Out of the Closet and into the Phonebooth: DC gay-ifies a "major icon" in June

As reported all over the comics and mainstream media the last few days, DC Comics is planning in June to reveal one of their "major iconic" characters as gay.  You can read the ABC News report here.

It's nothing new for comics to feature gay characters, but DC wants everyone to believe this is something groundbreaking.  We are still within the first year of their linewide relaunch, known as the "New 52", which asserted as one of the reasons for relaunching an express intention to "diversify" their stable of characters.  However, other than shoehorning the African-American character, Cyborg, into the Justice League rather than the Teen Titans (where he had been introduced and was a longtime member), the major iconic characters have all stayed pretty much like they always have:  white and straight.  However, DC did make efforts to prop up some of the second and third tier characters and give them a different racial or sexual spin more reflective of the modern world.  The top tier are all still mired in their 1940s roots regardless of their updated costumes or attitudes.

Last summer, I pointed out on this blog that DC had quite an opportunity here of giving themselves a clean slate so that they could reintroduce a more diverse group of primary players.  My suggestion was to take the Billy Batson/Captain Marvel character and just make him black. I also thought Barry Allen/Flash was a great opportunity to reimagine with an ethnic bent of some sort.  We all kind of knew Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern were going to stay the way they were because of the various film and tv licenses wrapped up with them.  But as far as I'm concerned, everyone else was fair game for a major makeover.


In my opinion, DC wussed out.  But that's their call.  At least they seem to be more fully realizing the potential of a clean slate with the new EARTH 2 comic (which I love).

I am curious who they are going to "out" next month in their comics.  If not for those pesky new "Non Disclosure Agreements" that DC gets everyone to sign now, we would probably already have the news fully leaked out.  Instead, we all get to speculate.  So, what do we know?  Assuming veracity from those who've spoken on record, we know this much:

(1) It's a male.
(2) It's a "major iconic" character (which means no more second banana types like The Question, Voodoo, or Batwoman)
(3) It's either someone who has not had a lot of focus as a character yet or not been reintroduced yet for the New 52.

When I think "major iconic" DC male characters, that puts a specific image in my head that is limited to these guys:
SUPERMAN, BATMAN, GREEN LANTERN, FLASH, GREEN ARROW, HAWKMAN, ATOM, CAPTAIN MARVEL/SHAZAM, PLASTIC MAN, AQUAMAN, MARTIAN MANHUNTER

However, it is possible that DC might have a different definition of "major iconic".  I could see them also include these guys:

BOOSTER GOLD, BLUE BEETLE, MR. TERRIFIC, CAPT. ATOM, FIRESTORM, ANY OF THE VARIOUS ROBINS, ANY OF THE VARIOUS OTHER GREEN LANTERNS, ANY OF THE LEGION OF THE SUPER-HEROES OR TITANS.


We can rule out Superman, Batman, Flash, and Aquaman.  Each of them have a love, temptation, or wife that is female. Green Arrow has been shown in the New 52 in a major hetero sex scene with multiple women, so we can probably remove him from consideration. Shazam too.  I don't think they want to deal with underage teens turning into adult gay super-heroes. That might make the mainstream a bit uncomfortable, so we'll take him out of consideration. Hal Jordan has been shown to be pretty straight too, so Green Lantern is out of consideration.

This leaves us with Hawkman, Atom, Plastic Man or Martian Manhunter if we are talking actual "major icons".  Since Hawkman has already been headlining his own title in the New 52, I don't think he qualifies under the limited info we have been given.  Martian Manhunter has been featured in the STORMWATCH title, but that series features the gay Superman and Batman analogues, Apollo and Midnighter, already so I just don't see DC opening the door for a gay trifecta so J'onn gets a sexual reprieve I think (plus the fact that he's a shape-changing alien technically means he is probably asexual but we won't get into that right now).

This leaves us with a toss-up between Plastic Man and Atom.  Plastic Man is just too silly. I don't think DC wants to take this marketing opportunity to make their new gay character the quite insane and slapsticky Plas.

So...my money right now is on THE ATOM.  I don't even know who they have under the mask in the New 52, but regardless of who it is, it makes the most sense (and thus, the least likely to be overly controversial) to make the Atom gay.  He's a positive role model. He's smart, clever, and iconic with tons of potential for a TV series or film with modern f/x.  The worst the gay community and DC might have to deal with would be lame jokes about him only being "six inches."

