Gay comic book
20 Crucial Queer Comics from the Past Five Years
MariNaomi is an Eisner Award–nominated and SPACE Award–winning cartoonist and the founder and administrator of the Cartoonists of Color, Queer Cartoonists, and Disabled Cartoonists databases. Their graphic novelLosing the Young woman was among those banned in the Katy, Tex., educational facility district in 2022. In May, Fieldmouse Press will publish their ninth novel, the graphic memoirI Thought You Loved Me.
These books contain a variety of subjects, themes, moods, and styles, all queer books by queer authors. I’ve mixed it up in command to give an idea of how diverse queer comics can be, through my particular lens—my tastes skew toward mature personal narratives and indie artwork. It is in no way a complete list, just a taste.
1. 1001 Black Men by Ajuan Mance (Stacked Deck)
Mance’s book is a love letter to the Shadowy men she deems as often overlooked by traditional media. Sometimes stories or poems accompany the portraits, sometimes the images speak for themselves.
2. Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden (First Second)
This dreamlike graphic novel, set in a mag
I’m always on the lookout for enjoyable queer media to share with you guys. A rare months back I found Freelance, a comic book series from Chapterhouse. Scan on to spot why you should pick up this four-issue story.
I wouldn’t have known about Freelance if the cover hadn’t caught my eye. There was just something ‘queer’ about it as far as I could say. I even talked about it in our Admin’s Lgbtq+ Representation in Comic Books podcast.
The current series is a retelling of an old story focusing on a unreal Canadian hero. However, this time around, writers Andrew Wheeler and Jim Zub have changed the main characters for a modern era. Do check out our interview with Andrew Wheeler about how he started functional on Freelance.
Originally Lance Valiant was a hero with Natasha as his girlfriend. John Collins was a pirate and ended up existence Lance’s sidekick.
In the current retelling, both male characters are queer and distribute romantic feelings for each other. John’s full name has been changed to John Cabot while Natasha is now Tasha Kolchak. The series is a globe-trotting adventure story with a earnest threat, different dimensions, a
Northstar is often called the first gay superhero, although he wasn’t allowed to come out until 13 years after his debut. But he was almost certainly the first mainstream superhero deliberately (albeit subtextually) depicted as queer, he was Marvel’s first male lover superhero, and his coming out in 1992 was a landmark event, as was his eventual wedding to his husband, Kyle, 20 years later.
I will begin with this disclaimer: I am not going to do justice to this subject in the space I have here. Scholarly papers have been written about Northstar’s history and significance; there are decades of blog posts, letter columns, zines, and newspaper articles, not to mention the comics themselves. This profile could very well be a publication — and I aspire someone writes it someday so I can browse it. But in the meantime, here’s the condensed version:
Jean-Paul Beaubier, AKA Northstar, was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, and he first appeared in X-Men #120 (April 1979) as a member of the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight, along with his twin sister Jeanne-Marie Beaubier (Aurora). He didn’t really get a personality beyond “French-Canadian” until Alpha Flight got their own book in 1983, wh
Most iconic LGBTQIA+ superheroes in comic books
June 1 marks the originate of Pride Month in the United States, in which the lives, legacies, and talents of LGBTQIA+ people are acknowledged and celebrated. And just like in the real world, LGBTQIA+ people are all over the Marvel and DC Universes and beyond, with queer superheroes becoming more common all the time.
But there are trailblazers who paved the way, including queer heroes whose identities have been a part of their stories from the start, and those who, favor many of us in the real world, came to realize their sexuality and gender self later in life.
These are our picks for the most iconic LGBTQIA+ superheroes of all time!
You may likeTim Drake
One of the most recent heroes to come out as homosexual is also one of the most well-known to be part of the LGBTQ+ community: Tim Drake, the third Robin.
After years of speculation and headcanon from fans and numerous relationship difficulties in comics, Tim came out as queer in 2021's Batman: Urban Legends #6, agreeing to go on a romantic spend time with his male friend Bernard.
Though Tim's exploration of his have sexuality is just beginning, and Tim himself hasn't named his