Mainstream comics have had more than their fair share of homosexual subtext almost since their inception — look no further than Wonder Woman’s all-female homeland of Paradise Island or Bruce Wayne’s overly comfortable relationship with his ward Dick Grayson. But, until relatively recently, being “out” in comics had been a somewhat iffy subject. In honor of the news that Archie comics introduced its first openly gay character last week, here’s a look back at the evolution of open homosexuality in mainstream comic books.
Northstar
It’s not exactly a stretch to see the anti-mutant bigotry found in the world of the X-Men as a thinly veiled metaphor for homophobia — mutants are called “homo superior,” after all. It’s strange, then, that the first openly gay major character in the Marvel stable hails from the Canadian super-team Alpha Flight. Northstar, a mutant with the ability to fly and move at tremendous speeds, eventually joined the X-Men, gaining greater status in the Marvel pantheon. First introduced in 1979, his sexual orientation was only first hinted at in the early ‘80s (and, even than, his lack of interest in women was dubiously attributed to a consuming drive to win as a ski champion) and he didn’t come out until almost a decade later. Still, it’s not as if his orientation is exactly accepted: in over 30 years of publication, Northstar has never been depicted kissing another man.
Comments (14)
This list should probably include Maggie Sawyer who was one of first out lesbians in big two comics appearing prior to both Batwoman and Renee Montoya. Sawyer was a regular in the Superman comics and later the Batman comics most recently appearing in the Batwoman run in Detective Comics. Also a quick clarification on Renee Montoya. She was developed for the animated Batman show but actually ended up appearing in comics first. Her coming out story didn’t occur until ten years after her first appearance in comics.
You missed Madame Xanadu! She was an occasional character in the DC universe starting in 1978 but had her own Vertigo series from 2008-2010. Starting in Issue 11 she is revealed to be bisexual and has a long-term relationship with another woman during the Spanish Inquisition.
There’s also Karolina and Xavin in “Runaways”
I don’t agree that the Rawhide Kid was a negative depiction, per se. I read and enjoyed the whole series, appreciating it as pure camp. The story and characters (all of them, not just the Kid) are silly and over the top and much of the humor is delivered (literally) with a wink and a nudge. While some more sensitive or stodgy readers may have seen this as thick-headed, I saw it as part of the great tradition of lurid and campy homo-humor.
This week’s issue of Mark Waid’s Irredeemable (BOOM comics)has the now-evil Plutionian theorizing that his long-time archenemy, Modeus (now inhabiting the dead body of Plutonian’s sidekick), had once built six robot duplicates of the Plutonian as sex-toys because Modeus is secretly in love with Plutonian.
[...] that appeals? The Wall Street Journal discusses. Disheartened by heternormativity in comics? Boldtype dishes up a list of graphic novels containing queer characters. Have you heard? Fabulous Australian website Auslit [...]
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Agree about including Maggie Sawyer, definitely. Otherwise, nice list. Here’s an interesting read that compliments: Eric Diaz’s The 10 Most Important Gay Moments in Comic Book History. Thanks for the article.
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