LGBT+ Marvel Characters Discussion

[Kieran_Frost]

So this coming Wednesday Avengers World comes out, with a focus on Hyperion; where many have speculated IF Hickman's "LGBT Avenger" is ever going to be outed, it will be in this issue. Who else thinks it will happen? Who thinks it won't?

Great list. Thanks.
I'm a Marvel man myself so I know and have read most of those. It's basically that and The Authority and Midnighter series as well.
I'm really looking for something that I don't think even exist sadly.

I too only read Marvel, I'm afraid; so I can't help.

[Fokken]

Miss America Chavez cameos over in Hawkeye (okay so she doesn't actaully appear on panel or get named dropped but Kate DOES make a call to a place with a 3-4 hour time differential to a person who suggests she KICK Madame Masque's face off, AND Kate tells the person on the other end of the call that she misses the caller as well as an implied group of friends whom she hasn't seen in a few months)


CAMEO!

heh.

[Kieran_Frost]

Miss America Chavez cameos over in Hawkeye (okay so she doesn't actaully appear on panel or get named dropped but Kate DOES make a call to a place with a 3-4 hour time differential to a person who suggests she KICK Madame Masque's face off, AND Kate tells the person on the other end of the call that she misses the caller as well as an implied group of friends whom she hasn't seen in a few months)
CAMEO!
heh.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, it was MAC. Good catch. My mind instinctively assumed Billy or Teddy. Thanks Fokken. I'm hoping for a final cameo of the whole team at the very end....

[Fokken]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, it was MAC. Good catch. My mind instinctively assumed Billy or Teddy. Thanks Fokken. I'm hoping for a final cameo of the whole team at the very end....

Its doubtful, but I'm still oddly giddy about her inclusion --however minimal.
Its these kinds of connections through titles that get me so happy and give me a very real respect for the writer. Like when Ewing named dropped Billy over in Mighty Avengers via Victor Alvarez. Its so great to see writers acknowledging the work and the affiliations within that work of other writers.
Definitely picking up that issue. Annie Wu? Kate Bishop? MAC cameo? SOLD.

[Magnito]

Great list. Thanks.

I'm a Marvel man myself so I know and have read most of those. It's basically that and The Authority and Midnighter series as well.

I'm really looking for something that I don't think even exist sadly.

In DC, I really enjoyed the Manhunter series. Kate Spencer was a great main character and her assistant Daimon was gay. And boyfriends with superhero(/sometimes Villian) Obsidian.

The gay could are supporting and not part of the main plot at all, but it still could be worth a read.

[Andru]

So this coming Wednesday Avengers World comes out, with a focus on Hyperion; where many have speculated IF Hickman's "LGBT Avenger" is ever going to be outed, it will be in this issue. Who else thinks it will happen? Who thinks it won't?

I would be all for it. Unfortunately, I think the concept has been swept under the rug. With Hickman's run set to end next spring and with so much going on in the title, I don't think we will ever find out who his "gay" character is/was.

[Tiamatty]

Great list. Thanks.

I'm a Marvel man myself so I know and have read most of those. It's basically that and The Authority and Midnighter series as well.

I'm really looking for something that I don't think even exist sadly.

Legend of Bold Riley. Get it. Read it. It's amazing. A lesbian protagonist (who's also visually Indian, though it's a fantasy world, so she comes from a fictional nation, but it still counts) whose sexuality is never a problem but also isn't ignored. She sleeps with women, she falls in love, and she chops the heads off of monsters.

So damned good.


There's also books like Strangers In Paradise, more slice-of-life rather than action or adventure. I haven't read The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and AMAL, but it has two gay male protagonists, if you'd prefer gay slice-of-life over lesbian slice-of-life. There's also a ton of NSFW webcomics (which usually put out collections, if you'd prefer to have a book in your hands), some of which I've looked at, others which I haven't.

One option for you might be to go to your local library and ask them what they have. Readers' advisory is a key part of the job, and even if they don't know of anything off the tops of their heads, they know how to search for the best results.

[Tiamatty]

So this coming Wednesday Avengers World comes out, with a focus on Hyperion; where many have speculated IF Hickman's "LGBT Avenger" is ever going to be outed, it will be in this issue. Who else thinks it will happen? Who thinks it won't?

That's my hope. I think if it doesn't happen here, then it's just plain not going to happen, and we'll only find out who the LGBT character was in an interview after the book finishes.

And if that's the case, then it'll be bullshit and Hickman will deserve to be yelled at over it.

[Silvermoth]

Yeah that would be a horrible idea. It would basically be checking off the box of diversity without actually challenging attitudes of people who want to believe only straight people can be avengers.