COME JUNE, I PREDICT

THE "GAY" CHARACTER WILL BE THE ATOM.  

I'll be curious to see if I'm correct or if they surprise me.

Now, to hedge my bets and lower my opinion of DC's commitment to truly being bold, what if they wuss out once again and go to the secondary characters instead?  I don't think it will be Blue Beetle or Mr. Terrific.  Both of them are already representative of different ethnicities. Why would DC waste their diversification by doubling up again? They've already done it with The Question, Voodoo, and Batwoman. I don't think they will.  It could be Firestorm, but since the character combines 2 characters into one, I just don't think it counts and Firestorm is far from a major icon.  It could be one of the Robins.  However, I don't think they would do it simply because of the bad press over the years about Batman and Robin as a gay fantasy.  I think DC doesn't want to step in that pile of manure. So, none of them are likely.

What about John Stewart, Guy Gardner, or Kyle Rayner (3 other male Earth-based Green Lanterns)?  I've read some online speculation that Gardner is the one.  If DC does that, I think it will be insulting to the gay community rather than a positive move.  Gardner is an asshole.  That's his character.  While it is true that oftentimes a repressed homosexual is aggressively homophobic as a reaction to his desires.  However, that's really not been who Gardner was in the past (and I would expect him to be the same in the New 52) where he may act like a jerk, but when it comes to doing the right thing he would step up to the plate.  I could see DC do this, but I think it could backfire on them because I don't think the gay community would want Gardner on their team.

Honestly.

John Stewart? Highly unlikely and has a history of deep love for women. Kyle Rayner? A definite possibility as far as I'm concerned.  He's young and artistic. Prior to the New 52, he did have a love of his life, but in the New 52? I could see DC going this route to distinguish him even more from the other GLs.

If it's any of the Legion of Super-Heroes or Teen Titans, then it's a total fake-out on DC's part.  None of those characters rise to the level of "major iconic" status unless you are a completely disingenuous corporate mouthpiece.

Which leaves me with CAPT. ATOM as my number one pick

from the secondary characters that DC might try to convince me are "major icons."

Just a few days to weeks to find out.  But it is definitely another interesting bit of widespread Internet speculation.

Reblogged: SHAZAM Design -- Sequart Research

Well-written and better than probably anything I could have written myself.

SHAZAM Design
by Mike Greer

Fri, 30 March 2012

Whenever the phrases “we removed the circus strongman elements of his costume” or “the emotional journey of this troubled teenager” get used in an interview about a character’s redesign, I have to admit I get a little bit frustrated. This was the case with a March 5 article on DC Entertainment’s public relations blog, The Source, in which Justice League writer Geoff Johns discussed his and artist Gary Frank’s new direction for the superhero Captain Marvel. Set to debut in Justice League #7, this new version of Captain Marvel, rechristened “Shazam,” is said to be a more mystical, magical take on the Big Red Cheese.

Now, I will admit that I am not the biggest Captain Marvel fan in the world. The character wasn’t really at the forefront of the superhero genre during the ‘80s and ‘90s, so a lot of fans like me just grew up bypassing the character altogether. Most of the time I just thought he was a half-hearted attempt at creating another Superman. It wasn’t until I began reading up on the Captain Marvel stories that Fawcett Publications put out in the 1940s that I saw the real charm behind this character.

Rather than being just another Superman knock off, Captain Marvel had taken a decidedly goofy and absurd direction with the concept, creating a family of spin-off heroes to go on adventures with, and paling around with a walking, talking tiger. But it was when I read about the epic, two-year “Monster Society of Evil” story arc that my idea of the character changed forever. The story gave readers their first look at Mister Mind, the greatest enemy that Marvel had ever faced. What they were shown was… a two-inch long talking worm with glasses.

 

That’s when I began to see the real brilliance of the Captain Marvel franchise. It was unabashedly a kids comic. It was a goofy, absurd superhero fairy tale. Winnie the Pooh with capes and thunder. Sadly, once the character was revived by DC in the ‘70s and ‘80s, the character never again rose to its original prominence. Writers and artists have been trying ever since to reconcile the storybook childishness of Captain Marvel with the progressively grim, melancholy DC universe, but their attempts at making characters like Mister Mind into something we should take seriously never hit the mark.

