Apparently bad press is to DC Entertainment what Kryptonite is to Superman.
DC, which owns the rights to Superman, on Wednesday reversed its decision to bar the superhero’s insignia from appearing on a memorial to a Canadian child who was starved to death by his grandparents more than a decade ago.
“We are honored by the relationship that our fans have with our characters, and fully understand the magnitude of their passion,” DC spokeswoman Courtney Simmons said in a press release.
“After verifying the support of appropriate family members, DC Entertainment will be allowing the Jeffrey Baldwin Memorial Statue to feature the Superman S shield,” DC spokeswoman Courtney Simmons said.
“We take each request seriously and our heartfelt thoughts go out to the victims, the family and those affected.”
The reversal came a day after The Post and other media outlets reported on DC’s initial denial of permission to use the Superman shield in Jeffrey’s Toronto memorial.
Todd Boyce, a good-hearted father of four, caught wind of 5-year-old Jeffrey Baldwin’s tragic story and crowd-sourced $50,000 to construct a life-sized statue of the boy — who idolized the comic book superhero from the planet Krypton — in his beloved Superman costume.
But before the statue could be complete, the city of Toronto asked him to get approval from DC.
The comic book giant initially declined to be involved with the statue, sending Boyce a boilerplate e-mail that he must change the “S” on the bronze statue’s chest to avoid copyright infringement.
“It was important for me because I really felt I wanted to capture the photograph of Jeffrey wearing his Superman costume and have it as close to that as possible,” Boyce told the Canadian Broadcasting Co.
But after an outpouring of criticism toward DC managers for being cold-hearted, they changed their minds.
“After verifying the support of appropriate family members, DC Entertainment will be allowing the Jeffrey Baldwin Memorial Statue to feature the Superman S shield,” Simmons said.
Baldwin died 12 years ago after being locked in a urine-stained bedroom, where he withered away to the weight of a baby, by his grandparents, who were later convicted of second-degree murder in 2006.
Boyce, a 44-year-old Canadian government IT employee, told the Post he received a call from D.C. Wednesday morning. ““I was happy to hear it and surprised in a good way,” he said. “I had resigned myself that DC was not going to change their mind.”
He said the change of heart “100 percent” had to do with the story going viral on Tuesday.
“The story just seemed to resonate with everyone and most people weren’t happy with how DC made the decision,” Boyce said. “It was the big evil corporation stomping on that dream.”
The statue is all ready to be made and is expected to be unveiled in September. Boyce said any leftover money will be used to fund a scholarship in Baldwin’s name for a high school student that “had to overcome some kind of adversity.”