Superhero speedster Northstar (who was also the first major comic-book character to declare himself gay in 1992’s Alpha Flight #106) is tying the knot with his longtime partner, Kyle-making for comics’ first interracial, same-sex (and mutant-human) marriage. On the other side of the comic-book fence is rival Marvel Comics, which announced last week that it would be hosting its first same-sex wedding in the June 20 issue of Astonishing X-Men. Of course, Green Lantern is not the only gay comic book hero who’s been making headlines lately. The couple makes plans to visit a “super exclusive, luxurious” lodge hotel in the country and walk off toward their chauffeur-driven car, arms around each others’ waists. Images released from the coming-out issue show a smiling, off-duty Green Lantern kissing a man named Sam, who appears to be his partner. “Eight months ago when I was thinking about all this, I was like, ‘You know what, why don’t we just make Alan Scott gay?’ I ran it past Dan DiDio and he was like, ‘Yeah, that’s a great idea!’”įor his part, Alan looks happy.
But according to Robinson, Green Lantern’s “coming out” has been in the works for at least eight months and happened simply because “it just makes sense.” “The only thing about making Alan Scott young again was that we’d lose Jade, his daughter, and Obsidian, his gay son,” Robinson said. And just yesterday, a federal court of appeals issued a ruling declaring the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. It comes at a time when President Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage and North Carolina’s rejection of its marriage-equality bill are still fresh in people’s minds. He’s a Type-A personality and a successful businessman he’s gallant, he’s brave, he’s all the things you’d want in a hero.”ĭC’s announcement is undoubtedly timely. “He’s Alan Scott, he’s the leader of the team. “He’s not just The Gay Character,” Robinson said.
“Obviously, we have gay people in life, so we have gay people in comics.”Īlthough the character of Alan Scott has a history with women (he’s previously gotten flirty with his part-time secretary/part-time villainous rival Harlequin, and even married and had two kids), the new series wipes Scott’s backstory completely clean-that’s not to say, however, that he’s lost any of his “super” qualities. “One of the things that comic-book writers want to do is inject as much realism as possible into their comics,” Earth 2 writer James Robinson told The Daily Beast. Alan Scott, the first superhero to bear the name “Green Lantern” (not to be confused with the Reynolds-portrayed Hal Jordan), will be reintroduced as an openly gay man in Issue 2 of Earth 2, released next Wednesday. But with Earth 2, a new series in DC Comics’ The New 52, which reimagines some of DC’s most iconic characters, the green-ring bearer is officially out of the closet. Watching Ryan Reynolds dish out one-liners as The Green Lantern’s womanizing superhero, Hal Jordan, might make a gay Green Lantern somewhat hard to imagine.