{snip} When it was announced last summer that an actor of color was going to play Batgirl in a live action film, racist trolls came for star Leslie Grace in the same way they came for Halle Bailey after she was chosen to star as Ariel in “The Little Mermaid.” In the comics, Batgirl is white. Grace is Dominican. Some fanboys couldn’t deal with the fact that they weren’t getting the Batgirl they wanted.

{snip} The sexism and racism show a dark underside of comic book fandom that can only be combated by proud indifference in which the participation of women and minorities in these cultural touchstones becomes so routine it is part of the DNA of the productions.

That’s why the recent cancellation of “Batgirl” by Warner Bros. after the roughly $90 million production had already...