The History of Comics Pt III: The Silver Age of Comics (But as Good as Gold!)

[If you haven't yet read my entry on The Golden Age of Comics - STOP!  Then follow up part two - Who Killed The Golden Age?]

In the third entry on the history of comics, we now enter The Silver Age of Comics.

At the closing of the Golden Age of Comics, soldiers returned from the war, superhero comics began to decline, and other genres such as war, westerns, crime, horror, science fiction, and romance began to hit the stands.  DC heroes (then National Comics) like Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Flash (Jay Garrick), and other members of the Justice Society of America were pulled, while Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman continued to print, albeit modestly.  Horror and crime comics took things to new levels, and Fredric Wertham, psychiatrist and author of Seduction of the Innocent, coupled with the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, led the charge against comic books.  And from the book burnings, the pressure from the government, and the avoidance of a government-sanctioned body overseeing comic book publications, comic book publishers formed the Comics Code Authority to monitor published content.

The short lived journey of crime and horror comics at the top was coming to an end, and it was time for superhero comics to strike again - and strike they did, with a bolt of lightning!

DC Comics

Barry Allen's first appearance as the Flash,
hastily ushering in the Silver Age

DC Comics sought to bring lighter-hearted, fun, adventurous comics back to the forefront.  While Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman had continued to sell, editor Julius Schwartz decided to revamp the other heroes of the 30's and 40's.  Himself a fan of science fiction, Schwartz looked to reimagine DC's heroes with a scientific twist.  Thus, the following changes were made:

Hal Jordan's 1st Appearance

• 1940's Flash, Jay Garrick, was replaced by police officer Barry Allen, who, while working in a crime lab, was struck by lightning and made a super speedster.  After reading a comic book about The Golden Age Flash, Barry decided to take the name for himself.  The new Flash's appearance in 1956's Showcase #4 (shown above) is generally regarded by historians as the first issue of The Silver Age.
• 1940's Green Lantern, Alan Scott, whose ring was operated by a magic lantern, was replaced by test pilot Hal Jordan, who was given a ring and lantern after being inducted into an intergalactic police corps, the Green Lanterns, by an alien group known as the Guardians of the Universe.
• DC updated other heroes, including The Atom (professor Ray Palmer, physicist) and Hawkman (Katar Hol, an alien from the planet Thanagar).
• Aquaman was retconned and given a new origin and history.
• DC introduced new characters, like J'onn J'onnz, the Martian Manhunter.

J'onn J'onnz, manhunter from Mars

The new changes by DC were a hit, and once again, superheroes began to flourish and thrive.  Crossovers began, with heroes appearing in each other's titles, until DC introduced their flagship mega-team, the Justice League of America.

Justice League's 1st Appearance: Brave and the Bold #28

And later, following the popularity of team-ups, DC had sidekicks join forces to create the Teen Titans:

Brave and the Bold #54

DC Comics, now a publishing giant in the 50s and 60s, paved the road for the new superhero era.  It was during this time that DC decided they would do something radical - bring back the original heroes.

The Flash #123 - a landmark issue.  It also recently sold for $83,000

Flash (Barry Allen) was able to vibrate his molecules so fast, he was able to escape our plane of existence - and land himself on Earth-Two, the home of the original Flash, Jay Garrick (confused?  Wait till we get into the multiverse).

Over time, Barry visited Jay and vice versa, and through creative ways eventually the whole Justice Society of America met with the Justice League of America, saving each other's bacon now and again.

DC was truly breaking new ground for the superhero genre - something comic writer Stan Lee took notice of.

Enter the Marvel Era


While mega stars like the current Flash and Green Lantern were created, and the Justice League became a sought after comic book for readers everywhere, the Silver Age of Comics cannot be spoken about without delving into the massive gains made by Marvel Comics and, notably, Stan Lee.

I shouldn't have to reiterate the awesomeness that is Stan Lee, because you've already gone ahead and read my introduction to Stan Lee in my blog Comic Names You Should Know: Stan Lee!  Besides, you already knew who he was prior to that anyhow, right?  Right?

But to showcase the work Lee accomplished during the Silver Age, let's again recall that Stan Lee co-created:

Spider-Man's first appearance, Amazing Fantasy #15.
Recently sold for $1.1 Million.  I want one... make it two.