And that’s largely where I stand with this latest reboot of the character from Johns and Frank. In the New York Post’s article about the reboot, the first image of the character was revealed, and it wasn’t pretty. Rather than a dauntless, smiling Captain Marvel (or Shazam, if that’s what they want to call him now to make him more accessible to non-comic book readers) dashing around above the clouds, we’re treated to a tortured soul gritting his teeth and looking predictably angst-y. Bolts of angry lightning shoot from his eyes and skin, but fail to illuminate his body or hooded face, which are cloaked in the darkness of blah blah blah I couldn’t care less...

For the rest of the article, click here: Shazam Design | Sequart Research & Literacy Organization

The Ka-Boom Family (Sneak Peek Sketch)

With DC Comics' recent announcement that Capt. Marvel & the Marvel Family are no more; instead they are establishing a entirely new incarnations of these classic characters, I've gotten the bug to revisit my own original concept, Capt. Ka-Boom and the Ka-Boom Family.  Above is a new pencil drawing of the basic costume designs.  Once I have had the time to layer in the colors and finish it out, I will write up a more in-depth piece detailing the characters and concept.

For now, just know that while they are not at all parodies or direct homages to the Marvel Family characters, the Ka-Boom Family is a super-hero concept that is intended to embody the playful spirit and tone that once was exemplified in the Marvel Family comics originally published by Fawcett.

So, here's a bit of a teaser for you

Who knows.  Maybe I'll get inspired to actually do more with these characters than just design their look and develop the concept.

*Captain Ka-Boom, Kassie Ka-Boom, Kid Ka-Boom, Chimp Ka-Boom, Ka-Boom Family characters TM and © Keith Howell

THOUGHTS ON DC REBOOT (Part 2B): Is this the perfect time for Capt. Marvel to go "Black"?

I'm actually not being facetious when I say that the DC Reboot is the perfect opportunity for DC Comics to really be bold and progressive with the Capt. Marvel/Shazam character at the same time they "re-imagine" Superman to be new and relevant for the new Millennium.  With the line-wide relaunch of DC Comics, with an expressed policy of diversity in the line to better reflect the modern world and our culture, I believe they should brush the dust off of Roy Thomas's idea from the early '80s of Billy Batson and Captain Marvel as African-Americans.

To my knowledge, this image of Cap & Billy by then-current SHAZAM! artist, Don Newton and inked by later POWER OF SHAZAM! artist, Jerry Ordway, is the only visual image we have of Roy's idea.

The make-up of the DC Universe at the time was one in which the main heroes of the line existed on "Earth 1" and there were different groupings of heroes that occupied parallel "Earths" that existed in other dimensions vibrating at a different frequency than the "Earth 1" dimension.  The decision had been made back in the early '70s when DC acquired the Fawcett Publications library of characters, which included Capt. Marvel and the entire Marvel Family, to keep the characters consistent with the original cartoon-ish looking world they occupied in the 40s and 50s.  By necessity, since the "Earth 1" DC Comics were supposed to reflect the "real" world, editorial relegated Captain Marvel/SHAZAM! to the parallel world referred to as "Earth S" (or Earth-Shazam).

DC did allow fans one glimpse of what could be construed as the "Earth 1" version of "Capt. Marvel" in a one-off story in SUPERMAN #276.  

 Longtime comic readers were already familiar with the character.  Young Billy Batson, when he speaks the name of the magical wizard "Shazam" he turns into the World's Mightiest Mortal, Capt. Marvel.  Capt. Marvel is empowered with the Wisdom of Solomon, the Strength of Hercules, the Stamina of Atlas, the Power of Zeus, the Courage of Achilles, and the Speed of Mercury.

In this story, the "Earth 1" version, young Willie Fawcett (a tribute to Capt. Marvel's original publisher, Fawcett Publications) is granted by a wise old Native-American shaman a magic belt that turns him into "Capt. Thunder" (a nod to the original name for Capt. Marvel that was changed before newsstand publication of WHIZ COMICS).  Capt. Thunder is empowered with the "Seven Spiritual Powers": the Power of the Tornado, the Speed of the Hare, the Bravery of the Uncas (warrior chief of Mohegan tribe), the Wisdom of Nature, the Toughness of the Diamond, the Flight of the Eagle, and the Tenacity of the Ram.

