Vixen Appreciation 2021

[Frontier]

By James Tucker:

Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/CHgUdn-j...JYuvkbEwVVCI0/

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Reminds me of that B'Wana Beast relationship. And Cree Summer!

[LordAllMIghty]

So going by the writer Tee Franklin, Mari’s officially bisexual now. Not just Harley Quinn cartoon.

Maybe in that universe...not in the main DCU. I blame the short hair.

[Will Evans]

Maybe in that universe...not in the main DCU. I blame the short hair.

The same writer is writing Vixen in the upcoming Tis The Season anthology.
I’m pretty sure by her comments, she’ll have Vixen be bisexual there as well.

[lemonpeace]

The same writer is writing Vixen in the upcoming Tis The Season anthology.
I’m pretty sure by her comments, she’ll have Vixen be bisexual there as well.

eeh i guess thats fine, but iunno this one feels weird. I'm usually fine with these sorta changes but something about the way they're handling it feels weird and kinda disingenuous. it reads like an extension of how they handle Harley's sexuality more than a change thats in service of Vixen. like they're using the fact that Vixen was just in proximity to Harley, and since DC tends to use Harley's sexuality as an extension of her manic pixie girlboss aestethic, that's justification enough to also make Vixen bi as part of her aesthetic; not because it has anything to do with the character. sexuality is a significant detail that can provide meaningful texture and color to character, texture and color best saved for a series bout Vixen to change. offhandedly changing in a Harley series and a holiday special ain't exactly the best way to tell that story. it's bad form and a little hack-y. this reads empty to me and like it could easily be underplayed down the road, much like Wonder Woman's bisexuality or Catwoman's bisexuality, which in itself speaks to another issue DC has.

[LordAllMIghty]

The same writer is writing Vixen in the upcoming Tis The Season anthology.
I’m pretty sure by her comments, she’ll have Vixen be bisexual there as well.

It's a story about her and DC's Super-pets during a Christmas/Holiday event...I wouldn't expect to see anything sexual during the story.

I really hope not but giving today's shock writers I wouldn't be that surprised.

On the other hand, if this leads to Vixen using the abilities of Krypto the Superdog. I will forgive whatever...lol

eeh i guess thats fine, but iunno this one feels weird. I'm usually fine with these sorta changes but something about the way they're handling it feels weird and kinda disingenuous. it reads like an extension of how they handle Harley's sexuality more than a change thats in service of Vixen. like they're using the fact that Vixen was just in proximity to Harley, and since DC tends to use Harley's sexuality as an extension of her manic pixie girlboss aestethic, that's justification enough to also make Vixen bi as part of her aesthetic; not because it has anything to do with the character. sexuality is a significant detail that can provide meaningful texture and color to character, texture and color best saved for a series bout Vixen to change. offhandedly changing in a Harley series and a holiday special ain't exactly the best way to tell that story. it's bad form and a little hack-y. this reads empty to me and like it could easily be underplayed down the road, much like Wonder Woman's bisexuality or Catwoman's bisexuality, which in itself speaks to another issue DC has.

This, all this...

[Confuzzled]

MizTee Franklin is a queer black woman who probably wanted Mari to be more like her. Before this news, I had been chatting with her on Twitter and she was super excited about including Vixen in the HQ series. It was all her idea because it was her dream to write the character. She's a true fan. Can ya'll chill for a bit before going into attack mode?

Also, a bisexual character doesn't stop being bisexual just because they keep dating members of the opposite gender for the longest time.

[Hypestyle]

MizTee Franklin is a queer black woman who probably wanted Mari to be more like her. Before this news, I had been chatting with her on Twitter and she was super excited about including Vixen in the HQ series. It was all her idea because it was her dream to write the character. She's a true fan. Can ya'll chill for a bit before going into attack mode?

Also, a bisexual character doesn't stop being bisexual just because they keep dating members of the opposite gender for the longest time.

so, statistically, with Vixen added to the 'lineup', how many does that make at DC proper? (Not milestone, Vertigo, etc.)

[MoneySpider]

MizTee Franklin is a queer black woman who probably wanted Mari to be more like her. Before this news, I had been chatting with her on Twitter and she was super excited about including Vixen in the HQ series. It was all her idea because it was her dream to write the character. She's a true fan. Can ya'll chill for a bit before going into attack mode?

Also, a bisexual character doesn't stop being bisexual just because they keep dating members of the opposite gender for the longest time.

Vixen was never established to be bisexual in the first place, because from her very first appearances, her creators (Gerry Conway and Bob Oksner) established her as being a straight woman with a boyfriend named Solomon Samuels in both her original 1978 and 1981 origin stories. So I'm not sure where your "doesn't stop being bisexual" comment comes from.

Plus, she's making a fundamental change to a character which appears to be made on the fact that she herself is that way, which is NOT something every Vixen fan is going to agree with. Creating an original character that resembles the writer's lifestyle is one thing, but changing the lifestyle of a character created by other people is something else entirely. And not everyone is going to agree with the decision. Some will, some won't.

Plus this change is something that has NEVER up until this point been established in ANY of Vixen's previous 40+ years of history in terms of DC Universe canon. This angle just came out of left field. Now so far, that Harley Quinn appearance is in its own little universe, but if that other story is supposed to be canon in the main DC universe, again, not everyone is going to agree with it.

But it's like you're basically asking people to not have a problem with it and to act like it's really no big deal when it is a big deal to some people, especially when it feels like the writer is trying to put their personal lifestyle off on characters who they did not create. Also, I don't think anyone here so far has been in "attack mode." Some people are just expressing concerns, which is what naturally happens when something like this is revealed about characters (see Green Lantern Alan Scott, Tim Drake, Superman's son, etc. etc.)