• Spider-Man
• Iron Man
• Hulk
• Thor
• Hawkeye
• Nick Fury
• The Avengers
• The Fantastic Four
• The Silver Surfer
• The X-Men
• Daredevil
• Doctor Strange

Stan Lee looked at comics in the 40s and 50s, and saw what worked, and what didn't work.  Together, with Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, John Romita, Sr., and many other incredible artists and writers, Stan began the Marvel Comics explosion.  Lee, like DC's Julius Schwartz, was a big fan of science fiction, and based most of his superhero's powers on scientific reasoning (Iron Man's suit ran on Stark-powered transistors, Peter Parker's radioactive spider, Bruce Banner's gamma bomb radiation, cosmic radiation in the Fantastic Four, and so on).

And, playing off the popularity of super teams, Lee saw to the creation of the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and a comic book that took singular heroes and paired them together, The Avengers.

The Avengers Versus Loki?
Hmm... they should make a movie about that.....

Stan Lee, as editor of Marvel Comics, also introduced a new aspect to superhero comics - the reluctant, self-loathing superhero.  Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, would battle a villain, but as a result frequently miss a high school test, lose his job, or end up not getting the girl.  Bruce Banner constantly avoided becoming the Hulk, as he was powerless when the rage took over.  The Fantastic Four acted as a super team, but while Reed Richards could control his stretching, Susan Storm wasn't always invisible, and Johnny Storm could toggle his Human Torch guise,  Ben Grimm was permanently disfigured and viewed as a monster when he was cosmically altered into the Thing.

At a time when DC Comics's heroes were becoming over-the-top (Superman's powers escalated to the point that he could now move planets with his hands), Marvel Comics's humanizing traits, historians argue, are what drew in teenage crowds and jetted Marvel Comics into the spotlight.

Another key point for Marvel was that Stan Lee like to place his heroes in familiar settings - like New York City (Peter Parker grew up in Queens, the Fantastic Four's headquarters, the Baxter Building, was located in Manhattan, etc), as opposed to DC's imaginary locations of Gotham City, Metropolis, and Smallville.  In fact, Lee placed almost all of his characters in New York City, giving more justification as to why the heroes would cross paths regularly.  Placing the heroes in locations that Lee was familiar with helped with the writing process, as well as made fans more easily identify with the characters.

With all these comics in the market, it was only a matter of time until superheroes took over other mediums - notably television.

Comics-to-Television


The 60s & 70s saw a lot of superheroes on TV, some incarnations good, some mediocre (but never bad - I mean, hey, they're comics!).  Perhaps I'll do a more thorough review of this later, but for now, he's some of the major ones to recall, and likely the ones you're most familiar with.


Batman

In 1966, Batman made his TV debut, starring Adam West as the titular hero.  I don't believe there's a lot of explanation required here - the theme song alone should refresh your memory.  If you don't remember the show at all, here's a quick explanation:

• Burt Ward, as Robin, consistently said, "Holy ___, Batman!" ( ___ not meant to represent a curse word).  See here for examples.
• Mickey from the Rocky movies (Burgess Meredith) was the Penguin - though chronologically that means the Penguin was Rocky's coach.
• The Joker, played by Caesar Romero, had a moustache whited-out with makeup because the actor wouldn't shave it for the role.
• There were three actresses to portray Catwoman: Eartha Kitt, Lee Meriweather, and Julie Newmar.
• Frank Gorshin expertly portrayed The Riddler.

Because the Comics Code Authority had neutered comics, this campy representation of Batman made it to the air.  Respectfully, it did extremely well at first, which even prompted the 1966 Batman movie.  By the third season, the TV show pressured DC Comics to introduce (Batwoman and Batgirl had already come and been dismissed) reintroduce a female character so one can be featured in the show, and so Barbara Gordon made her debut as Batgirl.  The character was then portrayed on the small screen by Yvonne Craig.

Spider-Man

What was it about those hip people in the '60s?  They sure knew how to write a catchy jingle back then.  To get the neurons firing in an effort to recollect this show, here's the Spider-Man theme song.

And for no reason except that I like it, here's the song sung by Michael Buble.

As for the show, which debuted in 1967, the key highlights are:

• Decent acting talent
• A lot of shots of Spider-Man web-swinging and sticking to walls (to save money, shots were reused over and over again, like the background scenes of any episode of The Flintsones)
• A decline in using villains from the comic book after season one
• Footage from the show Rocket Robin Hood was reused in this show (no joke, check it out yourself)

Nevertheless, Spider-Man proved to be a big hit, and helped forever popularize the character.

All that Glitters isn't-- Silver?

Once again, superheroes took the lead in comic books, and made further mainstream leaps into television, radio, and film.  They had survived being the scapegoat of allegations by a mad doctor, and the onslaught that then ensued from the United States government.

