(no subject)
So, apparently DC will "reveal that an iconic male character" of theirs is gay! I'm sure this will have some comic fans climbing the walls and frothing, but I'm all for it . . . because the comics world desperately needs more diversity and because newly created heroes just don't "stick" very often. Man, when I think of all the heroes who have briefly surged in the limelight, only to disappear again . . .
Anyway, that's why "create new heroes who are gay" is hard to pull off. (Or "create new heroes who are people of color," for that matter.) Newbie heroes will survive for a time, then DC will kill off batches of them in a Crisis to show how SERIOUS things are. Then Batman and Superman will save the day. BATMAN AND SUPERMAN, OTP.
Actually, DC did produce a series called Batman / Superman for a while--yes, with a slash and everything--and the whole comic was them saving each other and then thinking admiringly about how wonderful the other hero was. I'm just saying. I also have a 70s(?) "World's Finest" book where they decide they need bonding time, so they cry together, like, three times in Superman's Fortress of Solitude before fighting phallic space tentacle monsters. Man, I wonder if I still have that issue. IT WAS AMAZING.
Anyway, that's why "create new heroes who are gay" is hard to pull off. (Or "create new heroes who are people of color," for that matter.) Newbie heroes will survive for a time, then DC will kill off batches of them in a Crisis to show how SERIOUS things are. Then Batman and Superman will save the day. BATMAN AND SUPERMAN, OTP.
Actually, DC did produce a series called Batman / Superman for a while--yes, with a slash and everything--and the whole comic was them saving each other and then thinking admiringly about how wonderful the other hero was. I'm just saying. I also have a 70s(?) "World's Finest" book where they decide they need bonding time, so they cry together, like, three times in Superman's Fortress of Solitude before fighting phallic space tentacle monsters. Man, I wonder if I still have that issue. IT WAS AMAZING.