• No more Heroes: Origins:
  So, NBC announced its TV schedule for the next year and, unfortunately, there wasn't anything really gay on the schedule. (Our sister site has reasons to be hopeful for Knight Rider, however.) One bit of bad news is that the Heroes spin-off, Origins, is dead. I was looking forward to the spin-off, which had recruited some big names to direct episodes, including Kevin Smith, who said he'd like his episode to introduce two gay heroes. That leaves us back to hoping the regular Heroes team will eventually see a gay character, which means my cynical side is doing a "Told you so" dance.
  
  

• Titans Together!:
  I missed this announcement the first time around, but apparently there's also a Teen Titans movie in the works, which will take inspiration from the classic version Marv Wolfman and George Perez gave us, which certainly had its share of gay fans. As much as I loved the animated Titans, it'll be interesting to see an adaptation that could look at the darker side of those characters. Hm, so many story possibilities just from the early issues ... and any chance of seeing Debra Winger make a cameo appearance?
  
  

• Cylons, the way they were:
  Tonight Battlestar Galactica returns, but I'm also getting excited about the upcoming spin-off, Caprica, which promises to be a sci-fi soap. It turns out the prequel series will explore the origins of the Cylons. I was initially feeling a bit cautious about this spin-off but the more I hear the more I want to see Caprica ... how about you BSG fans?
  
  

• Good news for It-getters, bad news for Lady Nocturne:
  Fans who share Stephen Colbert's comic book geekiness have been a little bit frustrated with how slow the Tek Jansen comics have been coming from Oni Press. Some good news came in today for fans of Colbert's Gary Stu: the series is back on schedule, with the second issue coming out in late June. (June? I'm going to be waiting forever for that collection, aren't I?)
  
  

• I think the real question is "Why is there a Pussycat Dolls reference in a fantasy MMO?"
  Considering World of Warcraft's history with gay characters, I was feeling wary when I heard about a discussion asking "Has Blizzard gone out of their way to make male elves gay?" However, the discussion sounds pretty positive, asking if Blizzard is playing to gay stereotypes in order to make a cheap, gay joke. I haven't really taken the time to get to know WoW, so I'm pretty curious to hear from any AfterElton readers who play it: do male elves' emotes encourage homophobic humor or is it all a matter that should be handled by GMs? Still, I did enjoy this bit of WoW machinima:

• Young Heroes in Love, Marvel edition:
  Yesterday, I gave my reaction to Young Avengers Presents #3, where the young romance of Hulking and Wiccan took another small step forward (an encouraging sign considering how much disappointment gay superhero readers have faced). Here's another take, with an interesting discussion in the comments. I can understand the worry that if the relationship isn't made clear, it'll be retconned away eventually, but I think the relationship has been pretty solidly established. In this case, I'm not worried about seeing another gay couple like the Legion's Lyle and Condo.
  
  

What, no unicorn? Neil Patrick Harris (we think?) in the first Dr. Horrible teaser

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• Responding to Kevin Spacey's disparaging comments about the new reality show that looks to cast an upcoming UK production of Oliver!, judge John Barrowman says, "You know what, shut up!" Thank you, John. We've been wanting to say the same thing to him for years!

• This week's How I Met Your Mother made a cute reference to star Neil Patrick Harris's career-launching role in Doogie Howser ... including that damned blue screen!

• The gay-and-galpal novel Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List is being developed as a vehicle for Heroes' Hayden Panettiere. Let's just hope Ely fares better than her last gay BFF!

• Look! Our American Gladiators aren't the only ones with "gay porn pasts" (or as I prefer, "gay-adjacent porn pasts"): A recently-ousted Australian Gladiator has been uncovered as having posed for a gay website. Guess who's shocked? Nobody.

• Michael Ausiello has some scoop on a gay kiss coming up in an upcoming Grey's Anatomy episode that deals with two gay soldiers: He notes, "Interested thesps must be Caucasian, hot and be comfortable sharing a 'very romantic kiss' with another dude."

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

With the gay geeks finally getting representation on Beauty and the Geek thanks to Gregg, I've been thinking about openly gay men in pop culture as well as the visibility of gay themes in the realms of science fiction, comics and video games. Overall, these are realms where gay fans frequently feel left out, but things are getting better. Here are six openly gay men working in those areas who have also helped improve visibility for those of us who'd like to have a superhero, space captain, or time-traveling immortal of our own.

