Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Pow! Gay Comic Book Characters Zap Stereotypes

Kevin Keller, a gay character, was introduced into Archie Comics in 2010.Credit...Fernando Ruiz/Archie Comics

Mainstream comic book publishers have tried for years to draw a more diverse readership by incorporating gay characters and story lines.

Lately, they have faced increased competition from smaller publishers that want to go more mainstream and already have an established roster of inclusive offerings.

As the comic book industry prepares to gather at Comic-Con International, which begins Thursday in San Diego, publishers big and small will be promoting a wider selection of gay-themed comic books. Industry insiders say the trend mirrors the country’s evolving attitudes toward gays and lesbians.

“The population of America has changed, and acceptance of gays has changed,” said Milton Griepp, chief executive of ICv2, which tracks the comic book industry.

ICv2 reported last week that total sales of comic books and graphic novels in the United States and Canada reached $935 million in 2014, an increase of 7 percent over 2013.

The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on marriage equality in June came as a growing majority of Americans said they supported same-sex marriage, according to a recent Gallup poll. Support among those 18 to 29 is at nearly 80 percent.

Image
DC’s Midnighter, here on the Midnighter 2 cover, exemplifies traditional superhero traits and is also gay.Credit...DC Entertainment

Against this backdrop, DC Comics revamped its lineup in June. “Our main directive is to make these characters as modern and reflective of the real world,” said Jim Lee, a co-publisher of DC Comics.

Part of DC’s overhaul included creating a series for a gay superhero named Midnighter, a character that fans and critics have praised. His popularity stems in part from efforts to make his sexual orientation just one aspect of his character. For instance, he also likes to fight and is promiscuous.

Phil Jimenez, an artist known for his work on Wonder Woman and the Amazing Spider-Man comics, says that many readers no longer want to see the effeminate stereotype of the gay man in comics. Instead, they want gay superheroes to embody normative behavior — to live as typical males. “As long as the dude is dude enough, then he’s acceptable,” he said. Mr. Jimenez, who was recently featured on an installment of the PBS Digital Studios series “First Person” that looked at queerness in comics, applauded efforts by mainstream publishers to reach gay and lesbian readers, saying it was a smart business move.

“Once you grab them, they are loyal customers,” he said.

That loyal fan base is seeking more visibility, which has led to the formation of advocacy groups like Geeks Out, a New York organization that celebrates gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender pop culture.

“The purpose of Geeks Out is to let the L.G.B.T.Q. community interact and let the industry know that we are here and have a voice,” said Joey Stern, the president and co-founder of the group, which last month organized Flame Con, the first L.G.B.T. comic book convention in New York.

“A big part of it was to offer an opportunity to give exposure to artists who were often in the background,” Mr. Stern said.

But Flame Con also served to cater to a growing interest among young readers for comic books that better reflected their world.

Image
“The normalization of queer young people was important,” said Shannon Watters, a creator of the comic series Lumberjanes.Credit...Noelle Stevenson/Boom! Studios

Among the vendors at Flame Con were Atari and the utility company Con Edison, as well as small publishers like Northwest Press, which attended with the motto that “comics are for everyone.”

Northwest’s publisher, Charles Christensen, who goes by Zan, said Northwest was dedicated to publishing queer-themed graphic novels and that he wanted to get them into the hands of all readers. “They are all about love and loss and adventure and danger,” he said. “It’s all universal.”

Diverse storytelling benefits all readers, gay or straight, Mr. Griepp of ICv2 said. “A good story is enjoyable to everybody,” he said, pointing to the steady sales for Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir “Fun Home” as an example.

The book, about a lesbian cartoonist and her closeted gay father, has been a best seller since its release in 2007, he said. Adapted for the stage, “Fun Home” won five Tony Awards in June, including one for best musical.

Jon Goldwater felt the need to modernize Archie Comics when he came aboard as publisher. “It was crystal clear that Archie was not diverse,” he said, so he introduced Kevin Keller, a gay character, in 2010, eventually giving Kevin his own series.

“It was a cultural decision and business decision,” Mr. Goldwater said. “They go hand in hand.”

The trend to portray true-to-life gay characters in works intended for a wider audience extends to comic books aimed at younger readers, too. Published by an imprint of Boom! Studios, Lumberjanes is a series about the summer camp experiences of five girls, two of whom have a crush on each other.

“We wanted to have queer characters but not oversexualize them,” says Shannon Watters, an editor at Boom! Studios and a creator of Lumberjanes, adding that she wants to represent regular children at an age when they are figuring out who they are. “The normalization of queer young people was important,” she said.

Ms. Watters said she appreciated the efforts of more mainstream publications to do the same.

“It is very encouraging to see the decisions that DC and Marvel have made in giving marginalized creators more of platform to tell their stories,” she said, “but we still have a long way to go.”

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section B, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: Pow! Gay Comic Book Characters Zap Stereotypes . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT