It's great to have super-hero characters like Northstar, Apollo and Midnighter in comics, but what about characters that have been recently altered like Colossus (X-Men)? Is it fair to change a character's sexual orientation as a marketing ploy? Do these kinds of marketing ploys serve to help visibility and understanding of GLBT issues, or does it simply cause controversy. I think it ultimately alienates fans of all types.
Submitted by
Dwiz (
1023 points) (
197 posts)
on Mon, 2007-04-02 13:00.
The thing is, Colossus is
Define "altered"
re: comics re-boot
Colossus a bad example
Yes, but there is a point
And while I am loathe to have my first contribution to this website reveal my intense dorkiness, I have to expose it. Colossus is not as compelling a character as a result of him being gay in the Ultimate Universe. When you have a comic book, written primarily by and for straight people, and those straight writers try to do the right thing and throw a bone to the gay community, they usually end up with a 2-d character who has no identity outside of being gay. Now there are exceptions, Apollo and Midnighter have already been mentioned, and Wiccan and Hulkling from the Young Avengers are another example of great gay characters, but the difference is that they were gay to begin with!
Colossus in the Ultimate Universe has been reduced to a plot catylyst, Scott and Jean react to the revelation (and aid in it for that matter) of his orientation, Kurt's devout Catholocism is revived when he discovers that Peter is gay, which gives his character depth, but leaves Peter "Colossus" Rasputin as nothing more than the token homosexual, rather than the integral part of the plot he was in the original stories. As if this wasn't bad enough, Northstar, who is the token of the main Marvel U, has been reduced to a tertiary character! He only exists to provide a love interest to Colossus, his rocky relationship with his father, his sister Aurora, his time in Alpha Flight all glossed over, glaringly absent, or just plain deleted so that Peter could have a boyfriend.
Yes, I am all for gay visibility in comic books, as an uncloseted gay man who is a closet comic book fan I even find myself appreciating these clumsy gestures. On the other hand, if you are going to make a character gay, you shouldn't make it all they are.
I't s not dorky!
Zero Hour destroyed me
Sean Erin took a futuristic, sex-altering drug to become Shvaugn Erin in order to win the heart (and mind) of Element Lad (aka Jan Arrah). Even when the drugs stopped and the truth was revealed, the two lovers stayed together because their love was so strong. Then: "poof"! It was all erased with no connection or reference at all. Years of character development and history flushed away forever. That was my "wake-up call" to the fact that comics are an industry, and I pretty much stopped being a regular comics consumer since. (Hence my ill-knowledge of the "Ultimate" universe's Colossus).
As a side note, I just want to note that (pre Zero Hour) LOSH was such a great book, and featured a lesbian couple as well: LIGHTNING LASS and SHRINKING VIOLET.
Also, I just looked up Jan Arrah and found out that his own sexuality has been in question since the 1960's! (Thanks to the GAY LEAGUE website for that awesome tip.)
http://www.gayleague.com/gay/characters/display.php?id=139
Check out the Gay League for more BLBT comics-related info, and there's another great site too, called PRISM COMICS.
http://www.gayleague.com/home.php
http://www.prismcomics.org/
RIP Sean Erin!
It hasn't gotten much better . . .
Young Heroes
Dark Knight
Hey Dwiz,
You might want to check out the newer Batman movies (Batman Beginnings (I thing), and the under production Dark Knight), which are alot closer to Bob Kane's original vision for the Dark Knight than the Michael Keaton/Val Kilmer fluff that came out in the 80's and the early 90's
Still waiting for a Nightwing movie... :)
Hollywood and comic books
You better believe I'm loving the new Batman movies! The writing and the effects are incredible, and very believable. I esp. loved how The Scarecrow (good 'ol Cillian Murphy) and Bruce Wayne/ Batman (the VERY dreamy and talented Christian Bale) were portrayed.
I won't lie when I say I actually enjoyed Batman Forever. But I will also admit it was because it was like a G-rated porno for me (if ever there was such a thing). oh gawd... now everyone knows! :(
In general, I don't expect much from Hollywood productions of comic book characters. There's just too many cooks in the kitchen at that point, and they're usually trying to cram way too much info into a movie anyways. That being said, I'm a fan also of the Spiderman and X-Men films, too (Thank you, HUGH JACKMAN)!!
:)
I could care less about Ghost Rider and Daredevil, neither of which I have seen. But am slightly curious to see the second Fantastic Four movie "Rise of the Silver Surfer"! My guess is that it's gonna stink, but have some good action. I rented the first FF film, but really didn't care much for it.
"V for Vendetta" was outstanding and I am DYING to see "Watchmen"!!
Anyone else looking forward to any of these??
Heath Ledger as the Joker
just announced: Eric Roberts is Mafioso
http://www.superherohype.com/news/topnews.php?id=5608
Not exactly as much of a heart-throb as Heath or Chritian, though! ;)
Ditto on the Spidey
Ditto on the Spidey flicks. I have such a crush on Toby, it's really, really sad... :)
I've got the first FF film on DVD. It's worth it just for the scenes with the near nekkid Johnny Storm. Then the actor who played Cole on Charmed plays Dr. Doom... :D From the trailers, it looks like the second installment is going to be even better!
As a libertarian, V for Vendetta was such a pleasure to watch! Not only do you get the underlying libertarian message, but also a gay main character, and a lesbian love story at the core of the story.