I went to a panel at Comic-Con about gay superheroes, there was a representative from Marvel as well as DC. However, they would not tell us who is "out" in those areas except for characters who pretty much everyone knows. But the main purpose of the panel was to inform people about some homophobic issues in comics, because, I'm supposing, a lot of gay characters have been "killed" off in series...

Lady Nilamarthiel wrote:

There was more than one Robin.

Robin I, Dick Grayson, a former circus performer, was Batman's first partner until he was fired and then became Nightwing.

Robin II, Jason Todd, jacked the wheels off of the Batmobile and then became Batman's second partner, but the Joker bashed his head in with a crowbar and got exploded inside a building. He died, and stayed dead for ten years, but then came back in... 2006, I think? As the Red Hood.

Robin III, Tim Drake, is our current Robin in continuity. Pretty much a mini-Batman.

Robin IV, Stephanie Brown, was Robin for about seven months before getting "killed", but her autopsy was faked and she stayed with Leslie Thompson in Africa taking care of people before coming back to Gotham in her old mantle of The Spoiler

And the out-of-continuity Robin Carrie Kelly from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns.

no he came back as night wing

*smacks head* sorry mesa had a brain fart.

Ragnarok wrote:

lex wrote:

I went to a panel at Comic-Con about gay superheroes, there was a representative from Marvel as well as DC. However, they would not tell us who is "out" in those areas except for characters who pretty much everyone knows. But the main purpose of the panel was to inform people about some homophobic issues in comics, because, I'm supposing, a lot of gay characters have been "killed" off in series...

Editor-in-chief of Marvel, Joe Quesada, mentioned how a certain openly gay character named Freedom Ring was a good example of how the company supported homosexual characters. Of course, said character was killed the following month.

Maybe that was him who was speaking about it, they gave me a whole sheet of characters that were killed off, weird.

that's a pretty good article, Bluesky, it's something worth looking into...because on one hand they do "support" gay characters but then they get killed off...almost kind of inconsistent.

Adrasteia wrote:

Raven Nightshade wrote:

Adrasteia wrote:

...are you trying to steal my thunder? Because that isn't cool.

No, not on purpose, I swear.

Also, this might just be stating the obvious, but doesn't it seem extremely, extremely usual that a sexually repressive culture like Japan's contains more homosexual themes in their pop literature than America's? I've always wondered about this, and can only come to the conclusion that, when people are taught to conserve their sexuality in the public eye, they explode with sexuality when given the opportunity to express themselves.

Well it also has something to do with the Bushido code for samurai. Way back in the day, the sexual boundaries between fellow samurai (who I believe were 100% male) were blurred. Plus, er, they came up with a wonderful thing called hentai which includes a variety of things I won't mention here

Anthiena wrote:

I find that most times, gay/lesbian characters tend to be relegated to the backround in American animation when they exist period. (Fanfiction unluckily doesn't count). They are few and far between and can be outright stereotypes at times.

I absolutely agree, homosexual characters are usually presented as nothing more than homosexuals in many instances. Take for example, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. It may not be an animation, but even though it's an indie movie, the two gay characters have no depth to them at all. They're used as joke opportunities for the fact that they like other boys. T_T I'm no movie buff but I find that indie movies tend to deviate from the mainstream, so I found this disappointing.

Ragnarok wrote:

So the exception is when comics and cartoons overlap. Batman - The Animated Series had a lot of fun pushing the boundries on what could be shown in an afternoon cartoon show. There were a number of implications that Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy had a physical relationship, making them bisexual at least. This continued on in the rest of the DC Animated Universe, in Superman the character Maggie Sawyer (who is openly gay in the comics) is shown with her female partner while in the hospital, although nothing is stated out loud. By the time the DCAU had moved on to Justice League (and even more so Justice League Unlimited) they were really pushing the envelope though they still refrained from using words such as lesbian. "I hear she's... you know... Brazilian." At the same time, anyone who was, say, eight years old while watching the original Batman TAS series would have been twenty-two by the end of JLU...

You know, they did the same thing with Watchmen. The Silhouette was a lesbian, but it was completely edited out in the movie. She got maybe 30seconds of screen play, but in the graphic novel she was used as an example of how narrow minded and fearful the general population was. It's frustrating because she was outright called filthy and deserved to have her and her lover's throats slashed simply because they were lesbians. Fye, American media!

KillerxXxQueen wrote:

Not quite relevant, but related. And hilarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W19wr5rX … re=related

This video = EEEEEEPIIIIIIIC.

Graphic novels:

The recently ended Strangers in Paradise and a good portion of the cast of Love and Rockets.

Syora wrote:

You know, they did the same thing with Watchmen. The Silhouette was a lesbian, but it was completely edited out in the movie. She got maybe 30seconds of screen play, but in the graphic novel she was used as an example of how narrow minded and fearful the general population was. It's frustrating because she was outright called filthy and deserved to have her and her lover's throats slashed simply because they were lesbians. Fye, American media!

She was just as much a background character in the graphic novel. The one who called her filthy was Rorschach who is a mentally disturbed Right Wing-nutjob - and he also did that in the graphic novel. The movie actually gave her more screentime than the book, though it also made her far more out of closet, while the novel was more realistic about the 1930's homosexual lifestyle.

If I remember correctly, SIlhouette is the one who steals the kiss from the lady waiting for the soldier (a twist on that photgraph from the end of the war) and later is shown murdered along with her girlfriend/whatever in the same flashback?

Actually, come to think of it, Gargoyles got a way with a lot of stuff. Not just the blood and violence, but I distinctly recall there being one character from when they went to Britain that was dressed in black leather short-shorts. That doesn't necessarily have to mean anything, but they sure as hell wouldn't have gotten away with that outfit now.

Also, the kinda incestuous brother and sister.

Lightice wrote:

Syora wrote:

I don't remember a single instance of Silhouette being mentioned in the movie, except for the intro sequence that showed her already dead. Remind me? I was also referring to Rorshach stating that she was filthy only in the comic book; I do not remember that being in the movie either. Sorry for not clarifying and a potentially awful memory.

In Rorschach's monologue about what happened to all the past heroes, he mentions that Silhouette was a victim of her "indecent lifestyle". But as I said, he's not a character you should take at face value with anything.
In the graphic novel it's briefly mentioned in Hollis Mason's memoirs that she was kicked out of the team when her orientation came known to the press, but that it was unfair because she wasn't the only one, just the only one exposed (Captain Metropolis and Hooded Justice were in a sadomasochistic relationship). This was pretty realistic for the 1930's, when homosexuality was still actually a crime.

Thanks for straightening me out guys. I also now completely remember the scene you are referring to.

(Edited for missing words and being silly.)

Last edited by Syora (06-14-2009 08:08:32 PM)