If a writer came along and suddenly wrote a story where Bruce Wayne was bisexual or gay, you'd most likely see some concern from some Batman fans. That's just reality.

[Will Evans]

Vixen was never established to be bisexual in the first place, because from her very first appearances, her creators (Gerry Conway and Bob Oksner) established her as being a straight woman with a boyfriend named Solomon Samuels in both her original 1978 and 1981 origin stories. So I'm not sure where your "doesn't stop being bisexual" comment comes from.

Plus, she's making a fundamental change to a character which appears to be made on the fact that she herself is that way, which is NOT something every Vixen fan is going to agree with. Creating an original character that resembles the writer's lifestyle is one thing, but changing the lifestyle of a character created by other people is something else entirely. And not everyone is going to agree with the decision. Some will, some won't.

Plus this change is something that has NEVER up until this point been established in ANY of Vixen's previous history in terms of DC Universe canon. This angle just came out of left field. Now so far, that Harley Quinn appearance is in its own little universe, but if that other story is supposed to be canon in the main DC universe, again, not everyone is going to agree with it.

But it's like you're basically asking people to not have a problem with it and to act like it's really no big deal when it is a big deal to some people, especially when it feels like the writer is trying to put their personal lifestyles off on characters who they did not create.

When’s the last time Vixen had an actual boyfriend in main DC? Bronze Tiger in the 80s?

[MoneySpider]

When’s the last time Vixen had an actual boyfriend in main DC? Bronze Tiger in the 80s?

Yeah, probably. And in animation, John Stewart was her boyfriend in "Justice League Unlimited", B'Wanna Beast was her boyfriend/fiancee in an episode of "Batman: Brave and the Bold" and she started dating Adam Macalester in those "Vixen" animated webisodes.

[lemonpeace]

MizTee Franklin is a queer black woman who probably wanted Mari to be more like her. Before this news, I had been chatting with her on Twitter and she was super excited about including Vixen in the HQ series. It was all her idea because it was her dream to write the character. She's a true fan. Can ya'll chill for a bit before going into attack mode?

Also, a bisexual character doesn't stop being bisexual just because they keep dating members of the opposite gender for the longest time.

queer writers are not exempt from criticism for how they handle queer characters, especially if the character wasn't queer before they wrote them. her being queer doesn't negate her handling of the reveal being weak; no one is attacking her, I'm pointing out poor craftsmanship. Bryan Hill being black didn't make his handling of Duke and Jefferson in his Outsiders run any less disappointing, mediocre, or underwhelming. this reveal feels like it's about everyone else but Vixen. if it was just in the Harley Quinn: TAS comic alone that's one thing, but attempting to double down and establish it in a Vixen/SuperPets holiday is a misfire. like I said, I'm fine with the sexuality change in theory, but just making a character queer isn't universally a good move by itself. the way it appears to be being handled here it reads empty and rooted in DC's historically shallow exploration and portrayal of their queer characters. if her bisexuality was something that came out in something about Vixen I likely wouldn't care, and I frankly don't really care if Vixen is bi gay or straight, but poor storytelling is poor storytelling and this wasn't the platform for such a major shift in character. it's especially not the place for it to be taken seriously. when these things are done so flippantly, especially with underutilized characters like Vixen who often have plot points and character moments abandoned, it makes it very likely that it gets abandoned at worst or, at best, end up like Catwoman and Wonder Woman where their queerness will almost always lose out in favor of a heteronormative relationship; and be a non-factor unless DC needs an extra feature for a LGBTQ+ poster or cover. which will only make the choice ring hollow down the road. maybe someone else will pick up on it in a way that's interesting down the road, but having her come out as a "LOL so random" joke in the Harley Quinn: TAS comic and then trying to doubling down in a one-off holiday special with the Superpets just is not a good look in my book.

[LordAllMIghty]

As I haven't read the story yet, I'm gonna assume there will be no mention of sexual orientation in a story dealing with Super Pets

Also, I'm bi/gay and I would prefer if they didn't make Vixen a part of the LGBT+ community. It's starting to feel like a stunt and not a way to progress a cause.

[Frontier]

The scene felt so weird that I don't think it was explicit enough to really matter in the long run unless they write a story in the main universe where it's more apparent, but I'm not sure that will happen.

[skyvolt2000]

As I haven't read the story yet, I'm gonna assume there will be no mention of sexual orientation in a story dealing with Super Pets

Also, I'm bi/gay and I would prefer if they didn't make Vixen a part of the LGBT+ community. It's starting to feel like a stunt and not a way to progress a cause.

It is a stunt nowadays.

Far too many times we see one story and that is it for the character until the next one.

It's one thing to make John Boy Kent Bi-because he has a book that will showcase him more than that.

Vixen has gotten NOTHING but crumbs her entire 40 year existence. Making her Bi is NOT going to help her anymore than it did Prodigy or Alan Scott or Fuse (from West Coast Adventures).

So unless we are getting a Vixen book by Tee-it's pointless.

And then we have the flipside of the New Warriors-fits were tossed before a single issue came out. So it's funny it's wait to judge for this but that book did not get the option.

And before anyone says the Warriors writer was a straight white guy-he's is the SAME writer who did Black Panther versus Deadpool and Loki. Nobody threw fits. He did a better job with Panther than Coates.

[Johnny]

Well, let's assume she does get a book afterwards. That would be great, but at the same time some people would surely wonder if her sexuality change was the only reason she would get that book in the first place. Did DC not see Vixen, the way she was, as being worthy of getting a bigger spotlight unless they changed her preferences. I think questions like that are not meant to attack any creator, let alone community, they're legit questions to ask based on how precisely the presumed change is being implemented by DC.