Queer Comic Characters: Maggie Sawyer (Oct 22)

Maggie Sawyer first appeared in John Byrne’s Superman Vol. 2 #4 in April 1987, which was the same year the Comics Code Authority dropped its ban on LGBT characters in comics. She’s a no-nonsense detective who started out on the Metropolis PD and has since moved to Gotham. And Maggie’s just awesome enough to ride out on a horse in her formal wear from a biodome being poisoned by a bad guy (long story).

Maggie Sawyer

Maggie Sawyer

Continue reading “Queer Comic Characters: Maggie Sawyer (Oct 22)”

Queer Comic Book Characters: Hero Brown (Oct 19th)

Hero’s one of the female characters in Y: The Last Man, who starts out as straight, only to become a lesbian out of neccessity. (Especially since the only man alive is her brother, Yorick Brown.) However, Hero’s journey is more about her redemption and struggle for her humanity than her new sexuality.

Hero Brown

Hero Brown

Hero starts off as something of a lost character. She’s working as a paramedic in Boston; though she seems to be preoccupied with following her libido. Her world’s immediately crushed when all the men die. She ends up joining the Daughters of the Amazon, who believe that the Y chromosome was a stain on the Earth and the plague was the Earth cleaning itself. Continue reading “Queer Comic Book Characters: Hero Brown (Oct 19th)”

Queer Comic Book Characters: Johnny Bart (Oct 18th)

Not every Silver Age character comes back, but Johnny Bart (The Rawhide Kid) has made his appearances throughout the years. Despite that Western-themed comics have fallen out of favor for superheros, Johnny has remained one of the most popular Western characters.

Johnny Bart (The Rawhide Kid)

The Rawhide Kid

Johnny’s Silver Age comics were of the slapstick variety. He rode into town, fought the bad guys, made some quips, and rode back into the sunset. While he didn’t have any traditional superpowers, he was incredibly fast with his gun. As were most Western heroes. Continue reading “Queer Comic Book Characters: Johnny Bart (Oct 18th)”

Queer Comic Book Characters: Jonas Graymalkin (Oct 17th)

The majority of Jonas Graymalkin’s time in Marvel’s Young X-Men was spent in the closet. This is no surprise considering Jonas was born over 200 years ago when attitudes about being gay were very different.

Jonas Graymalkin

Jonas Greymalkin

During an attack on the X-Mansion, the ground splits apart and Jonas appears. He’s found by Cipher and joins the Young X-Men. Though since his powers are attached to being in darkness, he tends to keep to the shadows. He’s very protective of the Young X-Men, but many of them don’t even realize he’s there. Continue reading “Queer Comic Book Characters: Jonas Graymalkin (Oct 17th)”

Queer Comic Book Characters: Swift (Oct 14th)

Apollo and Midnighter may be the most famous queer characters in The Authority, but they aren’t the only ones. They’re just in good company. This reminds me of a time my mom asked me if all my friends are gay. No, mom, they aren’t all gay; we’re just magnetic to tolerant people, who have a high likelihood of also being gay.

Shen Li-Min (Swift)

Swift

Swift is a bisexual Buddhist Tibetan. But what makes her even cooler is that she has talon and wings that give her super fast flying powers and other super senses. Oh, no, wait, that’s not what makes her the coolest. What makes Swift the coolest is that she’s the only character not created by Warren Ellis to make it onto The Authority‘s roster. That’s right, even Ellis know she’s awesome. Continue reading “Queer Comic Book Characters: Swift (Oct 14th)”

Queer Comic Book Characters: Alison Bechdel (Oct 13th)

The title of this blog post seems bizarre, but Alison Bechdel is a character in her own autobiographic graphic novel, Fun Home, a play on Funeral Home. (Her father was a funeral home director and high school English teacher.) The novel takes places in non-linear flashbacks to Bechdel’s time in her parents’ home and by in large, her relationship with her father, Bruce Bechdel.

Alison Bechdel

Alison Bechdel

In many ways, I think my literary tastes fall right in line with enjoying this novel. In fact, I read it in an afternoon. (English major as charged.) The Bechdel house is one of books and there are many literary references — from James Joyce to the fable of Icarus — littered throughout the novel. Continue reading “Queer Comic Book Characters: Alison Bechdel (Oct 13th)”

Queer Comic Book Characters: Damon Matthews (Oct 12th)

I have an affinity for solo character comics series, and no solo series is complete without a good cast of supporting characters. In Marc Andreyko’s Manhunter, Damon Matthews serves as title character Kate Spencer’s co-counsel and fellow DA.

Damon Matthews

Damon Matthews

Damon has no superpowers of his own and does not engage in fighting crime, except through his work as a lawyer. However, he quickly pieces together that Kate has become Manhunter and he covers for her on many occasions. Continue reading “Queer Comic Book Characters: Damon Matthews (Oct 12th)”

Queer Comic Book Characters: Renee Montoya (Oct 11th)

In the introduction for Gotham Central: Half a Life trade paperback, author Greg Rucka writes, “Ordinary people have secret identities, too.”

Today is National Coming Out Day. As both a queer woman and an English major, I’ve read a million and one coming out stories. There are entire anthologies devoted to real life coming out stories and almost every LGBT fictional or biographical book has an embedded coming out story.

This is not to say that coming out, especially the first time(s) and to authority figures, isn’t a big thing. In fact, being out is a privilege that not all queer people have. However, in literature, this type of story becomes cliche or a safe tale to tell about the gay experience.

Then came along Renee Montoya and her coming out story in Greg Rucka and Michael Lark’s Gotham Central: Half a Life. It rocked my socks.

Renee Montoya

Renee Montoya

Continue reading “Queer Comic Book Characters: Renee Montoya (Oct 11th)”

Queer Comic Book Characters: Destiny (Oct 10th)

Until 1989, the Comics Code Authority banned all mentions of homosexuality and definitely all openly gay characters. Jim Shooter, Marvel editor-in-chief in the 1980s, had a “No Gays in the Marvel Universe” stance and in the 1990s, all solo features with gay characters had to be labeled as “Adults Only.” Thankfully, as of 2006, current editor-in-chief Joe Quesada says this policy’s no longer in effect.

Unfortunately, Irene Adler aka Destiny died in Uncanny X-Men #255, which was published December 1989. She has not be resurrected.

Irene Adler (Destiny)

Destiny

Irene is a blind mutant precognitive, born in Austria. During her adolescence, she filled 13 volumes with her future predictions called “The Books of Truth.” After this, she went blind. Though throughout her lifetime, Irene continued to make many accurate predictions. Continue reading “Queer Comic Book Characters: Destiny (Oct 10th)”