The publishers themselves, however, may have become their own worst enemies, as the creation (however necessary) of the Comics Code Authority implemented stringent rules dictating the do's and don'ts of publishing a comic book.  The revitalization of superheroes sprang from this initial change, but ultimately altered the course of many heroes, forcing superhero comic books to become campy, silly versions of their prior incarnations.  Previously seen characters like Batman no longer tackled crooks and crime but now fought intergalactic beings, and carried shark repellent bat spray.  "And how come Batman doesn't dance anymore?  Remember the Batusi?"  Other heroes, like Superman, now had Krypto the Superdog, Streaky the Supercat, Comet the Super-Horse, and Beppo the Supermonkey.  Together, they formed the [*sigh*] Legion of Super-Pets.

While superheroes embarked on lighter antics than in the past, what was it that took the polish off the Silver, and ushered in the Bronze Age of Comics?  Like all other periods throughout history, no one person dictated the timeline of each era, so opinions vary depending on historians.

One historian and comics scholar, however, argues that the Bronze Age of Comics didn't get ushered in with a boom of lightning like the Silver Age, but instead appeared by a subtle, quiet "snap"...

[Stay tuned for my entry on The Bronze Age of Comics!]

Comic Names You Should Know: Stan Lee!

Stan Lee

I shouldn't have to link anything to him, or introduce you to him, reader.  In many ways, he is the face of comics.  The reason for this is because of the many successful characters he created or co-created.  During the Silver Age, Stan Lee co-created:

Spider-Man's first appearance, Amazing Fantasy #15.
Recently sold for $1.1 Million

• Spider-Man
• Iron Man
• Hulk
• Thor
• Hawkeye
• Nice Fury
• The Avengers
• The Fantastic Four
• The Silver Surfer
• The X-Men
• Daredevil
• Doctor Strange

The list truly goes on and on.  In fact, Wikipedia shows approximately 340 characters that Stan Lee co-created, including villains (like Doctor Doom, Doctor Octopus, Electro, Galactus) and side characters (like Mary Jane Watson and Flash Thompson).

He has made dozens of cameos in TV shows and movies, many times playing himself, including favourites Mallrats, The Big Bang Theory, and a special cameo appearance on The Simpsons.

Still don't recognize him?  Have you seen almost any Marvel superhero movie in the last 12 years??

• X-Men
• Spider-Man
• Daredevil
• Hulk
• Spider-Man 2
• Fantastic Four
• X-Men: The Last Stand
• Spider-Man 3
• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
• Iron Man
• The Incredible Hulk
• Iron Man 2
• Thor
• Captain America
• The Avengers

See a video of Stan Lee's movie cameos here.

Besides being a mega-star in the comic book industry, Stan has overseen, in some aspect, almost all of the Marvel TV and movie projects.  And after years of writing, editing, and publishing comic books, in 2010 Stan Lee set up the Stan Lee Foundation to promote literacy, arts and education.

'Nuff Said!

Excelsior!

The History of Comics Pt II: Who Killed "The Golden Age?"

If you haven't yet read my entry on The Golden Age of Comics, go check it out now!  NOW!  You can't read chapter two before reading chapter one!  Who do you think you are?!

As the Golden Age of Comics began to decline, and soldiers returned from the war, superhero comics began to decline, and other genres such as war, westerns, crime, horror, science fiction, and romance began to hit the stands.

More specifically, stories of crime, suspense, and horror became big sellers - and the company that published the most notable comics in these genres was EC Comics.

EC Comics set the standard for edgy, button-pushing comics, and included titles like Crime SuspenStories, and  Shock SuspenStories.

And of EC's horror comics, the most celebrated of all was Tales From The Crypt.

What separated EC Comics from other publishers at the time was its comic book art - both beautiful and detailed while at many times unsettling and disturbing.

"Hi, Bird.  I'm sick.  I need some smack, Bird."

Another unique thing about EC Comics was that storylines were almost always shocking and ended with an ironic twist for the suspect (either the protagonist or antagonist, depending on the story).  Here are some story synopses taken from Wikipedia:


Weird Fantasy

• "Revulsion," a spaceship pilot is bothered by insects due to a past experience when he found one in his food.  At the conclusion of the story, a giant alien insect screams in horror at finding the dead pilot in his salad.

Tales From The Crypt

• "Collection Completed," a man takes up taxidermy in order to annoy his wife.  When he kills and stuffs her beloved cat, the wife snaps and kills him, stuffing and mounting his body.

Shock SuspenStories

• "The Orphan" featured a ten-year-old girl murdering her father and framing her mother.
• "The Whipping" featured a bigoted father mistakenly beating his daughter to death under the impression that she was her Hispanic boyfriend.

EC Comics prospered out of the war and the decline of superhero comics.  However, not everybody celebrated in this success.

