Alan Scott in the Green Lantern 80th Anniversary *spoilers*

[j9ac9k]

I like it - as others have said, closeted gay men were around at the time, so why not? And let's face it, TPTB never would have been allowed to publish a gay hero back then. The stories that featured Alan back in the day didn't really get into heavy characterization, so it's not like we had been inside his head and following his life the way we do with contemporary heroes who have a title. He's mostly been featured on teams anyway and there was even less room for personal lives there so it's not like this retcon changes all of his previous appearances. How he deals with or had dealt with Todd would be different though. I don't recall any particular stories about Todd's sexuality where Alan's behavior would have been different, but nothing's really canon anyway - we don't even know if Todd exists.

Also, would it be totally inappropriate to say that at least we finally have an explanation for his outfit....??

[Robanker]

And don't forget Doctor Who's Captain Jack, who was worse than all those other guys combined. I think he literally hit on a toaster at one point?

I don't know how I'd feel about Hal, Kyle, or John changing sexuality. All of them have a pretty deep relationship history that has played large roles in their stories, and I usually am not in favor of making big changes like this to a character when there's so much precedent that establishes them in a certain way.

But Allan's wife have been a complete and utter non-presence who matters only because of Jade and Todd. She is not important. Considering how rarely Allan mentions her, and how rarely she shows up on the page, it's clear she's not important to Allan either. I know that there are stories, decades old now, which show Allan in a loving relationship with women. But those stories are well in the rear view mirror and we haven't seen that kind of affection in a long, long time.

So Allan being a closeted gay man in the 40's? F*ck yeah. Sign me up for that. It is a retcon that is easily slipped into Allan's history and character; it's not taking anything away from him, it's adding to him. And the idea that we could get stories where Allan, after decades of being in the closet, finally finds the courage to do what his son did, and then goes out on the town? I mean, come on, who doesn't want to read about Old Man Scott trying to not only get back into the dating scene, but do it for the first time as an openly gay man?

I support Allan being gay a billion percent. If his wife mattered to the narrative, I'd feel differently.....but she doesn't, and I'm down with gay Allan.



I'm with you. It could be a fantastic tale that really gives Allan a narrative worth reading about, so of course DC will likely hate it.

Yeah, it'd be a big ass pull with Jay considering how much he loves his wife. Alan? Not really a big stretch. I can't remember the time he even showed interest in a woman.

[Sacred Knight]

I'm not a big fan of in general of the Bobby Drake method, personally (The New 52 not really withstanding because it was a clean reboot in some aspects, in this case applying to Alan). But, if you're going to do it in an existing continuity where it requires a retcon, Alan is a choice on the safer side and imo that's where its best to do it. If its a bold choice, then I lean toward bad idea because if its bold, that generally means its going to change too much of import. So I really don't mind. If it doesn't affect Jade and Obsidian existing then it really does little to alter Alan Scott that drastically (and there's no reason it should affect Jade and Obsidian, plenty of gay men have children born in a time when he hadn't come out yet, hadn't realized, etc). He's not a character really known for any particular popular and driving love interests and dynamics within his lore that would affect it negatively. Within his old continuity, an Alan Scott that is in the closest during a time period where it was pretty much forbidden to come out can supplement his character in interesting ways I think.

[andersonh1]

I think people are reading a lot into the story. I didn't get that Alan was gay out of it at all. I'm not okay with it if it turns out to be true. Alan was never homosexual, and I hate this sort of retcon that alters a character's entire history retroactively. At least the New 52 Alan was an entirely new version of the character, but this is meant to be the original. Stick with the original intent. I see no good reason to change him this way.

[Dylan Davison]

I'm good with this. Rebirth is new and exciting, and such a small change like this makes a lot of difference to LGBT+ people, like myself. He could still have kids. So, Jade and Obsidian are okay. Gay men, even more so closeted gay men, have kids sometimes. And he could be bisexual or pansexual. When I read that I thought it seemed like they were talking about sexuality, so I'm glad other people think so too.

[j9ac9k]

I think people are reading a lot into the story. I didn't get that Alan was gay out of it at all. I'm not okay with it if it turns out to be true. Alan was never homosexual, and I hate this sort of retcon that alters a character's entire history retroactively. At least the New 52 Alan was an entirely new version of the character, but this is meant to be the original. Stick with the original intent. I see no good reason to change him this way.

The counter I have with this argument is that "the original intent" includes the marginalization, demonization or outright denial of segments of the population. A lot of people cry foul that there's "an agenda" now to be more inclusive but there was just as much of an agenda back then to maintain the status quo and promote american, straight white male exceptionalism. So for me, that's the "good reason to change him."

[andersonh1]

The counter I have with this argument is that "the original intent" includes the marginalization, demonization or outright denial of segments of the population. A lot of people cry foul that there's "an agenda" now to be more inclusive but there was just as much of an agenda back then to maintain the status quo and promote american, straight white male exceptionalism. So for me, that's the "good reason to change him."

And I prefer fidelity to a character as conceived by the creators. Growth as the stories are told and time passes is one thing, altering decades of established history is another entirely. I'm just not in favor of it, whatever the reason.

Your argument applies to every character created by DC up until recent years. I think you need a better, more specific reason.

