Many were shaken and left speechless at this senseless tragedy which will be remembered as the biggest mass shooting in the history of the United States. It left a cloud of gloom and despair over the film The Dark Knight Rises, the movie industry, and the comic book industry. Here are a few creators, writers, and retailers from the comic book industry offering their thoughts on this extremely tragic event - which will have unforetold outcomes:
Brad Meltzer -
bestselling American political thriller novelist, non-fiction writer, TV show creator and award-winning comic book author:
"'No Guns, No Killing.' That line bears repeating," quoting a line from a scene in
The Dark Knight Rises. Batman, Meltzer reminds us, is a symbol against gun violence. "That is the mass appeal of the character. It's not just Batman but what's inside him and the idea that we can all see and understand what it's like to have loss and see harm and want to do good.
"So when you have it happen in the shadow of that, the knife just twists a little bit deeper for us all as a community.
"We can't possibly say this could be more tragic - but I do think that there's some twisted irony in the fact that it's a movie [about] someone who so many people look up to, and a movie that celebrates someone who can stop this kind of violence."
Jim Lee -
comic book artist, writer, editor and co-publisher at DC comics:
"Just shocked and saddened today - my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims' families and friends and everyone affected by this terrible tragedy."
Gerry Gladston -
co-owner and chairman of marketing at New York City's Midtown Comics:
"I would worry a lot more about gun control than influence by comics and other pop culture and media.
"I think it's a senseless tragedy conducted by a psycho who took advantage of the mass popularity of this public event. He clearly wanted to make a big splash and he picked the biggest public spectacle he could find, and this week it happens to be The Dark Knight Rises."
Jonah Weiland -
creator of Comic Book Resources:
"Anybody drawing assumptions between the actions of this man and things they've read in a comic book or a movie is just plain wrong.
"If you really look at who Batman is and what he stands for, he doesn't stand for what this guy did."
Joe Quesada -
comic book editor, writer, artist and current CCO of Marvel Entertainment:
“This has been an incredibly sad day for all of us. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and the people of Colorado.”
Other sources:
Washington Post