The Gay Geek (June 4, 2008)

I suspect we won’t be the least bit sorry:
Comic book writer Gail Simone first found her gay following with her internet column “You’ll All Be Sorry” where Simone’s razor sharp wit parodied the comics industry, managing to throw some new darts at the industry’s easy targets, including Wizard Magazine, Batman and Robin, while also mercilessly mocking some of comics’ well-respected names such as Alan Moore, Grant Morrison.

Unfortunately, I can't tell if the artwork that sometimes accompanied the column will be a part of the book. I hope so as I can't imagine missing great stuff such as this great "Aliens vs. Captain Carrot and his amazing Zoo Crew" cover by Scott Shaw who also drew the cover for this book:

Simone’s column is finally being collected into print thanks to About Comics, which has a history of collecting well-respected classics that haven’t been published together and doing just that. The book promises some new material in addition to Simone’s classic columns when it hits stores in August. In the meantime, why not build anticipation by revisiting the X-Men facing a lecture from Dr. Laura or the collector's edition DVD commentary for Batman and Robin.

“Ladies, your viewing figures have just gone up”:
In light of Russell T. Davies announcing his impending departure from Doctor Who, gay British site Pink News takes a look at the legacy Davies will leave behind. Many of the points are ones you’ve seen made here at AfterElton.com – noting Davies’ dedication to inclusiveness as well as the groundbreaking nature of having the dashing hero of Torchwood, Captain Jack Harkness, be a bisexual man.

Captain Jack has no fear of a defabricator

However, in addition to references to classic Who episodes like “The Happiness Patrol” and “The Creature from the Pit” the article makes a point that seems obvious in hindsight but I haven’t seen discussed before:

It’s a commonplace assertion that a large part of the female companion’s role in the classic Doctor Who series was as sex-appeal for the heterosexual ‘dads’.

In other words, the female companion was the object of the heterosexual male. Think Leela in her leather outfit, for example.

Openly gay producer John Nathan-Turner also put some of his female companions in revealing outfits to appeal to the dads: Tegan’s so-called ‘boob-tube’ and Peri’s leotards.

But, as noted in a feature in The Age newspaper, what we have in the case of Captain Jack is a male who is the object not only of the female but also of the gay and bisexual male gaze.

My history with Doctor Who starts with Davies, so that leaves me wondering – has the series lacked for good-looking men until we met Mickey Smith in “Rose”?

I’m sure Davies — at the very least — has upped the ante for putting men on display. After all, he gave us, among other moments, a brief nude scene for Captain Jack that defined the character for me. Not only does Jack face the defabricator ray with a smile, he manages to still be armed and ready to handle any danger that may arise. Now that's calm under pressure. No wonder John Barrowman came in at #2 on our Hot 100.