Alan had love interests in his 1940s series. Irene Miller is the first, as early as Green Lantern #3. There was also Molly Mayne/Harlequin and Rose/Thorn, who he married and who was the father of his children. He and Molly married later in life. And there may be others, a lot of his series is obviously out of print so I haven't read more than the two Archives and the Silver Age appearances onward. The clear intent is that it was always women that Alan was interested in, so it's a massive retcon to alter that now, and as I said, I don't care for that.

[The Cool Thatguy]

I think I'd care more about this if they ever bothered to establish what Alan's current point in canon is, ya know?

That said, I'd rather they reveal that as Alan grew older, he became attracted to men over women. Too many works of fiction treat sexuality as fixed, and Alan is pretty damn old...

[CaptCleghorn]

If Alan Scott's gay, that adds an whole new slant to Molly Mayne's dealings with him. A woman who knows Alan's true sexuality teasingly pursuing him sounds like a fitting relationship for the two. Now it's also possible Alan wasn't aware he was gay. I've talked wuth gay men who didn't realize their preferences until later in life It's also possible he knew but kept it a secret from even his closest friends.

Alan's sexuality was never a big part of his life and even when it was part of Infinity, Inc., it was a hodgepodge of leaning over this way and stretching credibilty so Jade and Obsidian could be explained. As much as I respect and love the work Roy Thomas put into the Earth Two heroes and that world, the parenting of Jenny and Todd was possibly my least favorite part. I'd like to see Alan as part of the LGBTQ community. Hopefully if that's done, it will be respectful and keep Jade and Obsidian with their best qualities.

You know, all this redoing could be avoided if DC would stick with a version of the JSA.

[Ascended]

And I prefer fidelity to a character as conceived by the creators. Growth as the stories are told and time passes is one thing, altering decades of established history is another entirely. I'm just not in favor of it, whatever the reason.

Generally I agree that retcons which change a major chunk of a character are a bad deal, even when the intention is noble.

Allan's sexuality is one of the exceptions for me. Saying he was gay fits within the framework of his history; it doesn't actually change anything; he would have still dated those women, he still would have gotten married (twice) and had Jen and Todd. He could have still very much been fond of those women and "loved" them...just not in a sexual way. Allan might as well be single for all the attention his love life has gotten over the last thirty years, so.....saying he's gay doesn't necessarily *change* anything; more like it *reveals* something Allan himself had buried deep down.

It adds dimension to his relationship with Molly, and it adds to his dynamic with Todd without actually removing or changing anything on the page. It's just Allan discovering a side of himself that, due to the era he lived and grew up in, he had to hide as deep as he could.

But I totally get not wanting the continuity changed. Most of the time I'm of the same mind.

Your argument applies to every character created by DC up until recent years. I think you need a better, more specific reason.

I think "making our established characters more interesting and varied and representing a broader demographic than straight white males" is as specific a reason as is needed. I mean, DC can, should, and do create new characters meant to broaden representation, but that's only one option among many and if it's the only option DC uses then we'll have a really weird DCU where nobody was gay or black or female until the modern age.

If the goal is to say that some established, older characters were closeted, the Golden Age cast is a good place to start. They're safer choices than their Silver Age compatriots, the homophobia of their era helps rationalize why they're in the closet even in the present day, and the thin quality of story and character development of the Golden Age allows more wiggle room to inject changes like these between the lines.

There's better choices for a gay JSA member than Allan; some of them have even less of a dating history than Allan does, some of them didn't have kids, and everybody seems to think Johnny Thunder was gay in the first place. But Allan's also one of the highest profile JSA members, so his coming out of the closet carries a bigger impact. It seems like a valid balance to me; someone like the original Mid-Nite might have been a better choice, but Allan is still visible, active, and carries a moniker with pedigree, but changing his sexuality won't create as big a kerfuffle as it would with Hal or Kyle or John.

[CaptCleghorn]

There's better choices for a gay JSA member than Allan; some of them have even less of a dating history than Allan does, some of them didn't have kids, and everybody seems to think Johnny Thunder was gay in the first place. But Allan's also one of the highest profile JSA members, so his coming out of the closet carries a bigger impact. It seems like a valid balance to me; someone like the original Mid-Nite might have been a better choice, but Allan is still visible, active, and carries a moniker with pedigree, but changing his sexuality won't create as big a kerfuffle as it would with Hal or Kyle or John.

Dr Midnite has had a base that believed he was gay. They've gone through his history and pointed out where that characterization fits and makes sense.

[sifighter]

Dr Midnite has had a base that believed he was gay. They've gone through his history and pointed out where that characterization fits and makes sense.

Didn’t Midnite date both Black Canary and Powergirl at some point in time?

[CaptCleghorn]

Didn’t Midnite date both Black Canary and Powergirl at some point in time?

That I'm not sure of. Power Girl seems unlikely due to an age difference, but who knows? I'm sure anyone spotting a date in an issue will post. I'm only talking about what some fans are saying about Midnite being the most likely to be gay.

[EmaHalJordan]

Hal Jordan is my favorite superhero! And now that I found out that Alan Scott is still gay I'm even more of a Green Lantern fan !!
I congratulate DC for putting a gay character at the center of the DC Universe!
Hopefully we can see this version of Alan soon on the Stargirl tv show

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Has it been officially confirmed that there is an upcoming monthly JSA book to be set strictly in the 1940s? I knew there were rumblings of a mini for the longest time.

Nothing official yet, but I can't imagine they're not doing at least a miniseries featuring Diana, Jay, & Alan set in the 1940s. Snyder's been hinting about it for what seems like years.