DC re-introduces an established character as gay now

Just to clear things o my part. I have about the same number of gay and hetero friends. Heck, my best friend is gay. This so that there is no misunderstanding here of anyone thinking this pisses me off due to any type of phobia or whatnot. What pisses me off is the fact that they couldn't create a new gay character but are now going to re-introduce an established character as gay. Which character? Anyone's guess at this time.

It really doesn't bother me, but that's mostly because I've just decided to go with the fact that this is a new universe. For me, all the charactes I love still exist in my old stories, and I can enjoy them over and over. I'm all for seeing new takes on stuff now.

As for making a new gay character, there are a few DC has tried, but new characters just don't seem to find enough of a base to justify keeping. They seem to end up as cannonfodder pretty quickly.

I'm curious to see who it is, and how DC handles it. But it won't really bother me either way.

But, I can also understand your concern about changing an established character so drastically.

Imagine they reintroduce Wally, but he's gay now? That will piss off some fans. I agree that they really shouldn't be changing around established characters sexualities, but in the end it won't piss me off or bother me. As long as its not something totally out of left field like our boy Nightwing or someone like Hal Jordan Known lady killers. As long as I can believe it, it won't bother me.

Robinson gave a podcast interview on comic vine stating that Wonder Woman wasn't the last amazon on Earth 2 like she thought. People are guessing Donna Troy will show up there, maybe as a lesbian now?

Elongated man wore lots of purple, but man his marriage to Sue was one for the ages, so hope not there.

Raven has yet to be introduced and I could see her as a possibility.

Where's the new Aqualad too?

I'm guessing it's the usual. New characters are harder to sell than established ones. New books featuring new characters are generally gone in a couple of years. Minorities (racial or sexual) are generally a harder sell. So a new book about a gay character is already starting out with two strikes against it.

That being said, my biggest beef when Renee Montoya was outed was that I'd been toying with writing a fanfic pairing her with Bruce Wayne and now it was basically off the table.

I guess if it's a character I care about, the orientation won't stop me caring. If it's a character I don't care about, the orientation won't prompt me to start reading.

And if the book ends up being "look! look! We're inclusive and progressive. The character is gay! Isn't that cool?" I'll be even less likely to buy it.

I read comics for escape, but that escape is about equal parts plot and character. Romance? Eh... as long as it's not the focal point.

What if it turns out that Superman is gay and that he was not pining for Lois Lane but secretly was in love with her boyfriend and then turned to his pal Jimmy Olsen as a love interest?

For some reason, when i first read the story this is who I thought of first.

Hmmmm.... Has anyone seen if Jason has slept with any girls since the reboot? I don't follow RHatO so I can't say. He is well stablished by now.

I thought it was established that Todd likes his meat...

It's a guy

Iconic male? Let the speculation begin.

Devin Grayson isn't writing Nightwing any time soon is she???

I'm starting to wonder if it'll be Tim Drake. One of the current Teen Titans is gay and that could lead to Tim opening up about his sexuality.

Batwing also strikes me as a possibility. I mean, it is Winick writing it...

Looking at the June solicitations we have:
All the watchmen stuff launching (one of them maybe?)

The birds of prey solicitaiton reads: BLACK CANARY discovers something amazing about her powers!

That's about all I can find there. Anyone else?

Iconic, male, not yet introduced. Unless they're going with an Earth-2 incarnation, in which case the floor is wide open...

Well, it could be A Flash (Jay or Wally), A GL (Kyle or Alan)... has anyone seen Ray Palmer lately? Hawkman?

The iconic Bats have all appeared so far.

Well, I haven't ever really broadcast the fact here on these boards at all, since its just one part of the whole "me", so I'm not sure if my friends here know it or not, but I'm gay. So, as you can imagine, this news was of particular interest to me. There's so many points I'd like to make, that I don't even know where to begin...

First off, to brannahdel (and everyone else!) I just want to say that you shouldn't have to feel like you need to apologize, in advance for your opinions, or that anything you say might be misconstrued as being homophobic. I hate that our society does that to people. It should be ok to politely, but enthusiastically, state your opinion on something controversial, without having to fear the "other side" is going to accuse you of being 'phobic'. I just wish that this country...this WORLD...could go back to having civil discourse about a topic, without everything turning into a mudslinging contest! But in any case, rest assured that if we have disagreements on this subject, it is not because I think you, or anyone else here is homophobic...its just a difference of opinion!

As far as the topic at hand, the best way for me to talk about it, is to describe how I felt when I heard this on Sunday. First, I was excited. I was really, REALLY excited. I was hopeful that they would pick one of my favorite characters, so that I'd end up having him be more like me than ever before. And then, I was mad. Annoyed is probably the correct word. The cynic in me KNOWS why DC is doing this, and its NOT for the best interest of society in general, or anyone else. Its a pure marketing move, and I DON'T appreciate being 'pandered' to. But finally I thought about what a gay teenage comic fan somewhere out there was thinking at that moment. Someone who hadn't, like me, learned yet that life does get better as you get older. Someone who might very likely be living under the thought that he was so different than ANYONE else, that he could never fit in. And I realized that, this one little move, no matter how small or immaterial it might be to any of us older (and more jaded) comic readers, might be the single ray of sunshine that was needed to keep that kid alive. It may sound dramatic, but you'd be surprise how SMALL of a thing can keep a person (especially a kid!) from thinking the world is hopeless. And if that's the case, than I think we can all find a way to deal with this 'change' to our character.

In terms of changing an established character, I can understand other reader's being less than thrilled with the idea. But Will makes a good point...the whole UNIVERSE was rebooted. There are changes happening left and right. This is just another of those changes. And the point of it is to have gay characters with VISIBILITY...you just can't seem to get that with new characters. Sadly, as has already been said, new characters just don't get the same traction, especially ones that start off with an instant "strike against them" in some readers eyes. And to extrapolate the comics universe, to our "real" universe, it just has to be mentioned that people come out ALL the time. People who you don't know about, and who you think have been straight all their lives. Sometimes people just have confusion and don't know what they want. Some people are really good at hiding it. And some people have it buried down so deep within themselves, that they don't even realize it themselves until late in life. So, with a good writer, it's COMPLETELY plausible to have an established character, who was formerly written only as a straight character, to now finally start taking the steps of coming out of the closet. It happens, every day, so why not in comics too?

Lastly, I just want to throw my hat into the ring of guessing. For my money, it's either Tim Drake, or Wally West. I'm guessing Wally though. The fans have been clamoring for a comeback from him for so long, and I think that bringing him back, but making him gay would be the ultimate dig from Dan Didio. I don't know if they are mean enough to do that to so many people though. For me, it would be great...my second favorite character would be more like me in this new universe. What's not to like about that. I still have the old story, so I wouldn't be losing any of his "first" history. But that would be just one more MAJOR bond to the character, who I've ALWAYS identified with anyways...it couldn't be better for me. If it happens, I think it will happen on Earth 2 perhaps, which would also give them more flexibility with the critics. Choosing Tim makes sense to me, he's always been rumored to be gay, and quite honestly, I've always thought of him as being closeted anyways! I don't know though...they've said "introducing" the character, so that doesn't seem to fit him.

I can't wait to find out though. In my opinion, this is something that is good for comics, since it provides more connectivity to potential young fans out there. And its a start toward fair representation in the DC Universe...after all, doesn't it just make sense that there has to be ONE major superhero out there that's gay???

Whoever that character is, you can bet they won't be in the military so it's not Captain Atom or anyone like that.