AE: Anything you can share with us about this year's twists or challenges? Any involve a gay topic or issue?
DW: Not really a gay topic or issue, per se, but there are going to be a lot of different missions and it's going to be kinda like Fear Factor, superhero edition. The challenges are going to be really spectacular. The one challenge I can actually talk about is with a villain and somehow we get trapped inside a cage filled with bees. Yeah. Let me just say bees, like snakes and insects, are my weakness, personally, and so it is very challenging.
AE: Just the mention of a deathtrap like that has me thinking of, uhm, I can't remember his full name but Arcade – the guy who ran Murderworld?
DW: Oh, yes. I had a theory much like that. We actually have a super-villain this time, so we have an official super-villain called Doctor Dark. We have to fight against his evil genius. They were more story-oriented this season.
AE: I was looking at your MySpace profile. It looks like you're mostly a Marvel guy — though, Young Heroes in Love …
DW: I know, Young Heroes in Love was the other one …
AE: That is one of my all-time favorites.
DW: Really? Most people don't even remember that comic book and I used to love it. That used to be my favorite. But I am mostly a Marvel guy, but I do collect both Marvel and DC and some of the other independents as well.
AE: Which one?
DW: My all time favorite is probably The Avengers. My favorites are Hawkeye, Dr. Pym, which is Hank Pym so he was like Giant-Man, Yellowjacket, Ant Man all that stuff. I do like them.
AE: Did you get a chance to meet Stan Lee? I read that this season he's not confined to the monitor screens. If you did, was he able live up to the legend?
DW: I can't really talk much about that one. But he did live up to the legend. When dealing with him, even on the TV monitors, he's all live action. He's very intelligent and very funny. I was surprised, because I think he's 86 now [Lee turns 86 this December] and he's still with it.
AE: I'm not sure if you followed this story, but last year at a comic convention the Marvel Editor-in-Chief – there was some controversy because first he said that comics starring a gay character would have to have a “Mature” rating but then later he claimed that the policy was no longer in place citing Freedom Ring as the star of Marvel Team-Up, which wasn't a mature title, only to have the character killed off a month later. I'm not sure if you remember that whole …
DW: [Laughs] Yeah, I don't think I heard about that one.
AE: Overall, it's been a frustrating time for gay visibility in the past year, how does a gay superhero fan maintain his enthusiasm when it feels like the welcome mat is being pulled back?
DW: That is a really great question. Speaking of gay superheroes I think the Rawhide Kid just came out in a new one, and I think DC just launched a new … I want to say his name is Midnighter?
AE: Yeah.
DW: So I'm looking forward to those comic books, but I think the gay superhero fans should look for them where they can find them, like Young Avengers – Outsiders has a bunch of other people like Grace and Thunder, so there's people you just look for them. But as far as having their own title, I think will take something special to catch people's interest. And I think as long as it's action-based, it will do fine.
AE: Along those lines, I was thinking that online fan forums like message boards, e-mail groups and blogs have been a major resource for gay comic readers to find each other and discuss things they wouldn't bring up while hanging out in the comic shop. Like, say, snarking on Janet Van Dyne's idea of fashion.
DW: Oh, I know. Some of her costumes I'm just like, “Really? You're a fashion designer?” Ugh. Some of her Wasp outfits are a little bit crazy. But you've got to admit, a fashion designer superhero – fun idea.
AE: It is.
DW: Have you ever seen the website Project Rooftop?
AE: That's where I was about to head. I was going to ask if you spend any time at any of these online forums. Any message boards or blogs?
DW: I do. I know, it's a guilty pleasure. But Project Rooftop is a really great one, because they actually pick superheroes and re-design their costumes. I think that's pretty darnn cool. And the Sci-Fi Forums, I'm on there as well.
AE: Okay, time for the really sad and geeky question from me. Which superhero would be Parthenon's dream date?
DW: Hm, that is a good question. I think I would actually go with Quasar. I have always liked him, really liked his powers, really liked his costume and I kinda go for blondes. Always a good thing.
AE: Okay, a little personal confession from a true gay geek. The first time I saw Quasar was his guest appearance in a Dazzler comic.
DW: [Laughs] And? Did you like him?
AE: Yes!
DW: See! Quasar is just fun. I like him.
AE: I just find it funny – Dazzler that's just one of those early signs.
DW: Dazzler. Yeah. She's now in the new Excalibur, although her new powers are kinda weird. Have you been following the new Excalibur at all?
AE: I haven't.
DW: She keeps dying but coming back to life. What kind of superpower – where do you get that from? But any superhero with a roguish gait is okay.
AE: Now the follow up to that is which straight heroine would Parthenon befriend and bemoan his romantic troubles to?
DW: Hm. That is a good question. Wow, you're asking really good questions. What superheroine would I confide in? Can it be somebody on the show?
AE: Sure.
DW: I would say Hygena, then. Hygena you can tell anything to and she'll just take it with a stride and she always has a fun little comedic type of thing with her. So, I say Hygena.
AE: What comic book super team would you most easily see Parthenon belonging? Would he be in an informal alliance like The Defenders? An ensemble like The Legion?
DW: I think it would have to be a smaller team like – see, I'm partial to The Avengers. I keep saying The Avengers but I do like The West Coast Avengers they were my favorite sub-team of them. So I would say The West Coast Avengers, just because I like everybody in that team and I think we'd all get along.