More common in those days, this character was intended to only appear in this single issue as a tribute to Capt. Marvel and an inside joke for fans. 

Then a few years later, DC decided to expand upon their usual practice of once-a-year team-ups between the Justice League of "Earth 1" and the Justice Socity of "Earth 2" by  drawing in the "Squadron of Justice" from "Earth S" (made up of the Marvel Family characters and other Fawcett characters like Bulletman and Crimebuster) for a multi-part epic team-up.  For the first time ever, Superman and Capt. Marvel met face-to-face...and this time it was for real. 

Sales on the "cartoon" version of the SHAZAM! comic book had been increasingly lackluster and buttressed by the slam-dunk appearance of "The Big Red Cheese" in that JUSTICE LEAGUE story plus the fairly successful live-action Saturday morning SHAZAM! series, DC retooled the SHAZAM! comic book with an all-new "realistic" look from artist, Don Newton.  The artwork was gorgeous, but still the concept and the stories didn't seem to connect with readers and reflect higher sales.  The SHAZAM! comic book was cancelled but the SHAZAM! feature itself started bopping around to oversized anthology titles like WORLD'S FINEST and ADVENTURE COMICS until it disappeared completely.

During this interim period before he got folded into the primary world with Superman as a result of CRISIS OF INFINITE EARTHS, the character was sort of in creative limbo other than occasional pop-up appearances whenever the dimensional gulf could be traversed by a plot complication.  This was the period in which Roy Thomas (according to the Comics Buyers Guide #538 in 1984) proposed, along with SHAZAM! artist, Don Newton, a bold re-invention of the character for "Earth 1".  He proposed making both Cap and Billy black.  He even went further in his proposal that DC could call this version "Capt. Thunder" as a way to distinguish him from the "Earth S" version, even though the multiple Earths concept had often allowed DC to maintain 2 separate versions of characters with the same names and powers (Green Lantern, Superman, Flash, etc.). 

DC rejected the proposal.

For whatever reason, DC seemed happy to essentially have their entire "black" line-up out of hundreds of super-characters be limited to "Black Lightning, Vixen, Cyborg, and occasionally Green Lantern (when John Stewart would fill-in for Hal Jordan)."

So, now we have the perfect opportunity for DC to show some real balls in this whole "reboot" nonsense.  I think it's pretty obvious that the impetus behind this relaunch of the line and rejiggering of characters springs first from the need to establish a solid new and relevant version of Superman.  However, that foundation has led to a full-scale opportunity for DC, from an editorial standpoint, to clear out the cobwebs and sweep the floor of anything in continuity that does not serve their proactive goal to rise to the top of the comic book sales market.  The dizzy and slack-jawed response from Marvel indicates that all those "non-disclosure agreements" that everyone involved had to sign must have worked and DC has made themselves essentially the ONLY comic book publisher anyone is talking about this summer.  And part of what DC has made clear to the press and fans is that they want the "New" DC Universe to be a much more diverse continuity in terms of race, religion, and sexuality than ever before and they want it to be so from the get-go.  And in response I say, that from a creative standpoint, I cannot imagine a better time for DC to do something much bolder than taking Z-stringer characters like Blue Beetle, Question, Aqua-Lad, Batwoman or new characters like Batwing and diversifying them.  Be bold enough to diversify the one character that is a conceptual equivalent to Superman and at the height of the golden age was more popular than even Superman himself!  Without insulting ghetto-ization or blax-ploitation, brush the dust off Roy's 30 year-old idea and ignore all that has gone before (and especially ignore the terrible "Capt. Thunder" version of the SHAZAM! concept that appeared in FLASHPOINT).  Prop up Capt. Marvel/Capt. Thunder as an African-American and make no apologies.  Position him as effectively the equal (and possibly superior) of Superman himself and make him a vanguard of equality in this relaunch. 

If DC is not going to give Superman an ethnic look or make Batman a man of color or even at least give Wonder Woman a hint of Greek ethnicity in her look, then Capt. Marvel is the perfect character to show that DC is not a pantheon of heroes in which the white man still reigns at the top of heirarchy.

It is time.