CBR: DC Comics, Bunker & the Current State of LGBTQ Superheroes

[CBR News]

Blogger Brett White mulls over the announcement of the flamboyantly gay Bunker joining Scott Lobdell and Brett Booth's "Teen Titans" while exploring the overall status of LGBTQ characters in comics.


Full article here.

[glue]

What does "Q" stand for?

[Jeff Brady]

What does "Q" stand for?

Queer.

........

[minusthesnake]

What does "Q" stand for?

Questioning, usually referring to people who aren't sure where in the spectrum they fall yet.

Brett - I found that article to be a very interesting read and I was glad to hear you reassess you opinion of Bunker. While I think character like Rictor probably better represents me as a gay man, I know plenty of people who would identify more with someone like Bunker. The lack of bisexual and transgendered characters is probably a reflection of real life. A majority of bisexual people tend to keep it to themselves because they feel they will ultimately end up with someone of the opposite sex and it'll be a non-issue. You also forgot Daken who is bisexual and proud... or at least slutty. Great point on Mystique, I think everything with her and Destiny was just too early for most people to even read between the lines. As for Transgendered folks, they often still have trouble fitting in even in the gay community/gay rights movement. Hopefully 10 years down the line, you'll be writing a similar article saying comics have come along was with transgendered characters and you want to see more. I'm at least glad to see with Batwoman and Bunker that DC seems to be taking a less gratuitous route than Spitfire or Catwoman and actually treating gay characters like real people and not mindless sex fiends (okay, I actually did enjoy the first issue of Catwoman, but watching her ride Batman's dick may have been a bit much).

[Legion_Quest]

Wow.

What an awesome article and one that pretty much took the words right from my mouth.

Brilliant stuff.

[Simple]

Yeah you pretty much missed the point with that OP.

And the bit about being heroes first then sexual creatures was laughable, there have been plenty of straight characters where sexuality is a strong focal point of the hero.
Anyway, I suppose you sort of half admitted the mistake...sort of.

The possibility of mishandling the character is unavoidable.

And of course you can always stick to your comics with more acceptable gay characters, if it's to liberal for ya.

[JimmyDee]

Yeah you pretty much missed the point with that OP.

And the bit about being heroes first then sexual creatures was laughable, there have been plenty of straight characters where sexuality is a strong focal point of the hero.
Anyway, I suppose you sort of half admitted the mistake...sort of.

The possibility of mishandling the character is unavoidable.

And of course you can always stick to your comics with more acceptable gay characters, if it's to liberal for ya.

I think you pretty much missed the point of critical feedback -- because that ain't it.

I rather liked the article. My first reaction to the announcement of Bunker was, "Really?" Then I thought about it more and if it's handled properly, it should be fine. If you have any gay friends in your life, there's bound to be one you'll label as flamboyant. Why not have a flamboyant gay super hero? Again, the possibility to get his wrong is there, but until we SEE proof of that, I'll reserve judgment and accept Bunker in to my life like I do any other character from fiction I enjoy.

[Jason A. Quest]

Actually, DC has another LGBTQ headliner, whose series launches today: Voodoo. She's multiracial (plus part nonhuman) and bisexual. And she's a stripper. Remains to be seen whether she'll be groundbreaking or just hetboy fanservice or somewhere in between.

[Zombie Uatu]

Overall a good article, but there are a couple of (minor) points I'd like to quibble over.

Firstly, I disagree with your assessment that the coming out of Rictor was glossed over. In fact, X-Factor is still dealing with the reaction of his ex to the news, and the reaction of a close friend has been and is a major plot point. David even went so far as to delve into Strong Guy's reactions in a significant way, showing the "I shouldn't have a problem with this, but for some reason I do" dilemma a lot of people experience after a friend or relative comes out (or makes any other unexpected revelation about themselves). Rictor's issues with Rahne pretending her baby was his and how that affected his relationship with Shatterstar was also important, and borne out of her attempts to win - or cheat - him back to her. So I don't think it's fair to say it was glossed over. It wasn't the main storyline of the book, but I would disagree that it should be - Ric's a supporting character in what is essentially Madrox's book, so it's to be expected his stories get a little less airtime, but it was given significant importance in what is also ostensibly an ensemble book.

Second, I'd just like to make sure you bear in mind Ultimate Spider-Woman when discussing transgender characters. She's another of the "freaky origin leading to gender status" characters (she's a clone of Peter Parker with all of his memories), and her mindset sadly hasn't been delved into very much, especially relating to her gender. She seems to identify as female, but as I mentioned above, definitely remembers being male, and it's a shame Bendis has shied away from this to some extent. I honestly think she is one of the most interesting characters to come from the last volume of Ultimate Spider-Man and I'm tremendously please she'll be continuing to appear in the new book. I'd like to see her in the Ultimates or Ultimate X-Men (I can dream) as well.

[FIFTY-TWO (52)]

Didn't Grant Morrison's Invisibles feature a transgendered character?
And in Legion of Superheroes there was another transgendered character. I believe the character Svaun Arin was transgendered.

[Noctis]

Is this DC response to Miles Morales? first black/hispanic now Gay/hispanic

Why make them 1/2 minority and another 1/2 minority? frankly the creators of this kind of characters make me sick.

[FIFTY-TWO (52)]

Is this DC response to Miles Morales? first black/hispanic now Gay/hispanic

Why make them 1/2 minority and another 1/2 minority? frankly the creators of this kind of characters make me sick.

What, you've never met a gay hispanic or a half-black, half-Rican or a gay blatino?
You need to get out more.

[Cavemold]

Is this DC response to Miles Morales? first black/hispanic now Gay/hispanic

Why make them 1/2 minority and another 1/2 minority? frankly the creators of this kind of characters make me sick.

thats intresting. He already knows his sex prefernace in jr high.A little young? i guess not. Thats really pushing the envolop diveristy envolp.

[SJNeal]

I was gonna point out the greatness that has been PAD's X-Factor, and his dealing with Rictor/Shatterstar, but someone beat me to it.

Regarding transgendered characters, every trans person I've met in real life (4) stresses the fact that they are, in fact, now a man (or woman) and want nothing more than to be treated/addressed like any other biological man/woman. That said, how do we know there aren't dozens of post-op trans characters already out there? Maybe the Marvel/DCU's are just more enlightened and don't feel the need to shine a spotlight on what gender a person was as opposed to what they are???

[elikal]

Hey Brett, a good write up. Let me comment a bit.

I am a gay man also mostly NOT belonging to the Lady Gaga type. I am that "straight looking" type so many hookup ads are filled with. Still, we both know there are these sort of "flamboyant" gays, and IMVPO we should accept that too. I mean, some gays like to be that way, very open, almost aggressive with their sexuality and... playing with stereotypes. In our modern days we really should be above critizising it. Teen Titans seems partially be based on light hearted fun people, if I take #1 as example, so I think this character may fit very well in: all troubled troublemaker kind of teens. One of them is a "flamboyant" gay in pink. Why not? The DC canon now contains so many different gay characters, in that gathering I feel it is alright.

I will withhold my final judgement for more issues. But also: those who think negative of gay people because of a stereotypical gay character will ALWAYS keep their view anyway!

I say, let's take it easy and see how it goes on. Tbh, when I played City of Heroes or Champions Online, I made EXACTLY such kind of Superheroes, flamboyant, skimpy dressed pink types, just for the fun of it. ;)


EDIT: I understand, it is kinda frustrating all gay Superheroes are sort of 2n or 3rd line chars. But all first line chars are established and established straight. So I understand it is difficult. If DC treats the gay Heroes with respect and involve them, it is no issue for me.