I'm still holding out hope for a Nightmask/Starbrand coupling, but I doubt it'll ever happen.
I really got a vibe from them during the time that they were on the run from the Avengers.
ANOLE [Victor Borkowski]
BLING! [Roxanne ‘Roxy’ Washington]
CULLEN BLOODSTONE
DAKEN AKIHIRO
HULKLING [Theodore ‘Teddy’ Altman]
KARMA [Xi’an Coy Mahn]
KAROLINA DEAN
LOKI LAUFEYSON, God of Mischief
MOONDRAGON [Heather Douglas]
MYSTIQUE [Raven Darkholme]
NORTHSTAR [Jean-Paul Beaubier]
PRODIGY [David Alleyne]
RICTOR [Julio Esteban Ricter]
SHATTERSTAR [Gaveedra-7]
WICCAN [William ‘Billy’ Kaplan], the Demiurge
I'm still holding out hope for a Nightmask/Starbrand coupling, but I doubt it'll ever happen.
I really got a vibe from them during the time that they were on the run from the Avengers.
I forgot to mention Shatterstar/Rictor is probably my favorite actual M/M couple, a lot more so than Billy and Teddy. Peter David writes them with such ease and such character and humor, I really hope he tackles a gay/lesbian couple in All-New X-Factor.
I don't even follow Hickman's Avengers so I'm not really following the Nightmask/Starbrand couple. Avengers World is somewhat better due to the (limited) character focus at least, but there's something actually drawing me into the story. Plus while I like new gay characters, it's past time that Northstar, the biggest LBGT character at Marvel and possibly all of comics join the Avengers team.
On a separate thought, wouldn't it be cool of Original Sins outed a B-Lister?
I like how their 'drama' was realistic sorts of drama. Rahne questioning whether she'd done something wrong and somehow 'turned Rictor gay.' Strong Guy expressing his discomfort with the idea by making off-color jokes (that Shatterstar completely failed to get). "So, do you like Gladiator movies, 'Star?" "Apparently I do." Rictor having to address the notion that Shatterstar is discovering sexuality and not, specifically, gay, and has no real understanding of 'monogamy.'
No 'My reality warper boy friend may have created me to be his perfect fantasy' or 'I ditched the responsibility of going home to rule my people and chose to remain on Earth, and so the Skrulls invaded Earth after arranging a Civil War between Earth's heroes and a ****ton of people died,' or 'my reality warper boyfriend just tried to resurrect my dead adoptive mother and it's another whacky Tuesday in Sunnydale.'
While Karolina / Xavin also had some funkiness, at least some of their funkiness could serve as metaphor for more down to earth relationship issues. Xavin's shapeshifting / gender conforming with issues of one partner pretending to be something they're not to make the other happy, for instance.
My biggest problem with Billy/Teddy is that the relationship revolves around Billy. What drama/development Teddy has, it usually goes back to Billy in some sort of way, outside of the Skrull/Kree stuff.
I do appreciate Billy and in some ways I don't mind him getting so much spotlight, mainly because it's nice to see someone not so completely butch be a badass hero. But in some ways I just feel a lot is handed to him without him actually developing to go along with it. His powers aren't even defined in any sort of way; I guess he's a mutant with the same probability-altering/magic combo that Wanda has but do we even see him studying magic? What does he do to deserve a guy like Teddy? How did they even meet? We need a flashback, unless I have some serious holes in my memory and they did do an origin story with him.
Not to completely derail the thread, I noticed there's a lot of bisexual women at Marvel and while I like the fact that there's representation of bisexuals, I can't help but feel it's a straight male "thing" to glorify women who like women, but are still straight enough for them (hence all the conversation of Mystique only really doing something with one woman and having a lot of a male relationships).
Ohhhh, excellent. Will add them too, thank-you
This is a very fair point (in terms of Hickman's "obligation" to reveal who is LGBT) BUT... I think it's a cheap answer to "why are none of your cast LGBT?" Saying "one is... but I may never address it"; to me, I think you shouldn't make comments like that if you have no intention of revealing it. It's the cheapest form of tokenism; you get the "kudos" for having an LGBT character (or at-least side-step the question of "lack of LGBT") without ever having to worry about it.
YEY!!!
I'd love to see Northstar take up a leadership role for Alpha Flight (or even an X-team). Did he lead the team when they went to Limbo to save Magik? Also, welcome to the thread.
QUESTION: who do you think are the most consistently supportive writers of LGBT characters at Marvel?
I think Bendis and Liu should definitely be included, for their consistent use/creation of LGBT characters. Christos Gage has also written several different comics with LGBT characters. Who else?
