Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities E2 Alan Scott is the ex-straight "iconic male" DC character to be rebooted gay

The most popular choices I've seen have been Vibe, Wally, or Ryan Choi.

I hope it's not Wally. All Wally needs is a new hero identity not a different sexuality.

CMK you're welcome to disagree but I would rather you understood my actual point and disagree with that if you like. I'm not talking about just any character, or new characters, or supporting characters. They are not going to take a risk of making Superman or Batman gay. That would reduce the character's significant monetary value. Batwoman was a new character (more or less:)), without any significant fan following and certainly no established multimillion dollar movie franchise.

While creating new characters who are gay (such as Kevin Keller) may make tiny fringe groups boycott the company as a whole, it's not the same as the as risking the biggest moneymaking properties' popularity with the still-sizeable American population that are uncomfortable enough with the idea that they'll skip a movie because "my Superman isn't gay". As much as the country has progressed, Rachel Maddow just mentioned tonight that gay marriage has still been voted down in EVERY state where the public has voted on it. (Hoping Maryland will change that soon!)

I would also point out that making Archie gay would have a similar reaction, but making Jughead gay would have a lot of people just saying "oh that explains it!"

Hey, never said Northstar wasn't obscure. He's relevant to this conversation only so far as he's Marvel's supposedly big concurrent gay splash. Alan Scott is less obscure than Jean-Paul Beaubier but not that much less. And if you boil it down to a blurb of "Green Lantern's Gay", you'd have to put an asterisk explaining that it's not the guy Ryan Reynolds played in that movie that bombed but a blond guy who was the original Green Lantern in the '40s who lives on a parallel Earth! Say WHAT?!?!

Yeah, in THAT sense Vibe would be a better choice. At least he's an obscure guy who doesn't require much explanation. I think that if DC's gonna have a big "mystery gay" tease like it is, then the pay-off should be bigger. Otherwise, why the big deal?

The goal to me should be for gay characters to be ordinary and accepted parts of popular fiction, not the equivalent of movies-of-the-week. Alan Scott being remade as a gay character and trying to get massive publicity for it sounds like a cheap afterschool special. Jimmy Olsen...well, that would've been worthy of all this hubbub.

I will say this for Marvel: them having a gay character, however obscure, get married is at least a viable political statement in a time where the topic is hot and in the headlines every day. If DC is simply reimagining Alan Scott as gay, how can that compare? It's just a cheap move on their part to say, "hey, we're LGBT friendly, too!" when they've already got a book headlined by a lesbian heroine. The fact that Batwoman is the first(?) Big Two solo comic book featuring a LGBT star speaks for itself, I'd say. Too "last year", maybe?

Leave it to Archie Comics to show them BOTH the way with their Kevin Keller character!

Crap, I need to stop rambling! I hope y'all get my point?

Yeah, after I posted that, I realized that Alan being gay wouldn't preclude him fathering children, so that was stupid on my part. Gay parenting in a mainstream superhero book would actually be another step forward!

Alan Scott sure seems to be the front runner (hee-hee!). That would eliminate one of my favorite of all superhero romances, though-- between Alan and Molly Mayne, the supervillainess-only-to-catch-her-man's-attention and the original Harlequin. Yeah, ol' Harley Quinn and her obsession with the Joker exists as a variation of the original. Roy Thomas once considered adding a male Harlequin to Infinity, Inc. I guess that could happen, and I might even enjoy it, but I'd always miss Molly and her wacky expanding lute and goofy romantic m.o. I was slightly optmistic about the prospect of reading a 'modern' take on the original Harlequin (the only thing I was making lemonade out of the lemons of all the 'youthening') Sigh. Even the moves D.C. make in their new universe that I'd ordinarily like have some ramification that saddens me. Which means it most likely is Alan Scott. 'Cause I don't want it to be.

Ya know ive been looking all night and besides delving in the "comments" section of the link you provided I have yet to read anything that quotes sources of any kind.

Can anyone link me directly to a "source" hinting or pretty much summing up that it is Alan Scott or anyone else for that matter?

While I'd love to see a major character turn out to be gay, I also hope it doesn't overwrite any GOOD established romances. We've already lost Clark-Lois and MJ-Peter in recent years.

When Obsidian was outed, I thought it was well-done because any heterosexual romantic relationships he did have were in the past. It's like if they turned Elongated Man gay - I'd hate it cause I love the Ralph-Sue marriage.

On the other hand, I've never relaly been a fan of Dinah-Ollie, so wouldn't mind Ollie turning gay (for example).

In any case, IF it is Alan Scott, and Obsidian is still extant AND gay too... that would make for some potentially good story-telling. Father-son bonding while checking other men out! Just as long as they bring Obsidian's boyfriend along. On a more serious note, Todd could be a mentor figure to Alan in a way - help him deal with being gay, if he hasn't gotten comfy with it yet.

