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LGBT representation in Comics

Discussion in 'Entertainment and Technology' started by Toblyawesome, Jun 1, 2015.

  1. Toblyawesome

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    Let's have a chat about that you guys.
    How do you think the comic industry is doing with this? What do you want to see more of? Which publisher is doing the best job? Who is your favourite LGBT comic character?
    Comics are literally my whole life so I want to hear more from my community about something I love.
    I personally think that, although they are doing much better than they once were, comics still have a ways to go. Especially when it comes to realizing that "Gay" isn't a personality trait. To see my favourite LGBT character Wiccan reduced to a stereotype in the recent Young Avengers run was murder for me.
    But what do you guys think about Comics in regard to the LGBTQA? Discuss whatever you like :slight_smile:
     
  2. HuskyPup

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    Overall, I'd have to say the overall representation is not too good...I can't think of a favorite LGBT character off the top of my head even. Or hardly any, for that matter. And like you say, it's sad to see them reduced to stereotypes. I'd love to see certain charaters come out as gay, and then not be any different, merely open about their attractions, and how hard it was to hide/deny them, almost like concealing a secret identity.

    I also wonder how many people creating comics are LGBT...it would help, I think, if more people with a personal stake in the matter were among the publishing ranks.

    Slightly OT:

    At the recent Colorado Comic-Con they had a panel called 'Women in Comics', as in women working in the industry, but with no women on it.

    So I think we're wrestling with similar issues; I wonder if any cons have panels on people in the LGBT community, working in the comics industry?

    Certainly comics have long catered to the straight, white male, and it seems like it's been pretty slow to change.
     
  3. Toblyawesome

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    I completely agree! It would be so nice if the bigger companies started hiring a more diverse work force.
    Ever since we are young we are taught to "write what we know", so let some queer creators in to write what they know for once. :slight_smile:
     
  4. Nekoko

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    Funny enough, the two GSM characters that immediately come to mind are both associated with Batman... Those being Renee Montoya (The Question II) and Kate Kane (Batwoman) who dated funny enough. I really don't know too much in general on the subject though since I don't read many US comics, I mostly read Manga... Where the GSM representation can vary from great to awwwfulllll... but there's a lot more variety there and a lot of fun to be had in general.... OH! but I forgot about my all time favorite sexy super hero comic Empowered and the tragic story of Mindf*ck and Sistah Spooky... I cry just thinking about it... Q~Q
     
  5. Tetra

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    There's honestly such a lack of LGBT representation in comics. My favourites however are written by Alison Bechdel. She wrote 'Fun Home' and 'Are You My Mother?' which are both pretty popular. They're kind of like an autobiography in comic version. I know some friends that follow some LGBT web comics as well, which they really enjoy.

    There's also some manga with LGBT representation that I like, like Aoi Hana, but I don't know if that's the kind of thing you're talking about.
     
  6. Eiji

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    I agree with all of you above that there is much lacking, but I think we should also be aware that there is a growing representation going on. For me my favourite lgbt character is Wiccan from Young Avengers. Which is also my avatar photo. I think Young Avengers is doing a good job with portraying their gay characters. It's not overly out their, but it isn't tucked into a corner where they hope you forget all about it. It also help that Wiccan is awesome, but I'm biased.
     
  7. Toblyawesome

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    First off, I love your avatar! Wiccan is my favourite haha
    I still felt as though the new run got rid of most of his other traits to slip in some new ones that made him more into a stereotype. I feel as though with the Young Avenger run they should have stuck with the original team. A team where Wiccan and Hulkling were a gay couple but that wasn't the biggest thing about them. I still have the Childrens Crusade Graphic Novel sitting on my desk, it's been flipped through so many times the pages are fraying. XD
    They were visible as queer characters, but they were first and foremost just a regular superhero couple.
    Having said that though, I still own and read the new young avengers run all the time. Because as far as LGBT in comics go, it's still one of the best current examples.

    ---------- Post added 1st Jun 2015 at 01:06 PM ----------

    Oh also as a note, the indie comics are KILLING it for LGBT characters! Seriously Kaptara, read it haha. It's really awesome.
    Rat Queens is great as well and so is Sunstone
     
  8. Ryu

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    The presentation of Muutsuki in Tokyo Ghoul: Re, I think, is a good representation of a Trans* character (#totallynotbiasedeventhoughimighthaveaslightcrushonhimlol #transcharacterswitheyepatchesarecute #stopwiththehashtags), because he doesn't make a fuss about it in any way, and the only time he does is when he has his short ripped off of him in a taxi, which is fair enough for obvious reasons. On other Trans* characters in anime and manga that I know of, Yagyuu Kyuubei (#transcharacterwitheyepatchesaresticute), I can't say much about as the gender she (he? They? It?) was raised as was male, which didn't conform to their (that'll do...) sex, and I know nobody who has been in this situation, so I can't really make any comment. In Ixion saga DT there are two trans* characters... Starting in team good guys, mariandale. Well... In my opinion it's ridiculousley exagerrated, and is, for some reason, one of the most important plot points in the story, as well as humour in the show. The other trans* character is KT (real name unkown), who works for team anti-heroes, and almost isn't. They're presumed to be male throughout the series until one of the later episodes, where it comes to light even though all of Incognito (except Erec) say they knew, and stuff carries on. They also act like a girl when drunk and has a crush on Erec as well, so... At least it's a better representation than Mar.