Fredric Wertham


This name should resonate by now.  It has appeared on this blog a few times, namely here.  But again, who is this man, and what did he do?  Let's begin with a brief summary snippet from Wikipedia:

"Fredric Wertham was a German-born American psychiatrist and crusading author who protested the purportedly harmful effects of violent imagery in mass media and comic books on the development of children."

Wertham had written a book, "Seduction of the Innocent," which detailed his thoughts and arguments. At the same time, the United States Congress launched an inquiry into comic books, as juvenile delinquency was on the rise.  Furthermore, public opinion began to view comic books as a negative form of literature

Now, given the pictorial examples above, it's not hard to see where he was coming from in his assessment, I'll grant Wertham that.  Perhaps not all of the content published at these times was for children.  But were comic books really the root of all problems?

My Opinion

It's been documented that after a war- any war - crime is on the rise.  I'd like to provide you with a direct link, but instead Google "violence risks post war" yourself and look at the results.  Crime rises not only in countries where the war takes place, but also in any country that participates in the war itself.  I'm not a psychiatrist, but perhaps because the focus of a nation is on violence, violence begets violence, and crime rises.  Maybe it's the thought that people are unnecessarily dying young, and it's a live-for-the-moment situation.  Again, I'll leave this one to the pros.

In Wertham's case, to pick a medium, any medium, and singly point a finger doesn't work.  Since comic books, television, movies, and especially video games have been scrutinized for subliminal messages, violent tonality, and causing children's minds to warp.  An extreme example of this is the Judas Priest trial where the artist's music was accused of causing a man to attempt to commit suicide.
The same thing happened after the horrific Columbine High School Massacre.  Was it video games like "Wolfenstein 3D" and "Doom"?  Was it the scene from "The Basketball Diaries"?
Perhaps the best description (and I use this term loosely) of that particular sad, horrific incident comes from Chris Rock's "Bigger & Blacker" - "Whatever happened to crazy?"

And now, back to the history lesson already in progress...


So Wertham hammers comic books, and the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency buys what Wertham's selling.  They bring him in as the key witness in hearings, and he starts delivering blows to the comic community.  Wertham had carefully sited his examples, and stories like "Murder, Morphine and Me" from True Crime Comics were used as examples of comics exceeding their boundaries.

I don't do drugs, but I don't think this is how to take them.

Enter William Gaines, the owner and operator of EC Comics, who had now cornered the market in crime and horror fiction.
Gaines's comics were considered risque and violent, and so William himself went before the committee to speak on behalf of the genres, and comic books in particular.

"The life of the wife is ended by the knife."

A wide variety of examples were used against Gaines, including the particular cover here.  Note the following dialogue (again from Wikipedia) between Gaines and the committee:

• Chief Counsel Herbert Beaser: Let me get the limits as far as what you put into your magazine. Is the sole test of what you would put into your magazine whether it sells? Is there any limit you can think of that you would not put in a magazine because you thought a child should not see or read about it?
• Bill Gaines: No, I wouldn't say that there is any limit for the reason you outlined. My only limits are the bounds of good taste, what I consider good taste.
• Beaser: Then you think a child cannot in any way, in any way, shape, or manner, be hurt by anything that a child reads or sees?
• Gaines: I don't believe so.
• Beaser: There would be no limit actually to what you put in the magazines?
• Gaines: Only within the bounds of good taste.
• Beaser: Your own good taste and saleability?
• Gaines: Yes.
• Senator Estes Kefauver: Here is your May 22 issue. [Kefauver is mistakenly referring to Crime Suspenstories #22, cover date May]This seems to be a man with a bloody axe holding a woman's head up which has been severed from her body. Do you think that is in good taste?
• Gaines: Yes sir, I do, for the cover of a horror comic. A cover in bad taste, for example, might be defined as holding the head a little higher so that the neck could be seen dripping blood from it, and moving the body over a little further so that the neck of the body could be seen to be bloody.
• Kefauver: You have blood coming out of her mouth.
• Gaines: A little.
• Kefauver: Here is blood on the axe. I think most adults are shocked by that.

In the end, however, examples like these coupled with Wertham's testimony were enough to sway the public, and comic book burnings began across the nation.  In an effort to save the medium and avoid an appointed government body weighing in on content published, the Comics Code Authority was put into place voluntarily by the comic companies themselves.

And that's when radical changes were set in motion.  Sure, no longer do you find a severed head on the cover of a comic book.  But now titles were not longer allowed to use the words "Terror," "Weird," "Horror," and limiting the use of the word "Crime."  Bad guys had to pay for their crimes, and see the error of their ways.  Vampires, werewolves, and zombies were not allowed to be depicted (sorry Bella).  Scenes of passion were limited, and instead books enforced the sanctity of marriage (much like the Hollywood Production Code already in place).