We really need an out serving gay avenger

[Tiamatty]

Yeah that would be a horrible idea. It would basically be checking off the box of diversity without actually challenging attitudes of people who want to believe only straight people can be avengers.

We really need an out serving gay avenger

It's frustrating enough that we haven't even gotten any actual hints, in the book, about who it is. It shouldn't have taken this long to get around to it. And hell, even if it is revealed in the next issue, it'll still be Hickman handing off duties on the reveal to someone else, for no apparent reason, while Hickman himself will presumably continue to utterly ignore it. Which actually kinda makes me wonder, if it does turn out that the next issue will reveal Hyperion as gay, if the reveal itself is editorially-mandated, possibly to avoid the exact situation that happened with Secret Warriors, where Hickman never actually showed Stonewall's sexuality on-panel. It may be that Hickman never actually intended to reveal which Avenger is LGBT (presumably because he felt that it was irrelevant to the story), so editorial said, "OK, fine, we'll get a different writer to do a one-off issue to get it on-panel."

[Dermie]

It's frustrating enough that we haven't even gotten any actual hints, in the book, about who it is. It shouldn't have taken this long to get around to it. And hell, even if it is revealed in the next issue, it'll still be Hickman handing off duties on the reveal to someone else, for no apparent reason, while Hickman himself will presumably continue to utterly ignore it. Which actually kinda makes me wonder, if it does turn out that the next issue will reveal Hyperion as gay, if the reveal itself is editorially-mandated, possibly to avoid the exact situation that happened with Secret Warriors, where Hickman never actually showed Stonewall's sexuality on-panel. It may be that Hickman never actually intended to reveal which Avenger is LGBT (presumably because he felt that it was irrelevant to the story), so editorial said, "OK, fine, we'll get a different writer to do a one-off issue to get it on-panel."

Hickman said up front that he had no intention of identifying what character was gay, unless it came up in the story.

I do share everyone's frustration that the gay character isn't being allowed to be out and open, BUT its not as if Hickman made us any promises or made a point of announcing a gay character and then didn't follow through. He was asked in a Q&A thread if he'd have any LGBT characters--it wasn't something he brought up himself. He said right in that original response that it would be just like SECRET WARRIORS, where he wouldn't address it unless it became story-relevant.

I am frustrated by his apparent lack of understanding of how that attitude is a failure in terms of LGBT representation. But I think we do need to remember that he has played fair with us on the subject and told us right from day one that he had no plans to identify the gay character on-panel.

[Tiamatty]

Hickman said up front that he had no intention of identifying what character was gay, unless it came up in the story.

I do share everyone's frustration that the gay character isn't being allowed to be out and open, BUT its not as if Hickman made us any promises or made a point of announcing a gay character and then didn't follow through. He was asked in a Q&A thread if he'd have any LGBT characters--it wasn't something he brought up himself. He said right in that original response that it would be just like SECRET WARRIORS, where he wouldn't address it unless it became story-relevant.

I am frustrated by his apparent lack of understanding of how that attitude is a failure in terms of LGBT representation. But I think we do need to remember that he has played fair with us on the subject and told us right from day one that he had no plans to identify the gay character on-panel.

Yeah, he didn't lie, but I didn't accuse him of lying. I do think the "only if it comes up" excuse is bullshit. He's the writer - he's the one who decides what comes up in the story. And he made the decision - consciously or not - that it wouldn't come up in the story, at least not so far.

That's why, if Avengers #34 does reveal Hyperion as gay, I'll wonder if editorial made the decision to have Ewing write the issue specifically to avoid another Secret Warriors situation.

[Magnito]

Then... what's the point in having one. It would be like having a minority character that wears a full covering Spider-Man type suit and never takes it off, ever. If you are not going to show off or even acknowledge the diversity, are you really being diverse?

[Spider-Chan]

With the news of new Miracleman stories, I was wondering if we should include him here? He's openly bisexual.



Through the whole series has some LGBT+ themes. Not all representation is good thought (there's rape at some point... is Alan Moore what where you expecting?). Gaiman's run features a lesbian woman in a side story and that cliffhanger from issue 24 which ended up unresolved. I assume in Gaiman's run there were more plans to include LGBTQ+ characters considering the utopian aspects of the series. I really need to give it a re-read, got the feeling that I'm missing something else. But yeah, Marvel is currently publishing a comic book with a bisexual lead.

[America / Bucky / Russia]

When characters such as Wiccan exist, I question why fictional characters are fictional. I would date Wiccan so hard, but, alas, he's both taken and fictional.

I wore this to Pride and shall be doing the same to a con tomorrow.
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