New Wood Interview: X-Men Readers, Vamp Jubes, Brawler Rogue and a Surprise Character

[LeonardEugenius]

This was delicious

[BBeeryan]

This was delicious

Your avi is gonna poke one of my eyes out.

[MarvelGirlBoy]

I just don't think Marvel has a lot of effeminte or flamboyant gay characters so that is the issue I don't understand. Most of them are background I admit but which ones do people think are stereotypical?

I think some of the people in this thread have really bizarre definitions of "effeminate" and "flamboyant".

Like, I'm sorry, but I have never seen a Marvel gay wearing make-up or beating up the Brotherhood in full drag. Instead, I have seen a lot of them punch, hit, look muscley, protect others, and - indeed - drink beer - all activities I believe people like to think of as "masculine".

Could people please list these Marvel characters who are gay and, y'know, bullying real-world gays by their "effeminate" domination of the media? Quinnhop?

And no, one scene of a character crying in magenta, does not the above make.

[MarvelGirlBoy]

she's an ambulatory Mad Lib. You can fill in the enormous blanks inherent to the character with your own ideas.

Gone off her?

Is that some horribly inelegant racist/anti-Africa joke?

LOL. What.

True but unless there's a continuing storyline behind it then it is just for the shock value and such or if it's Cluster then it's to give a push to Fantomex, the problem wtih that would be that many people would then only want her with women from that day forward, since she did it once...much like Buffy...true it happens in real life but Betsy imho has never shown any inkling and that's a big change to a character to where not every future writer will agree with it, as Wood will not be the last writer to write her and I doubt that all of them would be for it, if I had to guess then I'd guess that it was Rachel or Storm or maybe Jubilee, besides which Betsy unfortunately will still be with the creepy Fantomex 3 and their feelings for her. Take Rictor for example, until PAD did a 180 and changed his sexuality Rictor was as straight as they come, Nicieza the writer that had written almost all fo what those fans who liked them together use admitted after leaving X-Force that he knew that some peopel felt that way and wrote what he did to tease them, nothing more.

Er, no. Rictor was "as straight as they come." Show me the panel he walked on and declared his heterosexuality (and, for that matter, was confirmed as not lying). What was shown was his sometimes-difficult past relationships with women, as well as some very clear, if not at-the-time explicitly sexual, homoerotic interaction with Shatterstar. Having sex with women does not stop someone being gay (or bisexual).

People should watch Girls, instead of the New Normal. Same actor, truer gay.

[OmegaPower]

Needs more Rachel news :/

[Hi-Fi]

I think some of the people in this thread have really bizarre definitions of "effeminate" and "flamboyant".

Like, I'm sorry, but I have never seen a Marvel gay wearing make-up or beating up the Brotherhood in full drag. Instead, I have seen a lot of them punch, hit, look muscley, protect others, and - indeed - drink beer - all activities I believe people like to think of as "masculine".

Could people please list these Marvel characters who are gay and, y'know, bullying real-world gays by their "effeminate" domination of the media?

And no, one scene of a character crying in magenta, does not the above make.

When I said I felt the need for more decent gay characters in the X-Books, I was talking about having more representation. More well-written representation. And about being able to relate, on a more personal level. I never mentioned the words "effeminate" and "flamboyant".

Here's how I see the current gay characters in the X-Men books (which I don't consider bullies and never will):

Northstar: bitchy and distant are basically his only traces. Ever since the wedding announcement, he became propaganda. I have no problem with that, I think it's great (even though I'm not fond of the institution of marriage at all). I just dislike the character. And that actually has nothing to do with "which kind of gay" he is (as ridiculous as that query is).

Kyle: he's basically a punchline, getting in troube every other arc. He cries for Northstar. He's happy for Northstar.

Anole: a lizard boy. He's OK. I don't think a lizard gay boy represents me, though.

Graymalkin: a grey limbo-ed kid.

Howlett and Hercules: great, but about to vanish in two months.

Rictor and Shatterstar: I think they work. I like them.

Can I not ask for more? Shouldn't we?

At the end of the day, we can relate to whatever character. I love Rogue, for instance. In a way, I probably used to saw my drama in a similar fashion she did. But, for the first time, I feel like there's space for actually having more characters in the comics who are closer to us in every way. And for the first time, I feel like I can demand it.

