A North Carolina retailer has declared he's boycotting all Grant Morrison comics after what he views as religious blasphemy in this week's Action Comics #1.

"If you want Action Comics, you will have to buy it elsewhere," Jeff Lamb, owner of The Comic Conspiracy in Asheboro, North Carolina, wrote on the store's Facebook page. He called for Christian comics readers and retailers to join in the Morrison boycott, characterizing the first issue of the relaunched DC Comics series as "a slap in the face to Superman, Christians and Superman creators Siegel and Shuster!!"

That "slap in the face" is a single panel (above) in which the Man of Steel, when struck by artillery fired from a tank, utters "GD." What many read as a grunt -- Superman says "GNUHH," "HNN" and "GGAAAAAA" in the same scene -- Lamb interpreted as an abbreviation for "goddamn" (or maybe simply "God"?), an affront to his religious beliefs.

"I could see Guy Gardner and maybe even Hal Jordan (Green Lanterns) saying it," he wrote. "I could see Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) saying it. I could easily see Damian Wayne (Robin) or MAYBE even Bruce Wayne saying it. But Superman was created to be the 'perfect' super-hero. Unblemished. Superman is an American icon. [...] This wasn’t creative flow. It wasn’t necessary in the story. It isn’t Superman at all. And it goes against a basic Christian principle. It was a blatant stab."

Why someone would think a young and not-yet-invulnerable Superman would gasp an abbreviation, "blasphemous" or not, when hit in the back by artillery -- "GD," not "WTF" or "GTFO"? -- isn't exactly clear. However, Lamb, who said he's "had to accept a LOT of changes over my nearly 35 years in the business," is confident the Last Son of Krypton took God's name in vain. And that's the final straw.

"I deal with books like Crossed and The Boys," he wrote. "I accepted gay characters being introduced into a children-specific book like Archie Comics. I however am getting very tired of having comic writer's liberal agendas force fed to me. Mr. Morrison has stepped over my line. If I have to stand alone on this ... I will."

Lamb said he intends to contact Diamond Comic Distributors today to cancel orders for Action Comics #2 and all other titles written by Morrison, whom he called "a liberal Scottish schmuck." "I ask my customers to understand as best they can," he wrote. "I understand that it's only a comic and it's not the real world, but I feel that as a Christian I have to draw the line somewhere."

(via Bleeding Cool)