The DCnU & Marvel really ARE committed to LGBT inclusion! 2011 saw LGBT characters created from scratch, outed, rebooted into a whole new continuity or even resurrected by apologetic writers as 4color LGBT relationships become far more commonplace, even reaching distant places like the 30th century and THE Archie Universe’s perpetually squeeky clean Riverdale.
Avengers Academy’s former child star and current famemonger, Striker came out both as gay and as a victim of childhood sexual abuse whose emerging electrical powers killed his pervy bad-touching manager.
The solicited cover for 2012′s Life With Archie revealed that the issue will bring comics first interracial gay military wedding to Riverdale.
The Teen Titans added Bunker, an out and proud new flamboyant young Mexican gay character to the team roster and the DCnU.
After much hype and stalling, Gotham’s resident lipstick lesbian vigilante – Batwoman finally began her own title with the 2011 launch of the DCnU.
The return of Rictor’s mutant seismic powers in the pages of Avengers The Children’s Crusade has resolved the feelings of powerlessness he felt and may impact his romantic relationship with his X-Factor teammate Shatterstar.
Along with a number of former Wildstorm Universe residents, Apollo and Midnighter have been mainstreamed into the DCnU and their relationship will unfold anew in the pages of Stormwatch.
the 2011 4 issue miniseries that followed up Riverdale’s new gay teen, Kevin Keller‘s 2010 Archie Universe debut was so well received that he’ll be getting his own ongoing miniseries in 2012.
James Robinson resurrected gay hero Tasmanian Devil after he realized he’d killed one of the few LGBT heroes in the DCU for a rug joke. The character has yet to surface in the post-Flashpoint DCnU.
A gay relationship between Legion Academy students Powerboy and Gravity Kid was subtly revealed at in the pre-DCnU pages of Adventure Comics – the relationship has yet to be confirmed post Flashpoint.
Shrinking Violet and Lightning Lass were confirmed as girlfriends – but that was pre-Flashpoint. We’re still awaiting confirmation that the relationship has made it into the DCnU.
I composited the above image myself – so please link back if you repost it.
Teen Titans #3 finally introduces us to Miguel Jose Barragan A.K.A. Bunker – the new flamboyantly gay member of the DCnU’s incarnation of the long lived group of “teen metahumans.” His behavior and phrasing definitely reminds me a bit of the brother in purple in Zorro the Gay Blade, but I don’t hate him. I don’t love him either. I’ll just have to see once we learn more about him. Until then here is his first appearance…
My observations of what I think writer Scott Lobdell seems to think makes for an over the top gay character.
STEP #1
Wear skintight purple and magenta spandex.
STEP #2
Squeal like a girl when surprised.
STEP #3
When trapped alone with a strange old hobo in a train car, be sure work your cute butt into the conversation.
STEP #4
Be a hugger.
STEP #5
Have a very high opinion of yourself and share it often (At least he said “exquisite” instead of “fabulous”).
It’s a BIT subtler than the 1992 Major Mapleleaf Northstar coming out story, but not much. The characterization still needs work. They must make him flamboyant without rendering him a stereotype. It will be tough to accomplish, but I’m still hoping Lobdell will be up to the challenge. By himself, Bunker currently lacks that je ne sais quoi that makes Peter David’s Shatterstar/Rictor and Allan Heinberg’s Wiccan/Hulkling relationships amusing and endearing, while still maintaining character integrity and a certain amount of LGBT realness. Without a relationship, or hearing his backstory, all we have to define Bunker as gay are quips. But I still believe they can do better than this.
One note on Bunker’s costume… the little ribbons on the back of his mask (presumably where he ties it on) have to go. I get the Zorro kind of hood concept, but for close quarters battle it’s bad news. Bad guy grabs it and smashes head to the pavement. End of Bunker. I know Edna only said NO CAPES, but her examples apply so I don’t think she’d approve of the dangling loose ribbons either.
UPDATE: Some new info has surfaced on Bunker (over at TheSource). Three things you didn’t know about the DCnU’s latest gay hero…
1.
For a young kid from a small village in Mexico, he seems to have been pretty well trained in the use of his super powers before coming here to the States, no? Hmmm. We’ll discover that he’s received private tutelage … from a very unexpected source!
2.
In order to join the Teen Titans, Miguel had to turn his back on the first great love of his life. When that love comes back, he’s going to learn that the same passion that fueled their relationship might very well consume him.
3.
At first glance it doesn’t seem like Bunker has the most awe-inspiring super power in the world (A 3×3 foot pile of psionic bricks that he can manipulate as he pleases). But in issue five, when he squares off against no less a threat than the Superboy, we understand what he lacks in caliber he more than makes up for in moxie!
