Jackson Hyde and Jaime Reyes pushing out legacies

[CTTT]

I’m also against an abundance of legacies and mantle holders but let’s be real here! There’s only been two Aqualad’ and the original outgrew the name and went by Tempest. The mantle was up for grabs, so it’s not Jackson’s fault that he’s caught on in a way that Garth never did.

I also agree that Jaime should have had his own mantle, but what’s done is done. He took over the role and is now the most iconic version, plus all the popular aspects of the Blue Beetle franchise come from him (The Reach, symbiotic relation with the scarab, the villains, the support cast, power set…etc)



They were upfront about Jackson/Kaldur. The creators wanted him to be bi from the very beginning but couldn’t depict it because it was a kids show (this was 10 years ago mind you). Anyway he’s hay now so everything said now doesn’t really matter

And you’re right, no point in arguing with bigots. They never change.

So, why didn't they just keep him bi instead of gay?

[El_Gato]

So, why didn't they just keep him bi instead of gay?

Maybe they realized they were going overboard with making 90% of their LGBT characters bi… I don’t know. You have to ask the creators. Kaldur is bi on the YJ show, we’ll see if he’s gay or bi in the DCEU when his series debuts

[Holt]

Plenty of folks have said that about a husband/father before he finally eventually came out.

This is no different than that.

The idea that we as readers would have some window that plenty of wives and children did not?

That is a completely "Blockhead..." idea.

Yeah. I'm sort of flabbergasted this line of conversation is even a thing. If someone was upset by that then honestly I don't know what to tell 'em.

[Psy-lock]

DC characters go through much more dramatic changes than becoming gay. The fact that this particular change (and for a character who's only been "straight" for about a year) bothers some people so much is not a good look.

[Captain Nostalgia]

I guess the first question I have about Jackson Hyde being gay or bisexual is who cares, and honestly who really wants to read about it, it sounds boring as #@?!


I mean, young teenage boys don't want to be reading about Jackson Hyde buying flowers for his new boyfriend, anymore than I want to be reading about Clark & Lois's romantic dinner together. They want to read about him punching a hole through Black Manta's helmet.

I mean seriously, does DC even knows who it's customer base is??? And people wonder why I complain about it not being run like a business.

[Jon Clark]

Plenty of folks have said that about a husband/father before he finally eventually came out.

This is no different than that.

The idea that we as readers would have some window that plenty of wives and children did not?

That is a completely "Blockhead..." idea.

Actually it's not a blockheaded idea. We see fictional characters in situations that we never see real live people in. We get to read their thoughts in some cases. We know when Character A is attracted to Character B because we see how Character A acts when they are all alone thinking about Character B, something even Character B will never know. The writers can choose to keep things from us, but the characters can't. Unlike real live people they have no idea they are being "watched" and no reason to hide things.

[BradleyFan]

I guess the first question I have about Jackson Hyde being gay or bisexual is who cares, and honestly who really wants to read about it, it sounds boring as #@?!


I mean, young teenage boys don't want to be reading about Jackson Hyde buying flowers for his new boyfriend, anymore than I want to be reading about Clark & Lois's romantic dinner together. They want to read about him punching a hole through Black Manta's helmet.

I mean seriously, does DC even knows who it's customer base is??? And people wonder why I complain about it not being run like a business.

It's called expansion. If the comic book industry wants to survive then it needs to diversify its audience. And there are plenty of teenage boys (and teenage girls) who would love to see a story of Jackson buying flowers for his new boyfriend. The publishing industry today is filled with LGBT themed novels and stories that are about teenage boys buying flowers for their new boyfriends. And those books are doing just fine.

[HandofPrometheus]

I guess the first question I have about Jackson Hyde being gay or bisexual is who cares, and honestly who really wants to read about it, it sounds boring as #@?!


I mean, young teenage boys don't want to be reading about Jackson Hyde buying flowers for his new boyfriend, anymore than I want to be reading about Clark & Lois's romantic dinner together. They want to read about him punching a hole through Black Manta's helmet.

I mean seriously, does DC even knows who it's customer base is??? And people wonder why I complain about it not being run like a business.

So he can’t do both??? Older comics always had the heroes do romantic things and heroic things in one issue so I don’t understand what you’re going on about.