[Seresecros]

Characters shouldn't be gay and then ignored, really. If a character is gay, then don't be afraid to write about how much they like other men. There's a smattering of gay characters, but they're all pretty sexless. There's a reason Northstar's greatest moment was a quick cameo in Hercules (double entendre intended)

Of course, this doesn't account for females like Bling, who is hopefully still working on bagging Rogue

[jarrod]

Rachel's totally gay and we all know it. Just make it official Brain Woods.

Also, she's a Howlett.

[Hi-Fi]

If anyone felt offended or "bullied' by my words, I apologize. I'd never advocate against anyone's right to do/be whatever/whoever. That said, it's not rare for me to express myself in a poor way. So again, sorry.

[OmegaPower]

Rachel's totally gay and we all know it. Just make it official Brain Woods.

Also, she's a Howlett.

I like my Rachel bi. Can't the girl have the best of both worlds?

[jarrod]

I like my Rachel bi. Can't the girl have the best of both worlds?

EDIT: I reconsidered. Bi like daddy worx.

[MarvelGirlBoy]

Rachel is definitely a butch bisexual, like her brother Daken.

Maybe the big reveal in issue 1 is Karma giving her a come-to-bed look.

When I said I felt the need for more decent gay characters in the X-Books, I was talking about having more representation. More well-written representation. And about being able to relate, on a more personal level. I never mentioned the words "effeminate" and "flamboyant".

Here's how I see the current gay characters in the X-Men books (which I don't consider bullies and never will):

Northstar: bitchy and distant are basically his only traces. Ever since the wedding announcement, he became propaganda. I have no problem with that, I think it's great (even though I'm not fond of the institution of marriage at all). I just dislike the character. And that actually has nothing to do with "which kind of gay" he is (as ridiculous as that query is).

Kyle: he's basically a punchline, getting in troube every other arc. He cries for Northstar. He's happy for Northstar.

Anole: a lizard boy. He's OK. I don't think a lizard gay boy represents me, though.

Graymalkin: a grey limbo-ed kid.

Howlett and Hercules: great, but about to vanish in two months.

Rictor and Shatterstar: I think they work. I like them.

Can I not ask for more? Shouldn't we?

At the end of the day, we can relate to whatever character. I love Rogue, for instance. In a way, I probably used to saw my drama in a similar fashion she did. But, for the first time, I feel like there's space for actually having more characters in the comics who are closer to us in every way. And for the first time, I feel like I can demand it.

I was directing my comments more at Quinnhop, based on his comments here and here, since you'd already sort of clarified, but thanks for repsonding anyway. But I edited my original to ask him directly.

I'm a bit like Optic Rage, representation isn't really a huge concern for me. I can feel more represented by a brain in a jar or a peg-leg Vietnamese lesbian than by any of the gay characters we've had in the X-verse so far, and that's cool with me. However, that's not to say it isn't an issue.

I agree with your assessment of the characters, too.

But again, a "masculine" gay seems to diverge from the current collection much less than a truly "flamboyant" gay male mutant. So if you want diversity of representation, shouldn't you be advocating that addition?

I think a problem and a strength of the X-Men is the endlessless of mutants (which for some reason the Avengers now want to co-opt as the endlessness of superheroes). With the X-Men there will (and have) always be (and been) loads of Limbo flotsam simply because the comics have to focus on a selection of characters to develop, and mutant numbers (by necessity of the metaphor) preclude that possibility. It is great for utilising supporting characters. But it means that loads of characters fall by the wayside, so that when "representation" is factored in, and this happens to ethnic minority and sexual minority characters, it looks like tokenism and bad storytelling. All that they are is "gay" and "black". This happened with Anole and Graymalkin (and Northstar is just a badly written character, for the most part). And they then seem sexless (another issue, as Seresecros pointed out) because we don't see them having any interactions to back up their "gay" label. Even if a well-written new gay mutant came along as a main character, well, s/he'll probably get Limbo'd after their creator leaves, and the same complaints happen. So I'm not sure there's an easy solution, without changing what the X-Men are.

[jarrod]

Anole's twitter was great and the trolls ruined it by saying it wasn't masc enuff. :[

[MarvelGirlBoy]

Well then his twitter had more personality than he ever did.

Also, boo to the femphobic trolls.

[AcesX1X]

anole is useless, has boring powers, and a poor attitude. he's quite possibly the biggest disappointment of the entire new x-men class. can't believe wind dance got depowered so this guy could get some page time.