AE: Midnighter is a violent loner, do you think you could take him if you had to?
DW: Oh, I'm sure. I'd put him in a force shield bubble and I could take him. See, there's a good thing about the force shield and there's always a bad thing about the force shield, because all the gemstones have their own weakness as well. And the force bubble is airtight and so if I put it on myself I only have enough air for a couple minutes. But if I put the force shield around someone else, I can knock them out, kind of like Invisible Woman.
AE: What does a superhero wear under those tights? Boxers, briefs or commando?
DW: [Laughs] You have to wear little superhero briefs. Yep, and let me just say those things are not forgiving. You've got to get the seamless kind.
AE: So it's time for guys to worry about VPL, or visible panty lines?
DW: Exactly. At least if you want to be a superhero in fashion.
Dan and Comics
I can tell he's excited to be on the show and I'm excited for him. Dan says he likes Quasar and blonde haired men, last season the gay contestant was blond and looked like Quasar. Could be a match?
The competition is much better this year. He diffinitely has his work cut out for him.
Iron Man, The Hulk, and Thor are my favorite Avengers.
http://marveldatabase.com/Image:Iron_Man_%28Vol_2%29_1.jpg
http://marveldatabase.com/Image:Iron_Man_%28Vol_2%29_2.jpg
http://marveldatabase.com/Image:395px-New_Thor.jpg
When Hulkling and Wiccan were introduced they were a sensation with readers. Since that time the creators changed Hulkling to have reptilian skin. It was a slap in the face. There are always drawbacks with gay characters. They either get killed off quickly, are rarely seen, are flamboyant, or are ugly. They should have left Hulkling alone.
Interesting interview. I
Interesting interview. I hope Parthenon stays on longer than last year's Levity. :)
A couple of things.
1) I don't think the changing of Hulkling's look was meant to make him look ugly or anything; the most noticable change to me was that he now had blonde hair in his hulk-form. Anyway, the writer of the series is gay himself.
2) Concerning Freedom Ring; Robert Kirkman addressed the concerns of how he was killed here. He said, "Freedom Ring was always planned as an inexperienced hero who would get beaten up constantly and probably die. I wanted to comment on the fact that most superheroes get thier powers and are okay at it... and that's not how life works. During working on the book, I was also noticing that most gay characters... are all about being gay. Straight characters are well-rounded characters who like chicks. So I wanted to do a well-rounded character who just happened to like dudes. Then I decided to combine the two ideas. In hindsight, yeah, killing a gay character is no good when there are so few of them... but I really had only the best of intentions in mind." He later stated, "Frankly, with the SMALL amount of gay characters in comics in general, and how unfortunate the portrayals have been thus far, whether intentional or not--I completely understand the backlash on the death of Freedom Ring, regardless of my intensions. If I had it to do all over again... I wouldn't kill him. I regret it more and more as time goes on. I got rid of what? 20% of the gay characters at Marvel by killing off this ONE characters. I just never took that stuff into consideration while I was writing. I think you and anyone else who complained had every right to be angry. I just want you to understand that none of this was done with ill intent and it's all just an unfortunate string of events."
Hulkling and Gay Couples
Have you seen all the gay couples in comics? At least half involve an animal-like humanoid. I think the creators intentionally make them ugly. It's to gross out the readers if they haven't been grossed out by the fact that two people of the same gender are in love.
It's also a way to limit their marketability. I can't think of any top tier hero that looks beastly or has a lover that does. Hulking and Wiccan will not be starring in their own series instead will be religated to marginal hero.
Again, the guy who
Freedom Ring
When he tried to backtrack from his statement, Quesada pointed to Freedom Ring who had been the star of his book since before Quesada announced that the mature-titles only policy was in effect. When Freedom Ring was killed off the next month, some of the frustration (and I don't think as many readers would have been offended by how Freedom Ring was killed off if not for having been used as proof that Marvel didn't have a 'no gays' policy) was that Quesada should have known how Freedom Ring's story would end.
While there were people offended by how Freedom Ring died, the larger controversy was that it was another point where the Editor In Chief was spouting off cluelessly about gay characters in public. (And, worse, showing ignorance for what his company was publishing.)
Parthenon Power!
Thanks for a great interview! It was funny and loved all the comic references!! I'll definitely watch this season, and hope Parthenon makes it to the finals!
I'm reading MIDNIGHTER series, and like it a lot. It's definitely an action-based book, and Apollo (his boyfriend) only makes a cameo appearance here or there. There's not a whole lot of talk about their relationship, but there's nice touches. For example in the newest issue, #9, Apollo offers to scrub the blood off his boyfriend at the end, and I think that was meant as a sexual invitation as well. At least (I think) gay readers will look at it that way.
How funny he loved the West Coast Avengers! That was a book I liked as well! More so because I liked Wonder Man. There was just something interesting to me about a movie-star superhero!
Gay Superhero Role Models
So far I think Dan "Parthenon" Williams is doing very well on the show... i'm glad he's been given more of a chance after Levity was booted off last season after 5 minutes, lol.
Anyway, if you want to find superhero role models you're not gonna find them in the mainstream comics, you'll have to look to the independent comics. I work on one called BOY MEETS HERO which feature two gay heroes:
http://www.boymeetshero.com
Also check out Pride High online for more gay supers as well!
Great Site