Many viewed the Comic Code Authority as taking a step backwards, or over-censoring comics.  But while a law was not in place indicating that comic books could not be sold without the approval of the Comics Code Authority, many distributors simply stopped carrying titles that did not bear the logo.

Final Thoughts

The Golden Age of Comics may very well have been killed by time itself.  When real heroes returned from war, perhaps the idea of the superhero was too supernatural and out of touch with the people of the time.   When superhero comics decline, and titles were taken off the shelves (including originals like Green Lantern, Flash, etc), other genres gained popularity, including crime and horror.

If a singular person had to be picked to have killed the Golden Age, it can be argued that Fredric Wertham attempted to kill the medium altogether, and nearly did.  William Gaines and EC Comics, on the other hand, may have pushed the medium to an extreme, prompting an intervention from the United States Senate and the creation of the Comics Code Authority.

Fredric Wertham

William Gaines

Even in appearance, Wertham and Gaines were obviously polar opposites.  While I may have come across as vehemently opposed to Wertham's position, I do owe him some credit for what he was trying to accomplish.  And I will give him that credit.  But that's another blog, for another day.

So for now, I leave you with a quote from William Gaines regarding creative freedom of expression:

"Entertaining reading has never harmed anyone. Men of good will, free men should be very grateful for one sentence in the statement made by Federal Judge John M. Woolsey when he lifted the ban on Ulysses. Judge Woolsey said, ‘It is only with the normal person that the law is concerned.’ May I repeat, he said, “It is only with the normal person that the law is concerned.” Our American children are for the most part normal children. They are bright children, but those who want to prohibit comic magazines seem to see dirty, sneaky, perverted monsters who use the comics as a blueprint for action. Perverted little monsters are few and far between. They don’t read comics. The chances are most of them are in schools for retarded children.

What are we afraid of? Are we afraid of our own children? Do we forget that they are citizens, too, and entitled to select what to read or do? Do we think our children are so evil, so simple minded, that it takes a story of murder to set them to murder, a story of robbery to set them to robbery? Jimmy Walker once remarked that he never knew a girl to be ruined by a book. Nobody has ever been ruined by a comic."

The Last Laugh

William Gaines was in trouble.  His company was in trouble.  Gaines was part of the solution in suggesting a censorship group, but lost control of the idea to John L. Goldwater, publisher of Archie comics, who took over the Comics Code Authority.  Gaines had pulled horror comics, but still refused to publish any of his other comics within the stringent guidelines of the code.  As a result, most of his comics lost distribution.

Sliding into debt, Gaines took his personal fortune and placed it all on one focused book, a comic book recently converted into magazine format:  Mad Magazine.  Through Mad Magazine, Gaines and Harvey Kurtzman would satirize the event, comic books, and essentially anything and everything in the media.

"What, me worry?"  Well done, Mr. Gaines.

Friday Fun-day!

I've been slowly compiling another historical piece to branch off from my initial piece, The Golden Age of Comics, but because it won't be finished today, I decided to let a little bit of the Joker out and go for inappropriate laughs!  Be sure to click on the images to enlarge them to read the text - usually key points, though sometimes the images themselves tell it all.

Mom & Dad, probably want to shut it down now.  If you read on, remember, I didn't draw these up.

ALL of these pictures have been lifted from superdickery.com - so a special thanks to them for brightening up our day.  The website started showcasing examples of Superman being, well, a dick, and evolved into a variety of humourous material, from scenes with unintentional homosexual undertones to scenes taken wildly out of context.  Nothing is off-limits.  With that, I bring you a few highlights - go to superdickery.com for more.

If you think I'm taking other people's work and putting my own comments on it, you'd be exactly right.  But this is a one time thing, I don't plan on making a career out of it.

Like I'd just take stuff from the Internet and jack it as my own material.

Who do you think I am, Daniel Tosh or something?

Green Lantern

I bet Ryan Reynolds asks to have this line put in "Green Lantern 2"

Superman

Nothing sketchy here!

Best leave this one alone.

...

Such confidence...

"Why won't Bruce return my calls...?"

Marvel Comics

The title says it all!

"Hulk... confused...?"

Wow.  Just wow.

Easy, Spider-Man!  That statement is exactly what got Sean Avery in trouble!

Hey!  What did I just say!

"Now, now, Thor's got enough mighty Mjolnir for everyone."

Looks like the Hulk's anger isn't the only thing raging!

Subtle Scenes...

I got your key to mystery, RIGHT HERE!

