In Your Face Jam: Why Bisexual Hercules Matters To <i>Me</i>

[JaggedFel]

I assumed he was because u know in the actual mythology he bangs anything that moves clearly he got that from Zeus.

[Lee-Sensei]

Why? The creator never intended him to have a sidekick named Cho; if he had intended to have a sidekick, he'd have been given one. He wasn't; that implies he wasn't meant to have one (unlike Cap). I see no difference, both are things the original creator never intended, that doesn't make it a retcon.

Firstly, X-treme X-men Herc is an alternate reality Herc; we're talking about 616 Herc (who is the one who slept with Northstar). Secondly, I think it's easier to understand this when you have a good knowledge of what bisexuality means. Someone can be bisexual, and yet live their whole life never even kissing someone of the same-sex in a sexual way. Sexuality is not based on "body count" You can be bisexual and still spend your life in primarily str8 relationships (look at Anna Paquin; she's married to a man, but she identifies as bisexual, despite the likelihood of her never being with a woman again). Or you can be bisexual and primarily only be in same-sex relationships. Bisexuality is someone's sexuality, not a score chart of how many men and how many women they've been with. Nothing about Herc's bisexuality erases, contradicts or discredits his previous relationships or affections. Therefore it is not a retcon.

Another way of looking at it. Herc wears green and gold, one could assume it's his staple because he likes the colours; but if the comics revealed his favourite colour is blue, does the fact he's wore green and gold make it a retcon, or merely a new revelation/information? There is a difference between new information and contradictory information.

Posters throw around the word "retcon" far too freely, without actually realising what it means. Ultimately anything a fan doesn't like they label a retcon, when 95% of the time it's nothing of the sort. They just don't like it, and therefore don't want to accept it.

1) I shouldn't even have to explain this. Amadeus Cho becoming his ally is a natural story development. We saw how the two got together and understood the story developments that led to their partnership. Hercules in Paks run is portrayed as always having been bisexual (by implication). If it had been naturally developed with Herc realizing that he was bisexual the entire time, that would be one thing. Instead it comes out of nowhere. Hercules is one of the most promiscuous characters in Marvel Comics. Yet over the years we saw him only ever show interest in women. The characters very proud of it and boasts on a number of occasions about his sexual exploits. However, in all that time no men were mentioned and he never showed any interest in men before. That's the difference.

2) It's implied that he slept with Northstar in the 616 Universe. That's the point. Things wre implied in Paks run, but not confirmed. I have a feeling that he wanted to turn 616 Hercules bisexual or even gay, but wasn't allowed to do it in the main Universe.

3) I understand completely what the word means. However, as a long time Thor and Avenger reader... I can't count the times we've been in Hercs head without any thoughts of male love. There were a lot of women, but not one man?

4) Another bad comparison. I have favorite colors, but I don't go out of my way to wear them.

5) I understand the word well enough. If a character only shows interest in women for nearly half a century they're straight. If a wrier wants to turn change their sexual orientation it needs to occur as a natural evolution of the character. In Paks run, it was implied that he was always bisexual despite the fact that he was never with a man or thought of loving a man in the 40 plus years of his existence in the Marvel Universe. To add to this, Hercules is one of the most openly sexual chracters in the MU. In almost al if not all of his stories he had been with women and isn't bashful about it so it would be out o character for him to hide it. That's all that needs to be said. Axel Alonso wasn't wrong here IMO.

[Kieran_Frost]

1) I shouldn't even have to explain this. Amadeus Cho becoming his ally is a natural story development. We saw how the two got together and understood the story developments that led to their partnership. Hercules in Paks run is portrayed as always having been bisexual (by implication). If it had been naturally developed with Herc realizing that he was bisexual the entire time, that would be one thing. Instead it comes out of nowhere. Hercules is one of the most promiscuous characters in Marvel Comics. Yet over the years we saw him only ever show interest in women. The characters very proud of it and boasts on a number of occasions about his sexual exploits. However, in all that time no men were mentioned and he never showed any interest in men before. That's the difference.

2) It's implied that he slept with Northstar in the 616 Universe. That's the point. Things wre implied in Paks run, but not confirmed. I have a feeling that he wanted to turn 616 Hercules bisexual or even gay, but wasn't allowed to do it in the main Universe.

3) I understand completely what the word means. However, as a long time Thor and Avenger reader... I can't count the times we've been in Hercs head without any thoughts of male love. There were a lot of women, but not one man?

4) Another bad comparison. I have favorite colors, but I don't go out of my way to wear them.

5) I understand the word well enough. If a character only shows interest in women for nearly half a century they're straight. If a wrier wants to turn change their sexual orientation it needs to occur as a natural evolution of the character. In Paks run, it was implied that he was always bisexual despite the fact that he was never with a man or thought of loving a man in the 40 plus years of his existence in the Marvel Universe. To add to this, Hercules is one of the most openly sexual chracters in the MU. In almost al if not all of his stories he had been with women and isn't bashful about it so it would be out o character for him to hide it. That's all that needs to be said. Axel Alonso wasn't wrong here IMO.

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree. It's clear what you think a retcon is won't be change; so what's the point? Have a good day

[Lee-Sensei]

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree. It's clear what you think a retcon is won't be change; so what's the point? Have a good day

That's not my point. My point is that if they wanted a bisexual or gay Hercules, they should have written it as a natural evolution of the character. The character was clearly being written hetero before Pak, so writing the character bisexual as if he'd always been is an asspull. It needed to be pwrt of the characters development or he could be written bisexual from the beginning in a reboot. If they'd done that, there would be no problem and I'd probably agree with you.