the series' 18th issue, which is set to be released at the end of this year, will be its last.
The series followed Jon Kent, the teenage son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane.
The teen also embraced a number of social issues, including school shootings, climate change and the deportation of refugees.
Advert
In the series’ fifth issue, the 17-year-old began a relationship with a male friend and refugee 'hacktivist' Jay Nakamura.
Last year during National Coming Out Day, DC announced that the new Superman would be bisexual by sharing an image of Jon and Jay kissing, as per Washington Post.
According to the outlet, the writer of the John Kent series, Tom Taylor, said that if he were to tell the story of another white heterosexual superhero, it would feel like a missed opportunity.
He said: “This was an opportunity to do something different, something not seen before. And to have this Superman represent people who haven’t been represented before and haven’t been able to see themselves in Superman.
“To pitch something like this [to DC] is a little bit daunting. You go, are they going to go with this? Because historically, I have had queer characters erased or rejected [at other publishers]. But there’s been a real shift, a really welcome shift in comics.”
However, the character’s sexual orientation was met with fierce backlash from conservatives.
One of Taylor’s most vocal critics was former Superman: Son of Kal-El colourist Gabe Eltaeb, who decided to leave the series a year earlier as he took issue with Superman’s ‘woke’ political agenda.
Following the news of the series’ cancellation, Eltaeb tweeted: “1 year ago, I stood on principle and left @DCComics for their U.S. hating book by SJW [Social Justice Warrior] narcissist Tom Taylor. I win.”
But despite the criticism, Taylor said he’s also received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the community, according to the Washington Post.
He said: “It’s these people all around the world from so many countries where they don’t feel safe coming out, but they still wanted to let me know that this moment had made their lives a bit better or made who they are a little bit easier.”
Charisa Bossinakis