Of course, since everything's being rebooted it's a pretty moot point but...

Captain Marvel Jr wouldn't be a surprise though ...

Don't feel too bad as I originally had the thought of "I guess that would mean no Jade or Obsidian". Gay parenting is still a novel concept even for some gay people.

I agree that gay characters should be treated as ordinary and that their being gay is just another part of their whole character. But I would say that in the context of superhero comics, being a superhero is pretty ordinary. And if DC was going to have an existing character suddenly come from your state (or have some characteristic that you identify with & hasn't been seen in comics) would you want that character to be the hero or the supporting character?

I don't think DC is doing this just for publicity (of course the publicity doesn't hurt), so I expect that the character being gay is for good story telling and showing more diversity; and not as a movie-of-the-week deal.

The one concern I have in this regard is the character becoming the Steven Carrington of comics. Steven Carrington was the gay son on Dynasty, who then became straight, and then went back to being gay and then was straight again.

Neither would Uncle Marvel or Talky Tawny.

Althought you could add a fourth Lieutenant Marvel. Hill Billy, Tall Billy, Fat Billy, and Gay Billy

Hmmmm.... Gay Billy. Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah!

Funny, I see this exactly the reverse. My guess is that James Robinson decided months ago that Earth-2's Alan Scott would be gay. No big deal, just one aspect of the character. Exactly in line with what you said above: ordinary and accepted.

Meanwhile, I see Marvel doing the calculation "hey, gay marriage is a hot-button issue right now, how can we capitalize on that to get some publicity?" and coming up with "well, we haven't made a big deal out of Northstar's queerness lately, let's hitch 'im up!"

After that, Didio's announcement was probably a typically tone-deaf response to Marvel's, making public an artistic/editorial decision that was already in the works. Maybe subsequent events will prove me wrong, but I doubt that, if it's Alan Scott, it happened because Northstar got married.

If either company is trying to exploit the issue, it feels more like Marvel to me.

I will say this, though: the Northstar storyline has been very good. They seem to be handling the relationship with tact and sensitivity, whatever their possible motives for writing it.

It still strikes me that they'd be a lot better off taking a previously existing gay character (e.g. Obsidian) and working to make him an Icon rather than taking a previously existing Icon and making him gay.

Even sticking to classic JSAers, why not use someone whose orientation was less firmly established (I'm looking at you, Dr. Mid-Nite!)?

DL, there's little doubt in my mind that, assuming it's Alan Scott, it was probably originally a creative decision by James Robinson. But it just feels like DC felt they had to tease this the way they have in advance because of what Marvel did. Otherwise, they probably would have just let it unfold and allow fans to react after the fact. To me, the most important LGBT character in comics is still Kate Kane, so if DC really wanted to legitimately toot their own horn on the subject, they could always point to their Batwoman book.

As far as Marvel being worse for what they've done with Northstar, I'll differ again. Northstar has been out for well over a decade and was intended to be gay by his creator John Byrne, though editorial policy o the time wouldn't allow Byrne to explicitly show this on-panel. Further, Northstar's relationship with Kyle has been shown for some time and was really front-and-center during the recent Alpha Flight series. Yeah, maybe it feels exploitative given current headlines, but it didn't come completely out of nowhere. So I respect Marvel for that.

I'll add to Lardy's comment that it would be weird, maybe even off-putting, if Marvel wasn't hyping Northstar's impending marriage. Hoopla around superhero marriages is common for both The Big Two. Why wouldn't they hype this one, just as they have all the others?

I agree with Lardy that Earth-2 and confusion with the main GL disfavor Alan Scott.

I still think Atom makes the most sense.

A shopkeeper in CA has contacted the Angry Mommy Brigade and requested that they specifically picket his shop. He thinks it'll be good for business.

(link)

I would SO do that too if I had a comic shop!

Years ago I said I wouldn't bother to write a book unless someone promised me in advance to ban it.

Shining Son, just pick a local bakery or used car lot that you want to drum up business for, and send that address to the Angry Mommies. It's not as if these people know anything about comics anyway, so I'm guessing they'll just show up there without bothering to research first.

Hijinks ensue.

I have no issue with Alan Scott being gay. It will be interesting to see how it develops, if true.

But *iconic*? C'mon....

Non-comic reading person:
(reading a Internet blurb about GL being gay) "Oh wow, that Green Lantern guy from the movie and cartoons is gay now?"

Fanboy friend:
"Well, no, it's his alternate dimension counter-part."

Non-comic reading person:
".... what?"

agreed. Iconic implies not just a big name within comics, but one that has permeated outside of the usual comics fanbase.

Alan Scott gay? ...well... he *has* always had a weakness for wood...

The Gay Lantern?

Nobody has made a "Pink Lantern" joke yet?