The wedding band
When social change comes, it often knocks us over, especially if its arrival has been fraught with difficulty. Now we find out that after all these years, Green Lantern is gay. Well, good for Green Lantern. More interesting than the comic series, watching the social conservatives take out their green lantern comic books as though they were removing chicken crap with their fingers will be the real entertainment. Sorry guys, you know statistic tell us 10%….
DC Comics announced on Friday that Green Lantern, a superhero staple for decades, is gay. (And all of this time, my money was on Wonder Woman or Aquaman.) When bigotry falls, it often falls fast — gay marriage, Barack Obama as the first gay president and now popular superheroes like Green Lantern.
Green Lantern is the name of multiple superheroes who possess a green power ring. Over the past 70 years, there have been several Green Lanterns with various names. The original Green Lantern was Alan Scott who was introduced during World War II. The best-known Green Lantern is Hal Jordan, who was portrayed by Ryan Reynolds in the 2011 movie. Jordan emerged in the late 1950s after DC Comics stopped publishing the original series about Scott.
To be clear, because it matters to comic geeks, it’s Scott, not Jordan, a founding member of the Justice League, who is gay. In previous incarnations, Scott had a gay son. But in the new comic series, Green Lantern is young again, without children, and his past has been entirely rebooted. Yes, he has a boyfriend whom he greets with a welcome home kiss.
The series writer, James Robinson, told the New York Post: “It’s a realistic depiction of society. You have to move with the times.”
This doesn’t sit well with conservative groups. One Million Moms, a spinoff group of the American Family Association, has launched a petition to protest DC Comics, as well as Marvel, which has a gay character who is planning his wedding — to be featured in an upcoming X-Men issue.
I could care less. But will parents look at their children, especially sons, on Halloween? How about if a kid collects Green Lantern comics? Will that child be watched more carefully to see if they are gay?
I was a superman fan myself so I don’t know what I would do if I found out he was gay. I would first off ask if Lois Lane was a front.
If I were a betting woman I would have put my money on Batman and Robin.
You’ve gotta be kidding! Batman and Robin weren’t an item?
let them protest, who cares. I dont get it, but then, I tend to focus on real problems, like child slavery and abuse. What a waste of productiv energy when there are so many real crisis to deal with in the country and the world.
This may explain why the Green Lantern movie with Ryan Reynolds sucked..
I heard this was coming. They had said they didn’t know if they would have a new character or have a current character “come out”. I was just hoping it wouldn’t be Batman or Spiderman. Now, all that having been said….I had a list of hundreds of ideas for a gay superhero! I’m talking costumes, superpowers, the works!
2nd career?
@marinm
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I saw what you did there…..
Too bad it wasn’t Wonder Woman. That, at least, could be covered by her back story.
Of course, since DC rebooted the entire freaking character, getting rid of GL’s entire previous life…. this is effectively a new character with the same name.
Besides…Green Lantern? Really? And I thought DC was going to be daring.
@SlowpokeRodriguez
Spidey is Marvel comics.
Batwoman is already out. Northstar, in Marvel comics is gay. Personally, I think Aquaman is too. Superman is an alien. Why would he be attracted to, well….ANY human? Batman gay? Dude’s ALREADY crazy. He IS Batman. He turns into Bruce Wayne. Robin’s not a lover…he’s a distraction and alternate target. Why else would Batman wear black while giving Robin bright red and gold to wear? In the Dark Knight Returns (I think its that one.) comic, Robin is a juvenile delinquent girl that Batty caught stealing hubcaps from the Batmobile. She’s usually hijacking his vehicles and not listening to him……
Wonderwoman as gay/bi makes sense since she comes from an all female culture.
I know! The HULK! That explains the lavender pants!
They could’ve had a new superhero, named UPS-girl, who delivers your packages with superhuman speed. Or the Golden Slider, a softball-playing hero who hurls softballs-of-power at villains, or T-OFF, disguised as a mild-mannered WPGA player by day, by night she wields her “clubs of power”. The possibilities are ENDLESS!!
I don’t know of a single kid who reads comics. I have no problem with this type of stuff but I just don’t get it. Why would they push this, the only reason I can remotely come up with is purely for publicity. Its odd…
The comics market has collapsed since the 90’s. When we were growing up, they were sold EVERYWHERE. Then they started marketing them to older people. Comic shops started to spring up. This took the comics away from impulse buys….along with high prices. The 90’s saw useless speculative buying by teens that just KNEW that they were going to retire on their comics……along with a million other kids. When that bubble burst… the comics companies almost went out of business. And the people “managing” the stories seem to be more interested in selling “crossover” stories than stories within a series. They seem to be under the misguided impression that people will buy other story lines in other series just to follow a story from THEIR favorite character. Stories bounce between 4 and 5 series and you need to read THOSE just to find out why it makes sense.
And then they raised the price.
They lost me…a comics addict, when they had 5-7 Spiderman comics, multiple X-men, etc, and not a single story line that could be read within 1-2 series. Then the writing tanked. I decided that I didn’t need to pay 2 bucks for one fight scene and no plot development.
And that’s BEFORE they really became “socially” sensitive, pandering to the cause du jour.
Comic books used to cost 10 cents when I was a kid.
Whats a comic book?
@marinm
You poor, poor, underprivileged, deprived man…..
Comic books are windows into wonder. Heroic actions…… base villainy of the blackest kind…. world shattering events…… sublime snark…….. hot chicks in spandex!……… superpowers…… alien worlds…… convoluted plots…… multiple subplots……
all found in a small magazine that you could roll up and stuff in your back pocket!
And the best part?
Your parents didn’t really want you to read “that trash,” especially under the covers at night, with a flashlight.
@Cargo, I never got yelled at for reading that trash. Did I have negligent parents?
Mine cost less than yours though. What a difference a few years make.
Cargo, do you notice I have treated you better since your birthday?
@Moon-howler
I remember them at 10 cents. Then they were 12 cents and came from a machine. One had to hope that YOUR comic was on top of the pile inside or you’d have to buy more than one….darn the luck.
I remember when 35 cents was expensive.
I never heard of buying them out of a machine. Things must have been more advanced down in Louisiana.
I remember my aunt and uncle bought be a subscription for a birthday present. One of the comics came in the mail. You would have thought they had given me the holy grail.
“Comic books are windows into wonder. Heroic actions…… base villainy of the blackest kind…. world shattering events…… sublime snark…….. hot chicks in spandex!……… superpowers…… alien worlds…… convoluted plots…… multiple subplots…… ”
Sounds like Facebook.
Paper? That’s so 20th Century..
Ok, just for the sake of going back to the thread topic….
Is Green Lantern the top or the bottom? What if the other guy uses a yellow condom? Is Ryan Reynolds obligated to play the new GL-archtype or the straight one?
@marinm
Ew.
I’d love to see IF Ryan would take the role…..
@Moon-howler
Thanks. I had a birthday? Someone DID tell me that I was turning 50, but I didn’t believe them. But, then, we haven’t had any topics where we cross……words…..
You know…did you ever notice SWORD WORDS hmmmmm….both can be involved in conflict
Ok, I’m back from that little…..meander.
Still think that they should have used Wonder Woman for the outing. Now THAT movie would bring in the teenage boys……
Yes, Cargo, you had a birthday a while back and I am now giving you the honor someone of your age deserves. I didn’t realize you had passed the half way mark….that changes things.