We
Could
be Heroes
If you remember watching re-runs of the
1960’s TV version of Batman as a child,
you may be forgiven for thinking that the
world of the comic book is awash with
homosexuality! But despite the rather
too close nature of Batman and Robin’s
relationship, the comic world has fought a
long internal struggle against writers and
publishers to get gay superheroes onto the
page.
Comic books were originally considered
to be a children’s medium and so in the
early days, themes that involved sexuality
were definitely taboo. The Comic Codes
Authority (CCA) confirmed this when
it was formed in 1954. Loosely based on
the 1930 Hollywood Production Code,
the CCA was formed after a few ‘adult’
themes started to appear in certain
comics, such as rather scantily clad
females.
But comics generally do not attract
conservative artists and so naturally, there
were publishers who set up underground
publishing companies so themes that were
banned by the CCA could be explored.
So called Comix were produced on
small presses and distributed directly to
their audience. A few of these allowed
openly gay characters and in the late 70s
and 80s, artist
Howard Cruse set
up Gay Comix, an
anthology which
gathered together
gay comic artists and
explored LGBT life.
However, artists
were still trying to
get gay characters
into mainstream comics as well. The
two mainstream comic producers, Marvel
and DC, often had protagonists that
were subtly suggested to be homosexual.
Of the two producers though, DC were
the ones known to be more gay friendly.
Right back as far as 1954, the publishers
depicted two of its best known heroes,
Bruce Wayne (Batman) and Dick
Grayson (Robin), waking up in bed
together.
But DC were also the first publishers to
bring us the gay superheroes. Extraño
was a character embracing all of the gay
male stereotypes in the late 80s. He was
flamboyant, lively and referred to himself
as ‘Auntie’. DC followed this up with a
character called Apollo in the late 90s.
He was far from the stereotype of a gay
man and was muscular and very much a
spring 2015
68
