It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s Gay Webcomics!

It’s not a secret that the world of comics and comic books hasn’t exactly been gay-inclusive over their long histories. Indeed, for gay readers looking to finding themselves represented in the pages of their favorite newspaper comic, the choices have been few and far between. After all, a few enraged readers are often enough to intimidate timid, already struggling newspapers into dropping certain comic strip panels which some intolerant readers deem offensive.

Unfortunately, comic books and graphic novels haven’t fared much better. Among the major comic publishers such as Marvel and DC, gay characters are often relegated to minor titles that come and go as fast as Superman changes into his superhero outfit. While small press publishers tend to be more inclusive, their offerings are usually hard to find at comic shops, especially if not located in a major city.

However, there is one place where the number of opportunities for gay themes to be explored in comics and for gay creators has actually grown: the Internet.

While newspapers and their syndicated comic strips continue to wither away, thanks to the Internet there has been an explosion of “webcomics,” strips usually available solely online and usually at no cost.

Webcomics aren’t exactly new. Indeed, they have been around for about as long as users have been able to send images over the Internet. The earliest webcomics were distributed via usenet groups and BBS (bulletin board service) forums – and with each passing year the format of the webcomic is becoming increasingly accepted by the comics industry.

Prestigious comic industry awards like the Eisners, the Harveys and the Ignatz Awards now include a category for webcomics and the “big two” comic book publishers – DC and Marvel – have both gotten into some form of distributing comics over the web. In fact, thanks to the Internet, many of the hurdles that often keep a gay-themed comic from making it onto comic shop shelves and into readers’ hands are being eliminated.

For instance, many gay comics are self-published, a tactic that gives creators creative freedom since they have no editor to answer to beside themselves. Want to write a gay superhero that not only saves the world, but also has a boyfriend who doesn’t know his secret identity? There is nothing to stop a writer when they are also the editor.

Prism Comics, a non-profit organization that works to support GLBT creators and readers, has a webcomics page on their website. Since its inception, the organization has put together an annual guide to GLBT creators and characters that has also included sample pages from some of the creators profiled.

The samples give GLBT readers a chance to find comics they’d like to follow and the webcomics Prism hosts have a similar goal – they’re another way to help readers find work by GLBT creators that they might enjoy.

Scott Anderson, who edits the webcomics page for Prism, agreed about the freedom that the format can offer, “What creators have to worry about is no longer the question of ‘Can I publish this?’ because you now can publish your work yourself on the web for very little, but now the questions of ‘How do I let my potential audience know that my work exists?’ and ‘Am I good enough?’”

For Boy Meets Hero creators Chayne Avery and Russell Garcia, putting their work online has eliminated many of those additional hurdles: “We were free of the constraints and frustrations of the usual pitfalls of trying to fund, print, and distribute a traditional comic book.” Putting Boy Meets Hero on the Web meant that they were able to concentrate more on the writing and art.

Boy Meets Hero tells the story of Derek and Justin. Derek leads a double life – he is secretly the Blue Comet, one of the premiere superheroes in the world. As the Blue Comet, Derek feels pressured to stay closeted in his superhero identity even as he falls in love with Justin – an openly gay man who also happens to be the brother of the Blue Comet’s partner in heroics, Sunstar. Through his relationship with Justin (in between big, heroic fights, of course) Derek learns to accept himself and come out publicly.

A sample page from Boy Meets Hero

© 2008 Boy Meets Hero Comics, LLC

As a webcomic, Boy Meets Hero was also able to maintain its fan base more easily than if Avery and Garcia had tried to sell it as a serialized comic. For fans of self-published comics, it’s frustratingly familiar to see creators burn out and leave a story unfinished.