I'd love to see Northstar join.
While I like the idea, I'm not sure "sin" would be the best way to do it; sends a bad message.
While I really liked Rictor/Shatterstar, it didn't (for me) put Rahne in the best light. It made her a little unlikeable to me.
I always think it's a shame there is this (in my eyes false) opinion Hulkling gets no time to shine. In the first "season" of YA, Hulkling had a story arc (Wiccan didn't). Hulkling was the focus of the Young Avengers/Runaway: Secret Invasion mini too. I assume the idea that it's "only about Wiccan" is due to Avengers: Children's Crusade (since Gillen's "season" gave just as much time to Hulkling as Wiccan).
It is curious that all 3 LGBT solo stars have been bisexual... maybe it is "easier" to deal with/accept?
It would be awesome!
I just want Loki and Sigurd to get it on already!!!! That "tumble in the dumpster" was fun though... hee hee...
I don't know the full extent of DC's Batwoman, is she Barbara Gordon? Because while the name "Batwoman" is huge, many associate that with Gordon's daughter (films, cartoons); not with the LGBT star, surely?
Last edited by Kieran_Frost; 06-14-2014 at 03:13 AM.
Could be. It is also likely that it leaves them free to do use whoever catches their fancy in a romantic role. It may also be that in the cases of characters who've already had romantic relationships 'on panel', as well, that it makes it less a potential source of continuity nitpicking.
Last edited by Tendrin; 06-14-2014 at 03:17 AM.
I like the idea that we see someone who actually does see their sexuality as an issue, a 'sin,' who can't understand that no one else cares because they care so much.
Then we can follow through them coming to terms with it about themselves, rather than just having an out character and the story being other's reactions.
I will raise my throne above the Stars of God
PAD probably deserves to be mentioned there, too. And I'd say Chris Yost. His new X-Men run with Craig Kyle helped to elevate Anole a bit more, and his Scarlet Spider had a same-sex couple as supporting characters.
I thought she was still likable. She's got that very strict upbringing. She's been raised to believe that homosexuality is a sin, and she actually doesn't have that much experience with it. So it makes sense that she would react the way she did, and she did get over it.While I really liked Rictor/Shatterstar, it didn't (for me) put Rahne in the best light. It made her a little unlikeable to me.
Barbara is Batgirl. Batwoman is Kate Kane, a lesbian woman. From what I've heard, the book was fantastic until pretty recently, when the creative team left. They weren't allowed to let Batwoman marry her girlfriend (because DC isn't allowing any of its characters to be married right now, no matter who they are), and that seemed to just annoy them enough that they didn't want to do it any more.I don't know the full extent of DC's Batwoman, is she Barbara Gordon? Because while the name "Batwoman" is huge, many associate that with Gordon's daughter (films, cartoons); not with the LGBT star, surely?
I would definitely argue that Batwoman is bigger than any of Marvel's LGBT stars. She's actually had a very successful solo run. She got huge amounts of press when she was first announced; far more than even Northstar's wedding got. She's definitely a pretty well-known character.
Should we, though? His women are obviously all gay for each other, but it's all through subtext, and crosses all-too-often into fetishism. How often does he use openly LGBT characters? He used Karma in Mekanix, but even then, Karma was one of the few characters he created who he hadn't previously written as a lesbian, and it was someone else who added that level to her.
So is Claremont really supportive of LGBT characters, or is he just a fetishist?
Hmmmm... I "could" see that working... I could also see it being trite/cliché. Though I do think quite a few heroes have struggled with their sexuality; Striker (and possibly Mercury) both recently explored this.
Good call, PAD's Rictor/Shatterstar was great; and didn't he out Genis-vel? Can't remember: did he have any LGBT characters in She-Hulk or Hulk?
While I don't think she's a major name in of herself, I DO agree she's probably more famous than an LGBT Marvel star. I mean who really are the LGBT Marvel stars? Wiccan, Northstar and Daken?
While basically all his women were "bisexual", did he out/create any LGBT males?
You know, come to think of it, has Claremont ever shown an openly LGBT relationship? Not just subtext, but actually kissing and ****? The closest was Mystique and Destiny. Other than those two, I genuinely can't think of any instances where two same-sex characters he wrote were clearly in a romantic relationship.
Not convinced at all about Mercury. And if her scene with Bling!, her coming out, that was realy badly done.
She Hulk had a lesbian skrull friend: Jazinda, KL'rt daughter.Good call, PAD's Rictor/Shatterstar was great; and didn't he out Genis-vel? Can't remember: did he have any LGBT characters in She-Hulk or Hulk?
In Hulk, Hector, a member of a Pantheon, was gay.