[Holt]

So he can’t do both??? Older comics always had the heroes do romantic things and heroic things in one issue so I don’t understand what you’re going on about.

"Who cares about his personal life, people just want to see the heroes punch stuff!" is also kinda hilarious when a major part of what led to Marvel overtaking DC in popularity was exploring the personal lives of its characters beyond just having them punch stuff.

[Noodle]

The ironic thing being that if the character was stated as LGBTQ+ from the start like they want, then people would still be arguing and saying that it's his only selling point and that it's "pandering."

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[Robanker]

Are we really using Superman as an example for relationships not being a selling point? The guy who now has had two TV shows and another coming about his relationship with Lois? Who even editorial couldn't keep broken up despite several attempts?

Him being married was a selling point to me as a teenage boy. I liked that of all heroes, he got his shit together and made a life for himself with Lois.

But I guess all teenagers are just straight male meatheads who want action only? Marvel dominating the industry by injecting soap opera into their books disagrees.

Spider-Man is the most popular hero in the world and half his early comics (and still today, considering how reviled OMD was) was about his relationship drama.

Weird thing to just sneak in there with the rest.

Trying and failing to be slick. lol

[skyvolt2000]

I guess the first question I have about Jackson Hyde being gay or bisexual is who cares, and honestly who really wants to read about it, it sounds boring as #@?!

So I guess it was boring when Midnighter did is his books. We saw him in his first DC run pick up a man, sleep with and placed a tracker on him before going off to solve a crime.

Or what about John Constantine? He did it in his runs.

Or when straight guys like Batman, Superman and others when DC actually showed everyone balancing a private life and a super hero life.

You've never read a book about a man who suddenly learns he's attracted to another man? It's a very popular trope in the publishing industry and there are tons of books that have that same narrative. So, no, Jackson kissing a girl and then being attracted to a guy (and being attracted to only guys) is not some curve ball in today's publishing industry.

The late E Lynn Harris made a CAREER out of doing that.
I could list the number of black books (NOT just by gay black writers) that have featured someone coming out.

DC characters go through much more dramatic changes than becoming gay. The fact that this particular change (and for a character who's only been "straight" for about a year) bothers some people so much is not a good look.

The reality of it is-that it happens. The issue in comics is we are no longer afforded the long runs that can and do build up to a coming out.

Right now so many are suddenly coming out of the blue and in a lot of cases no follow up.

In other words using Prodigy as the example.

He shows up in the Pride books and background fodder in X-books. NOBODY bothers to showcase him like he was in New X-Men Academy. So you end up having folks think him being gay is all he has going for him.

[Will Evans]

So I guess it was boring when Midnighter did is his books. We saw him in his first DC run pick up a man, sleep with and placed a tracker on him before going off to solve a crime.

Or what about John Constantine? He did it in his runs.

Or when straight guys like Batman, Superman and others when DC actually showed everyone balancing a private life and a super hero life.





The late E Lynn Harris made a CAREER out of doing that.
I could list the number of black books (NOT just by gay black writers) that have featured someone coming out.




The reality of it is-that it happens. The issue in comics is we are no longer afforded the long runs that can and do build up to a coming out.

Right now so many are suddenly coming out of the blue and in a lot of cases no follow up.

In other words using Prodigy as the example.

He shows up in the Pride books and background fodder in X-books. NOBODY bothers to showcase him like he was in New X-Men Academy. So you end up having folks think him being gay is all he has going for him.

I’m pretty sure Prodigy was showcased in the latest X-Factor run.

[4sake Baned]

I’m pretty sure Prodigy was showcased in the latest X-Factor run.

He was but he was poorly used & had the bare minimum character arc/sub plot ended wacky imo.

[krazijoe]

Why does DC love to pretend characters like Garth and Ted Kord don't exist? Readers became fans of these characters for a reason. Doesn't mean that just because they were introduced in the 60-70s or 80s that you shouldn't write for them anymore. Booster Gold and Ted have a friendship that fans have loved. Garth was a Teen Titan and became Tempest. They shouldn't be shoved under the rug simply because they introduce a POC. Write for both characters. That way fans can follow their characters. Also, Jackson was introduced with a girlfriend and later becomes gay because...? Feels like pandering. Straight fans of these characters should be validated just as much as homosexual readers. Otherwise feels like pandering.

I feel like I am always being pandered to when I see Powergirl...