TRAILER: iZombie

Slash Film has the recap:

Based on the DC Comic of the same name, iZombie is a show about a young woman named Liv (get it?), who is holding up pretty well despite being dead. Liv works with dead bodies, and which probably helps out when she gets hungry and needs to eat some brains. And her show, based on the first iZombie trailer, looks fairly entertaining, if also pretty familiar. iZombie is the DC Comics show (well, actually drawn from a Vertigo Comics title — that imprint being a subset of DC) which has pulled less attention than other shows like Arrow and The Flash. That lesser attention is in part because this show draws on a more obscure book, and also because we hadn’t seen anything to indicate the show’s tone. Now we know: it’s like Veronica Mars, with a bit of a whiff of the undead.

Campaign To Boycott Movie Written By NOM Board Member Heats Up

The Wrap takes note of the campaign to boycott Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game:

The sci-fi action movie “Ender’s Game” isn’t out until Nov. 1, but it’s already the target of an organized boycott. The group Geeks Out has launched an online protest and is asking people to “Skip Ender’s Game” because of anti-gay marriage comments made by Orson Scott Card, author of the 1985 book upon which the Lionsgate film is based.  "Do not buy a ticket at the theater, do not purchase the DVD, do not watch it on-demand. Ignore all merchandise and toys," the site implores. “By pledging to Skip Ender’s Game, we can send a clear and serious message to Card and those that do business with his brand of anti-gay activism -- whatever he’s selling, we’re not buying."

The boycott and petition site is here. (Tipped by JMG reader Neil)

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: Orson Scott Card calls for Christians to overthrow the government over same-sex marriage.  Petition launched for DC Comics to fire Card, who had been hired to write an issue of Superman. Brian Brown gets outraged over threats to boycott DC Comics.  Illustrator pulls out of Superman issue over Card's hiring.

Superman Artist Pulls Out Over NOM

The artist scheduled to draw the upcoming issue of Superman has withdrawn from the project after widespread complaints due to the hiring of NOM board member Orson Scott Card to write the text.

"It took a lot of thought to come to this conclusion, but I've decided to step back as the artist on this story," Chris Sprouse said in a statement released Tuesday. "The media surrounding this story reached the point where it took away from the actual work, and that's something I wasn't comfortable with. My relationship with DC Comics remains as strong as ever and I look forward to my next project with them." Due to the creative change, the Card story will not appear in the first collected issue out May 29. Instead, it will feature a story by writer Jeff Parker and artist Chris Samnee, as well as a tale by Jeff Lemire and one by writer Justin Jordan and artist Riley Rossmo. DC is also looking for a replacement illustrator for Card's story.

DC Comics says they "support, understand, and respect" the decision by Sprouse.

Lesbian Batwoman Proposes Marriage

Bleeding Cool reports: "In Batwoman #17, published today, Kathy Kane, the Batwoman, DC’s leading lesbian lady asks Maggie Sawyer, Captain Sawyer, her secret girlfriend to be her wife. No idea how well that’s going to go down. And you have to read the build up to this – and the rather dangerous epilogue. There’s no guarantee we’re going to hear wedding bells."  The site notes: "Given the Orson Scott Card controversy of late, they [DC Comics] could probably do with some gay-friendly alternative headlines." (Tipped by JMG reader Murray)

Today In NOM Hypocrisy

Brian Brown is OUTRAGED that some gays have threatened to boycott DC Comics over the hiring of Orson Scott Card.

“This is completely un-American and it needs to be stopped,” Brown said. “Simply because we stand up for traditional marriage, some people feel like it’s okay to target us for intimidation and punishment.” Brown called the attacks on Card frightening and said it’s another example of gay rights activists trying to punish those who believe marriage should be a union between a man and woman. “Marriage is the union of a man and a woman,” Brown said. “That is not hateful. That is not bigoted.” He said it’s not the first time gay activists have tried to have people fired for their personal beliefs. He recalled the story of a waitress in California who gave money to Proposition Eight. Pro-gay activists set up picket lines at the restaurant calling for her ouster. “We can disagree on core issues – but we can do so in such a way where we don’t try to hurt or intimidate each other,” Brown told Fox News.

Wasn't it just a few days ago that Brian Brown called for the chairman of the Illinois GOP to be fired for his "personal beliefs"?  And let's not forget NOM's boycotts of Starbucks and General Mills.  Remember, when hate groups boycott, that's just God-fearing Americans taking part in free enterprise.  When gay people boycott, that's evil homofascism. We'll take this statement from Brian Brown as his endorsement of Orson Scott Card's call to take up arms and "destroy the government and bring it down."

Quote Of The Day - Michael Hartney

"If this was a Holocaust denier or a white supremacist, there would be no question. Hiring that writer would be an embarrassment to your company. Well, [Orson Scott] Card is an embarrassment to your company, DC. And of all the characters Card could have been hired to write, you give him Superman? The character that taught me to lead by example? To do the right thing, even when it was hard? To keep going, even when it seemed hopeless? What an insult. Kids are killing themselves. They are killing themselves in a climate of intolerance and homophobia publicly fostered by people like Orson Scott Card. You don't have to contribute to this. You shouldn't. You mustn't." - Actor Michael Hartney in a letter to DC Comics that was excerpted today by the UK's Guardian.

DISCLOSURE: Hartney is a personal friend of mine.

Petition Of The Day

All Out writes:

OUTRAGE: DC Comics has just hired anti-gay writer Orson Scott Card for their new digital Adventures of Superman. He's written publicly that he believes marriage equality would lead to the end of civilization. He's also on the board of a notorious anti-equality organization. We need to let DC Comics know they can't support Orson Scott Card or his work to keep LGBT people as second-class citizens. They know they're accountable to their fans, so if enough of us speak out now, they'll hear us loud and clear. Sign and share!

That "anti-equality organization" is NOM. Orson Scott Card has called for Christians to overthrow the federal government over same-sex marriage.

What these dictator-judges do not seem to understand is that their authority extends only as far as people choose to obey them.  How long before married people answer the dictators thus: Regardless of law, marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government and bring it down, so it can be replaced with a government that will respect and support marriage, and help me raise my children in a society where they will expect to marry in their turn.

Last year Card campaigned for North Carolina's ban on same-sex marriage and wrote this for the Greenboro Times:

Same-sex attraction is not a strait jacket; people's desires change over time; gay people still have choices; a reproductive dysfunction like same-sex attraction is not a death sentence for your DNA or for your desire to have a family in which children grow up with male and female parents to model appropriate gender roles.

The movie version of Card's Hugo Award-winning Ender's Game is due for release this November. Card is the co-producer.