Both Marvel comics and DC’s “New 52″ show a commitment to inclusion of LGBT characters in some of their best titles. I’ll likely expand and update this post to include more titles, so leave a comment to point out any I left out. If it’s a DC title, sightings should be post relaunch.
DC’s New 52 line up of titles contains a number that prominently feature LGBT characters. Stormwatch chronicles the future relationship between gay Superman and Batman analogues Apollo and The Midnighter. Their story has been told, but never in the DCU proper. Teen Titans will introduce Bunker, a flamboyant gay teen hero. Batwoman follows the costumed adventures of lesbian socialite Kate Kane. The Shade is a new maxi-series set in Opal City and the cast includes bisexual blue alien Mikasl Tomas a.k.a. Starman. No sign of recently resurrected Aussi gay were-hero Tasmanian Devil.
Marvel may not have rebooted their entire universe recently, but nonetheless also have a number of high profile titles showcasing LGBT characters. The most popular LGBT characters of the Marvel U would be gay teen Young Avengers… Wiccan and Hulkling. A close second would be gay couple Rictor and Shatterstar from Peter David’s brilliant X-Factor. Daken Akihiro, the tattooed, bisexual bad boy son of Wolverine is fast becoming a fan favorite. Speaking of Wolverine, when he scooped up the X-kids and brought them back-to-school, he included Anole, Graymalkin and Bling. Karma has also stated Weschester is her destination.
If you think I forgot about Alpha Flight… not so fast. You may not have heard that news of it’s status as an ongoing title was premature. Alpha Flight is cancelled as of issue #8.
A twitter exchange between fan fave writer Gail Simone and DCnU Teen Titan artist Brett Booth preceded the September 18th article on Bleeding Cool officially announcing that the roster of relaunched series includes a new gay teen hero. “Bunker” manifests small force fields with a brick like texture (seen in the artwork as projected fists). According to Booth, despite being included on the cover art, Bunker doesn’t become part of the story until issue #3. He also mentioned on-the-nose purple wasn’t his first choice, but of all the color schemes, it just worked best, and what can you do?
His real name is Miguel (Miggs) Jose Barragan. Raised in the very small Mexican village of El Chilar. he was very loved by his family and the village as well — and they were as accepting of his homosexuality as they were to his super powers when they first manifested. To that end he grew up in an angst-free environment. He was born out of the closet and so he has a very refreshing outlook on life.
Bunker will differ from some of the more recent new gay characters (or recently outed) to show up in comics (Rictor, Shatterstar, Wiccan, Hulkling, Greymalkin, Anole) in that he grew up comfortable and accepted for being both gay and meta. In the recent article, Bret explained their reasoning and approach to the first officially fabulous Teen Titan…
Sure they are gay people who you wouldn’t know are gay right off the bat, but there are others who are a more flamboyant, and we thought it would be nice to actually see them portrayed in comics. Will he be more effeminate than what we’ve seen before, the ‘typical’ gay male comic character, yes. Does it scare the shit out of me that I might inadvertently piss off the group I want to reflect in a positive way, you’re damn straight (pun intended!)
I won’t know how I REALLY feel about this until I read it, but as a prime example of the demographic he’s afraid of “pissing off,” I’ll say I have no problem with the concept as long as he doesn’t become a painful stereotype. Basically, I’m interested and far more excited about the release of Teen Titans #1 because of this, but since he won’t show for a few issues, it is a wait and see situation for a true opinion.
A number of people have already made the inevitable GLEE reference – calling him a Mexican Chris Colfer with super powers. That PARTICULAR combination is sure to draw the interest of many, the admiration of some and the ire of a few sides. I’ve noticed (both in GLEE comments here and elsewhere) the general dislike that the “nelly queen” type in general (or Colfer specifically – personally I enjoy him despite a tendency to find most over the top types a bit tedious) generate – even within an exclusively gay community. So at this point in the evolution of the “Gay Superhero” is this a step forward or 2 steps back?
Interestingly this is NOT the first time Teen Titans scribe Scott Lobdell has been part of a story that includes a gay character. He was also the writer of the historic (if often maligned) 1992 Alpha Flight #106 in which Northstar (Jean-Paul Baubier) officially publicly announced his homosexuality by screaming I’m Gay! while fighting an enraged Canadian Super Mountie named Major Mapleleaf (who was out to kill an AIDS baby for surviving and getting media attention while his gay son died). Hopefully Bunker will be getting a subtler, more three-dimensional, less over the top and generally better written treatment.
I’ll be including Bunker in the LGBT Superlist as soon as I can get a good shot of the character – I’m going to ask Brett Booth for one. Lets hope he can help.
So what do YOU think of Bunker’s character description?
