Reprinting the following material:
The Flash #53 August, 1991
Detective Comics #854 August, 2009
Supergirl #19 May, 2018
Since 2021, DC Comics has released an annual 80-page special devoted to the LGBTQIA+ characters of the DC Universe. This year, along with DC Pride 2023, the House of Superman released an anthological look at LGBTQIA+ characters from the past 4 decades of DC history.
DC Pride Through the Years contains 4 stories; 3 of which are reprints.
First is The Flash #53. This issue is considered by senior manager of the DC Archives Benjamin La Clear, to be the first main stream DC books with an openly gay character after the Comics Code revised it's standards against the portrayal of sexual orientation in 1989. True, it took 2 years before William Messner-Loebs had the Pied Piper reveal his sexual preferences to Wally West. But in reality, comic book readers were already aware of homosexuality and non-traditional gender identities in comics for decades. Both real and implied.
If you are going to write about the history of comics, at some point and time you're going to come back to Dr. Fredric Wertham. His 1955 book Seduction of the Innocent blamed every facet of juvenile delinquency on sequential art. One of Wetham's most famous examples used was to blame the rise of homosexuality in teens on characters such as Wonder Woman and the Dynamic Duo.
Wertham more than implied that the relationship between millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne and his young ward, Dick Grayson, was anything but wholesome. Wertham even went so far as to frame the nighttime exploits of the two in the guise of Batman and Robin as a sort of sadomasochist gay fantasy that in today's vernacular would be considered the equivalent of 'sexual grooming'. As a result of this attack, DC Comics introduced a new character into the Batman Family- one Ms. Kathy Kane, AKA the Batwoman.
Though Batman already had love interests in the form of the villainess Catwoman and reporter Vicki Vale, DC felt the need to introduce a super-hero love interest into the Batman dynamic to counter the damage inflicted on the character by Wertham and the resulting Senate subcommittee hearings led by Estes Kefauver. After a couple of years, once the fervor over Batman and Robin's sexuality would subside, Kathy Kane would be quietly retired. She wasn't exactly a very popular addition to the Batcave anyways. However, the character would be re-explored again, this time in a reboot that introduced Kate Kane as the new Batwoman of Gotham City.
A cousin of Bruce Wayne, on his mother's side, Kate Kane has some military training having been enrolled in West Point. It is at this time that Kane is first outed. While given a chance to refute those allegations, Kane admits to being a lesbian and is drummed from the institution just before what would have been her graduation. The Kate Kane Batwoman is also one of the few Jewish superheroes in comics and her debut as the lead feature of Detective Comics is used to commemorate the character's place in LGBTQIA+ history at DC Comics.
DC Pride Through the Years then examines the non-super-powered members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Though non-binary (or as one might have referred to as gender-bending) characters have existed in DC Comics for years, such as Sir Tristan in 1982's Camelot 3000 and Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol creation of the sentient genderqueer Danny the Street, this book decided to focus on a friend of the Girl of Steel.
In Supergirl #19, readers are introduced to Lee Serrano. Lee is a non-binary teen who is befriended by the Maid of Might after a being saved during an attack from the Cyborg Superman. Lee is being bullied at school and through Supergirl's own complicated relationship with an adopted planet that see's her as both a hero and a villain, the teen is inspired to stand up against their bully.
The fourth story involves the complicated character of the Alan Scott Green Lantern. One of the original pillars of the Justice Society of America, the character underwent changes during DC's New 52 event when it was revealed that Earth-2's Alan Scott was gay. With this new version of Green Lantern, a lot of readers were confused. Scott had previously been married with two children, who became super heroes just like their old man. While some were quick to point out that historically, gays and lesbians confused by their sexuality, have married those of the opposite sex and had children, some readers felt that Alan Scott's reboot wasn't sufficiently explored or explained.
Tim Sheridan and Cian Tormey's 'Past Prologue' is the introductory chapter into the 6-issue miniseries Alan Scott: Green Lantern. Debuting in October, 2023, this pre-World War II set epic will dive into Scott's origin; both as one of the founding superheroes of the DC Universe and as a closeted gay man.
Cover by Derek Charm.
Completing this review completes Task #44 (A New Release) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.
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