Finding Superqueeroes in the Comic Book World

I’m a life-long comic book geek. I’ve been a fan of the big two (Marvel Comics and DC Comics) ever since I was able to hold a comic book in my hands. I loved the X-Men, Batman, Green Lantern, etc. I always felt that I could relate to the characters, or that they represented something bigger, like modern day Greek gods. And when I started to realize I was gay, I looked for the bigger-than-life superhero icon to relate to and look up to. Trust me, it took a lot of looking.

Comic books, like most TV shows or books, have always reflected the times. It’s that whole “art imitates life” thing. The X-Men came about in the 1960s and were a perfect analogy for the civil rights movement of African Americans at the time. Wonder Woman has constantly reflected America’s ever-changing “feminine ideal,” sometimes tough as nails, sometimes very codependent and over-sexualized. Comics like The Dark Knight Returns and The Watchmen reflected a darker time in the minds of Americans in the 1980s.

So here I am thinking, in the same way that comics have helped to represent the rest of our culture, they will most definitely depict gay heroes for young girls and boys who are coming to terms with who they are. Unfortunately, that’s not quite the case. There are very few gay superheroes and most of them are very obscure.

I’m not saying there’s been no progress. Marvel Comics put out a great comic called Young Avengers in 2005, written by an openly gay author named Allan Heinberg. The young team included a teenage gay couple named Wiccan and Hulkling. Young Avengers turned out to be a very popular book and, for us geeks, the names “Wiccan” and “Hulkling” became pretty well-known.

And then DC Comics introduced us to a new Batwoman. Batwoman is a lesbian, probably the most famous and popular LGBT superhero in the comic world right now, and she is being depicted by the very capable hands of Greg Rucka, an intelligent and progressive writer.

But there’s still progress to be made. Batwoman, who is a great character, is also really hot, which keeps even the most ignorant geek-boys reading just to see some girl-on-girl action. And while she’s a worthy representative of the lesbian community to the larger world, where is our gay male superhero icon?

Dan Didio, co-publisher of DC Comics, was asked by a fan on Newsarama.com: "With the death of Taz in Justice, there are fewer and fewer gay male heroes in the DCU. Will we ever get a really good gay hero?”

He responded by saying, “If we feel a character is strong enough as a hero, absolutely, and we should be able to push that forward. I think this is a similar conversation as we had with Batwoman. We never wanted to put the sexual preference first. We always wanted to be talking about the hero first and foremost. And that's one of the things I'll do here too. We do have gay male characters other than the Tasmanian Devil. We also have the Starman who's in Cry for Justice, as well as Obsidian, who we've seen in Manhunter and Justice Society. So I think we do have some strong gay male characters in the DC Universe. But the story supports the hero. And if that hero's story is important, then we would find ways to show that importance in the DCU."

Well, I guess that’s something, Dan, but with a community like ours, as much representation in the media (including comics) is necessary if there’s any hope of equality and education. It can’t just be about the character. It has to be about the reader, too. It will be great when the confused 12-year-old sees an awesome gay character on the Justice League or the (not-so-young) Avengers and feels maybe he can be a hero some day, too.

Comics inspire us to be bigger than we are, but also teach us about morality and ideals. So let’s see some more super-queer-oes.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons