This woman’s milkshake brought DC, Marvel, and Archie Comics together

How a sweet tweet from a Marvel editor led to internet hate followed by cross-comic universe love in the span of a week.

DC fans and Marvel fans love to relish in their friendly (and sometimes not-so-friendly) rivalry.

But some causes are so great that they can bring these two publishing powerhouses to common ground in a show of solidarity, and the internet was witness to a wonderful display of that this week.

It started on Friday, July 28, when Marvel editor Heather Antos (who has worked on Deadpool and the Star Wars titles, among others) tweeted out a photo of herself and six fellow female coworkers enjoying Ben & Jerry’s milkshakes.

The tweet itself is delightful, a collection of women beaming in the glow of each other’s company and the anticipation of consuming an ice-cold milkshake.

What makes it even more touching is the hashtag, #FabulousFlo, in honor of longtime Marvel employee Flo Steinberg, who had just passed away.

It’s hard to find anything offensive in Antos’ original tweet, and yet it wasn’t long before the trolls descended upon her, spitting vitriol aimed at her and her friends’ sex, appearance, and apparent audacity to work in comics as women.

Those tweets and  comments won’t be repeated here, because that’s exactly what trolls want; to have their words seen and shared on the internet. But the response was vile enough that it prompted Antos to send out a subsequent tweet:

It was, in a word, heartbreaking to see such a disgusting reaction to such an innocuous tweet. But soon, messages of support from fans and others who work in comics, often accompanied by photos of them drinking milkshakes, began to make their way to Antos, with the hashtag #MakeMineMilkshake.

Eventually, #MakeMineMilkshake caught the eye of the folks over at DC. On Tuesday, in a beautiful show of support, all DC’s female employees raised a milkshake to the ladies at Marvel:

Marvel showed its gratitude in a response to DC’s tweet, replying with a photo of a milkshake with two straws and the #twinning emoji:

To make the ladies of Marvel feel even more supported, Archie Comics got in on the love, too, replying to the thread with an image of a milkshake with three straws:

(While Archie Comics’ three straws obviously represent the solidarity between the three major publishers, it’s also a fun nod to the love triangle between Archie, Betty, and Veronica.)

In addition to giving fans hope for a three-way crossover between Marvel, DC, and Archie Comics, the tweet exchange also sent a clear message to the sexist Internet trolls.

Comics are for everyone.

As science fiction is for everyone.

As video games are for everyone.

Even though Gamergate has become synonymous with internet harassment, there’s no question that there are similar groups within comics, sports, sci-fi, and other fields who want to “protect” those identities (i.e. reserve them for men and men only).

And, one could argue, a person hired to work at Marvel or DC undoubtedly knows more about her field than an angry fanboy (or fangirl; sexism goes both ways) on the internet.

Next: How growing diversity just might save the world of comics

There is no room for misogyny in comics. There are far too many evils in this world to face for infighting.

Just ask the Avengers/the Justice League.