I don't know what comic this is from, but "Toni Gay?"  "Butch  Dykeman?"

Archie Comics

Read Betty's "offer" at the top right...

...

Interesting tactic to get the girl...

Batman

...

"Of the Year??"

This caption was placed here by design, not by accident.
I mean, somebody had to judge "Of the Year."

...

In the words of Archer, "Phrasing!"

Fredric Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent

Really?  Everybody thinks of their wife, you mention Robin??

...

If Batman and/or Robin are outed this June,
let's call this "precedence."

Hope you enjoyed a laugh!  Again, thanks to superdickery.com!  See you back here next week!

A New Gay Hero in DC Comics - Who is it?

Before you read, let me put this disclaimer in now:  I am a straight, married man, so I may not be able to properly represent the GLBT community.
However, I have gay family members, gay friends, and I love them all dearly.  So going forward and reading the following comments/arguments, if I have offended you, please let me know.  All comments are welcome, and I encourage you to comment on facebook.com/asvengersassemble with your perspective, or to privately message me with any concerns or comments.  I am doing my best to be respectful of everyone in this article.  Other times, unfortunately, I feel I may be realistic, which may contradict some views.  This may oppose your view, but my intent isn't to offend anyone.  That said [deep breath], here we go....

In September 2011, DC Comics made a bold move: to "soft-boot" the DC Universe, and start from scratch under the moniker The New 52, reflecting the new 52 titles published.

The idea of retroactive continuity, or "retcon," isn't new.  Both Marvel and DC have done this move many times, with many characters, usually updating an origin story or changing some aspect of a character's life (ie did Batman catch Joe Chill, the criminal that killed his parents, or did he even solve who the murderer was?).  While these aspects changed, the core elements (Bruce Wayne's parents are murdered) remains the same, yet new plot points can be derived from either scenario.

But last September, DC decided to start from scratch, and take away years and years of continuity.

This move was considered both good and bad.  For lifelong fans (and fanboys) of the characters, it became a little more critical.  Elements and past storylines no longer existed, so what you read six months back may no longer carry any bearing in the character you enjoy reading.  Imagine reading the last Harry Potter book, and by then the first five books of Harry's time at Hogwarts were completely irrelevant and didn't happen.

For many fans, including those that are casual readers or those that are completely new, it was an opportunity to buy comics and get on board.  Who are these guys?  Why do they hate each other?  Without having to know about some epic battle that took place in 1987 between Superman and Lex Luthor, things were fresh.  And for the fanboy that was strict on continuity, if a new story contradicted said epic battle from 1987, fanboys would go to the Internet and freak out.

With new beginnings and still in the early stages, DC made a new announcement this week:  One of their prominent heroes will be gay.

Initially, DC announced that it was going to feature a gay character in comics.  This idea isn't new.  There have been numerous gay & lesbian characters in comics.  Obsidian (Todd Rice), son of the original Green Lantern (Alan Scott), came out in the early-2000s.  In 2006, DC introduced the new Batwoman, Kate Kane, as a lesbian, and her and the new Question, Renee Montoya, were described as having a past relationship.  Maggie Sawyer of the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) is currently dating Kate Kane, unaware of her secret identity.  And currently in the DC Universe, heroes Apollo and Midnighter, themselves obvious parallels of Superman and Batman (Apollo derives his power from the sun, Midnighter a street-fighter of sorts), are openly gay heroes and eventually got married (though I believe the marriage was retconned in The New 52).

To see a more detailed list of gay & lesbian characters published by DC Comics, follow this link.

Follow the link and you will see, well, not many characters you recognize.  In fact, even I, your window into the comic book world, have a tough time recognizing many characters after the first page.

Perhaps that is the point of this move - to take an already well-established character and have him/her represent gay people, as opposed to introducing a new character and hoping the character gains popularity.

Can This Work?


Gay & lesbian characters in comics haven't really yet ascended into the "A-List" characters, in either DC or Marvel comics.  I'm not saying they can't, or shouldn't, they just haven't yet.  But discussing why a gay character can't become an A-list hero is like discussing why Blue Beetle or Tempest aren't A-List heroes; it is a manner of public opinion, personal likability, and comic book sales that will ultimately determine a book's introduction or cancellation, or whether or not they make a movie about the character.

So maybe it is just easier to take an already established character and make them gay instead of, as mentioned, begin with a new character and hope the character takes off, in order to have a high-profile gay hero in your franchise.

