DC Pulls Controversial Batgirl Joker Variant at Artist Request

For the 75th Anniversary of the Joker, DC Comics has been releasing a series of variant covers for many of their books, depicting the Joker invading the different stories of the DC Universe. It's a tried and true tactic, but one that backfired in their face when they revealed the variant for Batgirl #41, as drawn by Raphael Abuquerque. Now, after an outcry from fans, the artist has requested that DC pull the cover entirely.

The cover, which hearkens back to the Alan Moore story "The Killing Joke," was found to be disturbing by many in the community. We have the picture below the jump break, but please be warned it can be pretty triggering.

Superheroines Don't Selfie: A Girl Against the New Batgirl. by Megan Marie Fox

Fan art by Sam "Hidalgo" Logan

 A little over one week ago, the big comic book companies started leaking to the press upcoming changes for their fall comic line up. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know that Marvel has revealed that Thor’s mantle will soon be worn by a female, and that Captain America will soon transfer his costume to his good friend Falcon. These past weeks DC has also been stirring up dust, arguably trying to meld the new 52 line up with the old.

DC has gotten grittier and darker over the years, and not all fans are happy with that. However, reverting characters to their starting positions is clearly not an option. How to make things lighter? DC’s answer clearly is selfies, stereotypes, and cliches.

Episode 110: "Be Yourself, Even if You're a Terrible Person"

The Ace of Geeks comes to you live with the shocking discovery that Mike doesn't like Snow Crash. The horror! Plus, the Falcon is now Captain America and Thor is now a woman, Batgirl's got a redesign, and Jarys saw 17 minutes of Guardians of the Galaxy!

Episode 110!