A New Character Causes Lots of Hoopla

Over the past couple of days it was announced that DC Comics would be resurrecting one of their old-time characters who had long been dead: Batwoman. Though not widely known about outside of comic book circles, the character’s resurrection is getting tons of press. With Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman having disappeared someone has to protect the Earth. With new threats in the city of Metropolis, and Batman gone, someone has to step up into the role of the city's savior. But the resurrection isn't what is getting all of the press.

It's all because the character will be a lesbian.

For some this seems very shocking. How could someone who is charged with protecting and saving the world be gay?

But for others, their response is so what? There have been dozens of gay, lesbian and bisexual characters in comic books. In fact, Marvel Comics’ Northstar was the first to come out in one of the X-Men titles. My familiarity is limited to DC and Marvel universes, and while no gay or lesbian superhero has been a main character of their own title for a long period of time, it should be remembered that they do exist.

Here is a partial list of gay, lesbian, and bisexual superheroes (and supervillains) in the DC and Marvel Comics universes (with some help from Wikipedia.org):

Anole – gay (Marvel)
Black Cat – bisexual (Marvel)
Catwoman – lesbian (DC)
Electro – bisexual (Marvel)
Extraño – gay (DC)
Firelord – gay (Marvel)
Flatman – gay (Marvel)
Hulkling – gay (Marvel)
Icemadien – bisexual (DC)
Karma – lesbian (Marvel)
Knockout – lesbian (DC)
Living Lightning – gay (Marvel)
Lucy in the Sky – lesbian (Marvel)
Moondragon – bisexual (Marvel)
Mystique – bisexual (Marvel)
Northstar – gay (Marvel)
Obsidian – gay (DC)
Rawhide Kid – gay (Marvel)
Sunfire – lesbian (Marvel)
Ultimate Colossus – gay (Marvel)
Vivisector – gay (Marvel)
Wiccan – gay (Marvel)

I think what this incomplete list demonstrates is that gay and lesbian characters have been around in comics for a while. They should not be forgotten. But the new Batwoman is also important if she can carry her own title for a significant length of time. It will show that there is an audience out there for a superhero not like most of the other superheroes out there.