Also, is there a distinct list?  Here are some of the major names a non- to mild-comic book reader may recognize:

• Batman
• Robin
• Superman
• Wonder Woman
• Aquaman
• Flash
• Green Lantern
• Catwoman

But how much bigger can the list be?  There are other major characters in comics, but outside of the average reader, do many people know Nightwing?  Martian Manhunter?  Cyborg?  Speedy?  Even Green Arrow?

Will This Work?


It's a bold move, to say the least.  I read an argument already (this news was just announced Monday) that said that making someone like Wonder Woman a lesbian will be less of a point in the right direction, but more readily establish fanboy male fantasies.  I may have to agree on that one.  That being said, maybe a lesbian woman would see the most prominent female superheroine of them all, and be proud to have Diana, princess of Themyscira, represent lesbian women everywhere.

Also, but believe it or not, there are homophobic people out there.  Will making Superman gay empower the gay community, or will it cause a fallout?  God forbid somebody does something stupid if this is the case, but I'm willing to bet there's some sort of online protest or even picketing.  At the very least, a drop in sales may not be surprising depending on the readers' level of acceptance.


Is This Necessary?


I understand that gay people and the gay community are underrepresented in comic books.  In 2010, Archie Comics introduced gay character Kevin Keller to Riverdale, to much praise.  He got married in an "adult" version of the comic in 2012 (not adult as in R-rating, but adult as in future version).

However, as I stated above, I can't readily think of any A-List superheroes in comic books.

Unfortunately, some see this as a publicity stunt - and more unfortunate, they're likely right.  DC Comics Co-Publisher Dan Didio stated his opinion has evolved, much like Barack Obama's on gay marriage.

More so, Marvel Comics character Northstar of Alpha Flight (the Canadian super-team Wolverine is sometimes associated with), who came out as a gay superhero back in 1992, will be getting married in Astonishing X-Men #51 this June - coincidentally, the same month DC will "out" their hero.

Who Will It Be?



Whether or not you agree with the notion of DC Comics changing one of their hero's sexual orientation, it's going to happen.  So who will it be?

• Wonder Woman?  An icon, arguably the biggest superheroine of them all, coming from an island populated only by women.... But no, it's not her.  In fact, not any woman.  In an interview with ABC News, Courtney Simmons, DC Entertainment's senior vice president of publicity, said, "One of the major iconic DC characters will reveal that he is gay in a storyline in June."  Emphasis on "he."  At this point, no further reason to speculate any of the other female leads in the DC Universe.
  
• Superman?  The New 52 rebooted Superman as well, and dissolved his relationship with Lois Lane (they aren't divorced - they haven't started dating yet).  Will Clark be interested in Jimmy Olsen instead?  This is possible, but with Apollo (mentioned above) also in the DC Universe, it may be redundant.
  
• Flash (Barry Allen) married Iris West Allen.  DC just brought Barry back from the dead, so did he come back gay?  It seems unlikely here, as Barry is the grandfather of Bart Allen, aka Impulse/Kid Flash II/Flash IV, and unless they did some clever maneuvering, making Barry gay would eliminate Bart from continuity altogether.  Bart is Kid Flash in the new continuity.
  
  Flash III/Kid Flash I (Wally West) was shown to get married and have twin children - both with superpowers - before the retcon.  Wally's current status?  He's been benched for now, and not part of The New 52.  Will he reappear gay?
  
• Green Lantern (Hal Jordan - Ryan Reynold's character from the Green Lantern movie) has a longtime relationship with Carol Ferris (Blake Lively's character).  When not with Carol, Hal Jordan has been shown many times over finding girlfriends and alien girlfriends - think of him like DC's Captain James Tiberius Kirk.  There's no particular reason why he couldn't be gay, but I doubt Warner Bros will allow it considering there's already an established movie, and having a gay Green Lantern in comics and a straight one in the movies will, in their likely opinion, cause fan's minds to explode.  To read my rant on Warner Bros and their media divisions and why I dislike them, read my earlier article.
  However, besides Hal Jordan, Earth has three other Green Lanterns protecting the space sector, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, and Guy Gardner, and any of these three could be depicted as gay in the comics and featured in the upcoming movie(s).
  
• Aquaman was reintroduced in The New 52 with his wife, Mera, so it seems unlikely here.  He did, however, give up his throne to be a superhero, only to find the world finds him irrelevant and thinks his powers are useless.  But they're not, and you can read about how awesome Aquaman is here.
  
