The Recent Spark of Gay Characters in Comics

Last week DC Comics announced they were making one of their main characters in their new reboot gay, the then 'came out' and said it was going to be Green Lantern. This of course sent the internet a buzz and those who know nothing about comics all in a tizzy that Ryan Reynolds character in Green Lantern is now gay. 


However just like I did there, the teasing that a real main stream character like Hal Jordan, Green Lantern of space sector 2814 would now be a gay man is not the case. The gay green lantern will be Alan Scott, the Green Lantern of Earth 2 who is actually not even a green lantern. Sure he's accessorizing with his green power ring but its nothing like Hal's or any of the other thousands of green lanterns that make up the Green Lantern Corps. 











If you saw the movie you know Hal is only one of a whole lot of beings that hold a green lantern ring, Ryan Reynolds character was just the first from Earth, in a sense in this movie the Earthling is the alien. Alan Scott however is not even a member of the Green Lantern Corps, nor does he draw his green energy from their central power battery.


Alan Scott, created by artist Martin Nodell in 1940, long before the Corps was even thought of. Nodell's latern draws his green energy from something called The Starheart, which was originally portrayed as a flame in a strange lamp. Since his debut we have seen Alan Scott grow old, get married and even have two children who grew up to become super heroes. Jade, his daughter who also has the green Starheart power, hers are embedded in her and she herself is green, and her brother Obsidian. Obsidian has shadow powers, supposedly as a result of a battle his father had had with an old villain. In the DC Universe that we used to know before they rebooted to the NEW 52, Obsidian's character, Todd Rice, was a gay man, but due to the reboot and Alan Scott being younger, there is no Obsidian or Jade. (This does not sit well with some of us comic enthusiasts)

DC, apparently feeling bad that they wiped out one of their gay characters from existence went and made the characters father gay. This could be looked at in a couple of ways, one they wanted to have a gay character being represented by a strong heroic male, giving young gay readers a role model, but they also ensured that there now will never be an Obsidian or Jade, at least not in the aspect that Alan Scott will have kids. I suppose he can adopt but that wouldn't explain why they get variations of his powers.


My wife came to me and said that someone she worked with had wondered if I was upset that they made Green Lantern gay? She told him, no, that her husband is a open minded individual and doesn't have any prejudice towards gay individuals, and I don't, I have gay friends, I don't think of them as my "gay friends" they're just my friends.


But am I upset that they made an established character now gay in comics? I am a bit, but not because of why you would think. I think choosing Alan Scott to be gay was a bit of a cop out by DC. They knew that the media would cling to the term Green Lantern and everyone out there not associated with comics would immediately thing Ryan Reynolds character was now a gay man. It seems to be more of a publicity stunt than a caring that they're providing a representation of today's society and sending out the message to gay comic book readers that you don't have to be heterosexual to be a super hero.


On top of it being a sad that they did it to a second string character who's name is tied so closely to a a main stream character they're doing it at the same time that Archie comics had a gay wedding and the X-Men are about to have one this month. I think they felt pressured that Archie comics, a long standing traditional comic book company with characters that have spanned generations were the first to do a big publicized gay wedding. 

This month in Astonishing X-Men number 51 we'll see the gay wedding of the x-man Northstar to his boyfriend Kyle. While Northstar has been an established gay character in the Marvel universe for some time now it seems odd that the X-Men are having a wedding issue that will be released this month on June 20th. Do I feel that the industry is changing for the bad with gay characters and weddings? No, it just brings it more into the realm of reality and doing what so few people realize comic books do, they tell stories of people dealing with issues that we all have to deal with daily, but in more of a fantastical way. Prejudice, hatred, persecution have been a mantra of the X-Men since they were created. 


I don't think this will change the comic industry at all, other characters like Midnighter and Apollo are two gay superheros that have been around quite some time and its had no bearing on the comic form. I do however feel bad for the gay community, because I feel that their basic rights in their pursuit of happiness in life is portrayed as a special event when in fact a gay wedding should be looked at as any other wedding, a marriage of two individuals who love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together. Making it a spectacle implies that gay people are different, and honestly I don't see that. Maybe however these type of stories will actually do two things, show how anyone can be a super hero and that comic books aren't stories for little kids who like to see bad guys get punched in the face. Us comic geeks, we know stuff, we're all u glad you liked The Avengers, maybe now you'll be less judgey.