LGBT characters in comic books isn’t a new concept: Batwoman, Pied Piper, Moondragon, Northstar, Hulkling, Wiccan, Apollo and Midnighter are just a few characters who in the last decade have come out as gay – and it is interesting to see the mainstream acceptance of LGBT characters.

Besides Kevin Keller, recently we’ve seen several new gay characters show up in comics and cartoons. Newspaper comic Funky Winkerbean recently ran a storyline where a same-sex couple wanting to go to their high school prom together encountered some bigotry. Marvel Comics announced the character Northstar would be marrying his long-time boyfriend Kyle in the pages of X-men.

Furthermore, DC Comics recently announced that one of their major superheroes would come out of the closet. Speculation zeroed in on the Golden Age Green Lantern (aka Alan Scott), with DC comics confirming this June 1st. However, to a certain degree it’s not a complete reversal of a long existing character – they’ve recently (again) rebooted the DC comics universe, and the new storyline deals with a younger Alan Scott on Earth 2 (which is an alternate Earth from the Earth with Superman and the Hal Jordan Green Lantern).

Still, many people would prefer that they create a new superhero who was never trapped in a closet, and there is a lot of debate on whether “gaying up” a previously straight character is a good thing. In the case with DC comics’ announcement, the feeling was this decision both propped up flagging sales and jumped on the gay bandwagon; yet there is no arguing that “queering” a major character does provide a lot of visibility for LGBT issues in comics - if handled properly.

You can read the full Green Lantern press release at: http://www.gaycalgary.com/u471

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Contributor Evan Kayne |

Topic Calgary Expo | Comic Expo | DC Comics |