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Imma slap a DC comics editor
May. 31st, 2012 08:58 amSo, not horribly long ago, Marvel Comics announced that one of their gay characters, a b-lister named Northstar (part of the Canadian super-hero group Alpha Flight), would be getting married to his boyfriend in the pages of one of the comics. (The marriage comic comes out in late June.)
Not to be outdone (because if there's one thing major comic companies do, it's closely follow what the other major comic companies do), DC announced that they were going to reveal that one of their characters was gay. A major character, you know, unlike Northstar.
Let's ignore the fact that Northstar came out as gay in 1992, so DC is a little behind the times here. Of course, when you reboot your entire comic universe every few years, some things slip off of the schedule.
But who is the gay character going to be? They said "a major character" after all. Superman? Nah.... not going to happen. Batman? Well, it would validate all those old jokes. (One's named Bruce, one's named Dick. They put on tights and slide down poles.) And then there's the fact that they (and the Joker) talked about boners a lot....
But nah... with the Christian Bale movies making a metric ton of cash (and now the possibility of a fourth movie), that's not going to happen.
Aquaman? Hey, South Park would have a field day with that, you know... and I'm sure there's some other jokes in there as well, but.... nah. That would actually give attention to Aquaman, and we can't have that.
Hey, what about Wonder Woman? I mean, she's from an all-woman island... could she...?
Oh wait, here we go... it's *drum roll*
Alan Scott?
Yup. According to various leak sites... the gay character will be Alan Scott, aka the original Green Lantern.
....
Okay, many of you probably don't know who that is.
THIS GUY
Now, if DC hadn't just rebooted their entire universe (again) within the last year, this could have been interesting, story-wise, to say the least, considering that the pre-reboot version had two kids (Jade and Obsidian - both had superpowers), and had been married twice.
Now? He's a hip, young media mogul. And on Earth 2.
*sigh*
Look, I'm not against gay characters in comics, provided that they're not over-the-top stereotypes... but when you say "major character" and then follow that up with "guy who was got second billing to a talking dog"... well....
Of course, his kids in the pre-reboot universe haven't appeared yet in the New 52, and it's probable that they won't, given that the new Alan Scott is supposed to be a lot younger... but one of them (Obsidian) was gay, so... I'm guessing DC's editors have about the same level of memory as they've always had? (Which is to say, about six to nine months worth.)
Look, I like Alan Scott. I loved the "Made of Wood" arc that appeared in the Batman comics some years ago, and he was a mainstay of the JSA. If DC is making the latest version of him gay, I'm fine with that.
But he's not a major character. DC is dropping the ball on this in a big way.
Not to be outdone (because if there's one thing major comic companies do, it's closely follow what the other major comic companies do), DC announced that they were going to reveal that one of their characters was gay. A major character, you know, unlike Northstar.
Let's ignore the fact that Northstar came out as gay in 1992, so DC is a little behind the times here. Of course, when you reboot your entire comic universe every few years, some things slip off of the schedule.
But who is the gay character going to be? They said "a major character" after all. Superman? Nah.... not going to happen. Batman? Well, it would validate all those old jokes. (One's named Bruce, one's named Dick. They put on tights and slide down poles.) And then there's the fact that they (and the Joker) talked about boners a lot....
But nah... with the Christian Bale movies making a metric ton of cash (and now the possibility of a fourth movie), that's not going to happen.
Aquaman? Hey, South Park would have a field day with that, you know... and I'm sure there's some other jokes in there as well, but.... nah. That would actually give attention to Aquaman, and we can't have that.
Hey, what about Wonder Woman? I mean, she's from an all-woman island... could she...?
Oh wait, here we go... it's *drum roll*
Alan Scott?
Yup. According to various leak sites... the gay character will be Alan Scott, aka the original Green Lantern.
....
Okay, many of you probably don't know who that is.
THIS GUY
Now, if DC hadn't just rebooted their entire universe (again) within the last year, this could have been interesting, story-wise, to say the least, considering that the pre-reboot version had two kids (Jade and Obsidian - both had superpowers), and had been married twice.
Now? He's a hip, young media mogul. And on Earth 2.
*sigh*
Look, I'm not against gay characters in comics, provided that they're not over-the-top stereotypes... but when you say "major character" and then follow that up with "guy who was got second billing to a talking dog"... well....
Of course, his kids in the pre-reboot universe haven't appeared yet in the New 52, and it's probable that they won't, given that the new Alan Scott is supposed to be a lot younger... but one of them (Obsidian) was gay, so... I'm guessing DC's editors have about the same level of memory as they've always had? (Which is to say, about six to nine months worth.)
Look, I like Alan Scott. I loved the "Made of Wood" arc that appeared in the Batman comics some years ago, and he was a mainstay of the JSA. If DC is making the latest version of him gay, I'm fine with that.
But he's not a major character. DC is dropping the ball on this in a big way.