• Batman?  Well, this one actually has a lot of possibility.  Despite his previous girlfriends and flirtations like Catwoman or Vicki Vale, Batman never settles down with a woman.  His reasoning for this, however, has always been believable and sound: If a criminal were to discover his secret identity, than the love of his life will be the first target.  Sure, Superman worried of the same thing and married Lois Lane, but he's invulnerable and faster than a speeding bullet, so she doesn't have much to worry about.  Also, like I mentioned regarding Superman/Apollo, having Batman/Midnighter as gay superheroes with similar abilities may be redundant.
  The only real problem I have with a gay Batman is it will affirm Fredric Wertham's ideas in Seduction of the Innocent, that Batman & Robin are gay.
  Wertham being right about this aspect isn't problematic on its own, but Seduction of the Innocent really put comic books on the decline, and the Comics Code Authority was created to restrict what was printed, limiting creative expression.
  Wertham also suggested  comic books also made kids aggressive and violent (much like how TV and video games are the culprits of today), Wonder Woman was a lesbian because of her strength and independence, and that Superman was un-American and a fascist.  There are plenty of things I disagree with that Wertham posited, so if he ends up being right about this, it's personally a loss for me.
  
• Robin - which one?  Dick Grayson (yes, Dick, grow-up) was the original Robin, who has grown up to be a hero on his own, Nightwing.  Jason Todd was Robin II, who died at the hands of the Joker.  He has returned from the grave (of course, it's comics), but is now an anti-hero.  Robin III, Tim Drake, now acts independently as Batman's ally, Red Robin.  Robin V, the current Robin, is Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne's biological son with Talia al Ghul.
  
  Nightwing/Dick Grayson - Possible, but making Dick gay.... Well, how can I finish that without snickering myself?  But seriously, making Dick Grayson gay puts another win in the Wertham column in my opinion, as he was the Robin in question during Wertham's publication of Seduction of the Innocent.
  
  Red Hood/Jason Todd - This one seems unlikely, as in The New 52 it has been established that Jason has had relations with Starfire, one of DC's primary eye-candy characters (Starfire was also at one point almost the wife of Dick Grayson).  Making Jason Todd gay at this point makes him either one who experiments, or bisexual.
  
  Red Robin/Tim Drake - Again, possible.  Tim had a few girlfriends, notably Stephanie Brown, aka Robin IV/Spoiler/Batgirl, but a list can be seen here.  In Tim's case, however, I don't think it has yet been established if he's gay or straight in this new universe.
  
  Robin IV/Damian Wayne - The current Robin, this one is also possible.  Damian, however, is only 10 years old, so perhaps it's too early to designate his orientation.  For that reason, Damian has not really been designated any sexual orientation in previous stories (at least none I'm aware of at this moment).
  
• It has to be said, but what if it's not a superhero?  Well, this will make this whole article and most of its points moot, but it's possible.  Even the statement above Courtney Simmons said, "...major iconic DC character....", so this could include Alfred Pennyworth, Commissioner James "Jim" Gordon, or other supportive cast.

Final Thoughts


I will agree that GLBT people are under-represented in comic books.


However, what makes these characters superheroes isn't their sexual orientation.  In fact, I read a comment somewhere that a particular reader always viewed heroes as asexual; the superhero fights evil, and isn't on patrol for men/women.

Eliminating factors like this will make storytelling one-dimensional, I'll concede that, and a romantic interest here and there helps to keep storytelling interesting.  But you shouldn't be picking up the newest issue of Action Comics and be looking for a comic primarily focused on the character's love life, straight or gay.


For this reason, I do not believe that taking a long-established character and making them suddenly gay is necessarily the best tactic to insert gay people into the comic book community.  In fact, taking somebody popular and making them now gay seems like a gimmick, in my opinion.  If they weren't going for gimmick, let me ask you this:  If DC Comics is so interested in inserting minority characters, why would they take Barbara Gordon, one of the few disabled superheroes as Oracle, and retcon her to be able to walk again as Batgirl in The New 52?

If you design a character and make them interesting enough on their own accord, and they happen to be gay, I would read the comic book.  But by taking an established character and now having them come out runs the risk of what happened to the Ellen TV show - not just indicating the lead character is gay, but beating you over the head with it every week thereafter (the view that Chastity Bono, GLAAD media director, carried).  Eventually what elements that made the comic (or show) enjoyable begin to disappear altogether, and the focus is completely shifted.

Would it be any more relevant to make James Bond gay in the next few movies, just to bring a prominent gay character to the big screen (James Bond in... Cock of the Walk)?  Or what about a gay Tarzan movie?  Gay Sherlock Holmes?  I don't see how sexual orientation necessarily improves on any of these story aspects, it just changes them.  If I were gay, I think I'd be more inherently proud of a gay character, like Marvel's Northstar (mentioned above), instead of DC's new version of a character, which for all we know will be retconned again next year as straight.

Whatever hero decides to come out, just know this: I'm here for you, buddy, and I love you all the same.