Superman archetype.
But meanwhile at Marvel, things were not as diverse. In the 80s, the
company was run by Jim Shooter who had made the decision not
to portray any homosexuals in Marvel’s comics. However, an artist
called Warren Ellis introduced a character called Northstar, who at
first simply seemed to have no interest in girls. It wasn’t until 1992
that the new writer for Northstar, Scott Lobdell, was at last
given permission to have Northstar state ‘I am Gay’.
Since those early days, comic artists and writers have created
many gay characters. Homosexuality gives the budding
superhero an edge, a difference and rather than portray
their sexuality as a weakness, it adds to the
complexity of the hero’s back-story.
And it isn’t just new characters who are
coming out. Long-standing favorites are
prone to coming out as well. The Rawhide
Kid was created in 1955 and for most of
that time he was a typical gun-slinging
cowboy. Then in 2003 for a series of
comics he was depicted as gay with
a good proportion of the dialogue
relating to his sexuality.
The world of comics is an
ideal place for sexuality
and gender to be explored.
Despite the restrictions
placed upon the industry in
the early days, writers continued
to depict homosexuality in comics.
And why not? There are LGBTs in
real life, and who says we can’t be
super heroes too?
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