    Gay, lesbian, bisexual etc. characters, I find are much less common, which is... Unstatistical, as I can only think of two off the top of my head are Akisa Aru, Shimura Otae(?). Starting with Akisa, the more well know of the two, as with alot of aforementioned characters in the previous paragraph, I think he is way over exagerated, and yet still down to earth, and I think it's the setting and not him that makes him seem over done, so it's hard to comment here as well, but I suppose if you were to put him in a differant setting, such as just a guy doing stuff, he'd seem a much more realistic and convincing character. The latter character, Otae, who is pansexual(?), as she gets engaged to Kyuubei (mentioned in the former paragraph), she doesn't really say anything about her sexuality and it's only a assuption of mine that she identifies as pansexual, not something stated by her, but I'd say she is one of the better representations of an LGBT character.

    You better read that now 'cos I used 10% of batter on my phone writing that.
     
  9. Toblyawesome

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    I read it all so rest assured my friend, your sacrifice was not in vain!!
    It's cool hearing about the Manga side of things, especially since it's all influenced by a different culture with a different way of handling the subjects.
    I have never actually tried reading Tokyo Ghoul but after looking up the character I think I just might start :slight_smile:
     
  10. Kaiser

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    Before DC bought Static Shock, it was a very fine example of minority representation, in terms of race and sexuality. Now, under DC, it's become somewhat of a joke in terms of it's quality.

    Static, the lead hero's alias, was black, and has a best friend who is a gay male. There was also a lesbian couple on a superhero team, that he sometimes worked with. Also included in all of this was incidents involving racism and, to some degree, sexism, along with some other cultural commentary.

    Of course, this comic originally ran under a company (Milestone) less known than DC or Marvel, and it had less recognition. Still, it's not bad. It definitely was more "gritty" than almost anything DC or Marvel did during the 1990s.
     
  11. Thewriter

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    Now I'm a big comic book reader, and I'm always glad to see any LGBT+ character in a comic, if they're done so correctly. As we've all probably seen the issues (ha) when it comes to most writers trying to include a character whose sexuality or gender is different: they're a cookie cutter cut out or big ol' stereotype that does not help any of us with representation. Or there is the fact they throw in a character whose a part of the community because "Oh hey, look! we're accepting! Now please, buy our comic!"

    Best example is The Wicked and Divine. While they have a really good transgender character (MtF), the rest of the cast seem to be gay/bisexual because hey, why not? Gods liked to screw every which way and be lewd and (in one particular moment) scream how's is one's boyfriend doing when we didn't know anything else about that character said scream is directing the question at.

    There are so many bad examples, but so little good ones. I know that the best way to fix is to either scream at those in charge to change, or be the change ourselves, which I know that plenty of people are doing. :slight_smile:
     
  12. Toblyawesome

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    Guys, guys, guys, guys....read Midnighter. The first issue is wonderful and DC actually did a wonderful job portraying the character
     
  13. Batman

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    I had to root through all my comics, but I finally found the name I was looking for! :grin: Cullen Row. Hell yeah. He's not especially active in the Batman series (no one really is except for batman :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:) but he still exists, and is the brother to Harper Row, who does make a number of appearances being in some issues. He's a total sweet heart, but has a bit of sass to him, and he's got it bad for Tim Drake :slight_smile: He's one of those characters you can't hate.

    I know DC isn't exactly magnanimous with their minority representation, but it's nice to have a character (albeit minor) like Cullen, who isn't a stereotype, and actually deals with the social circumstances surrounding his sexuality... i could go on for days about this.

    Below are a page and a panel which sum up my love for this guy.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Also batman beat the shit out of some homophobes that were beating up Cullen. Bat-Ally?

    ---------- Post added 5th Jun 2015 at 06:09 PM ----------

    but yeah representation of lgbt in this medium is bad
     
    #13 Batman, Jun 5, 2015
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2015
  14. 741852963

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    Isn't Constantine from Hellblazer meant to be bi?

    But they airbrushed that out of the TV series!
     
  15. Mith

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