Russell T. Davies

Davies became a well-known name when he created the original Queer As Folk, a series that was groundbreaking at the time for prominently featuring gay characters including Doctor Who fanboy Vince Tyler. Davies was a longtime Doctor Who fan himself and was eventually tasked with reviving the franchise. Davies' Who run brought queer characters to the franchise. While most gay characters were a part of the world's background, Davies' first season of Who gave us Captain Jack Harkness, a charming and roguish, time-traveling con artist. Captain Jack was a popular character who got his own spin-off series (we've discussed it occasionally) giving us the first bisexual male heroic lead on a mainstream sci-fi program.

One of the interesting tendencies of Davies is to reuse names, something that Davies says helps him flesh out a character. His Queer as Folk everyman Vince shared a name with the first companion in Davies' Doctor Who run, Rose. (And the Tyler name continued in a show that Davies didn't work on when the creators of Life on Mars named their time-traveling protagonist, Sam Tyler, after Rose.) He's introduced two smart and capable women named Jones (Prime Minister Harriet Jones and medical student Martha Jones) as well as Torchwood's super capable office assistant Ianto Jones. However, the character that has the geekiest lineage is Captain Jack who is named after Agatha Harkness, a popular character among gay Marvel readers. Naming your influential character after the tutor of a d-list comic book diva, that's geek cred.

Phil Jimenez

Jimenez's artwork first hit the comic shops in 1991, his amazingly detailed and realistic style quickly made an impression. Over time, his consistently strong work has built him a following that has made him one of comics' marquee names who publishers court for an exclusive contract (he's currently exclusive to Marvel and is working on the flagship Amazing Spider-Man, with his first issue hitting the shelves earlier this month).

Jimenez became a role model for gay comic fans in 1996 with an editorial that appeared the last issue of the Tempest mini-series that he wrote and pencilled. In the editorial, Jimenez publicly came out and touchingly remembered Neal Pozner the man who first hired him to work for DC Comics who became a mentor to Jimenez, as well as Jimenez' partner. Pozner died in 1994 and the eulogy was powerful not only for increasing gay visibility among comic creators but for bringing a gay relationship into the dialogue.

Clive Barker

Barker quickly made an impression as a horror writer, particularly after Stephen King praised him as "the future of horror". Barker has had a long and varied career that has included film (which includes the horror series Hellraiser as well as producing the film Gods and Monsters), comic books (Barker has an original series comic soon from IDW, who've previously published adaptations of his The Thief of Always and The Great and Secret Show) and video games.

Marc and Lee are back to dish on all things geek (sci-fi, fantasy, etc.) on television in this special small-screen edition of the Angry Puppy. Curious about what's going on with Battlestar, Bionic Woman, Terminator, Heroes, Torchwood, and more? Allow the fellas to help. That's what they're here for.

Check it out below!

Embed this Puppy!

One of our eagle-eyed readers (thanks, Andros!) pointed out that despite being de-gayed by the network over a year ago, the character of Zach (or Zack, as he's called in written form) on NBC's Heroes is still pinging the gaydar in the show's online graphic novels. 

In case you missed the whole brouhaha, the cheerleader's best friend, Zach (played by Thomas Dekker), was conceived and written as a gay character until the creative forces behind the show were pressured to de-gay him. The character disappeared shortly after, as Dekker was cast in the soon-to-debut Terminator series.

But it looks like the folks behind the supplemental graphic novels that accompany Heroes still carry a torch for the lost gay teen, as evidenced by a recent issue that flashed back to Claire's time in Odessa. It seems that Elle (Kristen Bell) was spying on Claire and quickly dismissed the notion that Claire and Zack were romantically involved or that she could seduce Zack into giving her a videotape she was after.

Sure, the book doesn't actually confirm Zack's sexuality outright, but the repeated references are rather amusing, considering. 

2007 was quite a year for gay geeks, with gay representation in comics books, on science fiction television and in video games being a frequent discussion topic. While these topics aren't entirely new, this year the discussion was at its most active.

On TV, we saw ourselves more often, especially on BBC America's Torchwood ... even though we had frustrating setbacks on shows like Heroes. Things looked incredibly bright for gamers, who found themselves expecting a good number of games with expected gay-inclusiveness and found it easier to find each other.

Additionally, gay geeks became more visible. Logo debuted its collection of animation, Alien Boot Camp,which included bumpers showing gay fans at comics and sci-fi conventions, as well as gay comic creators like Alison Bechtel. For a long time, this subset of queers weren't seen often, with gay geeks being happily surprised when they found each other, but that's changing as our visibility within the gay community increases.

Let's take a look back at the past year, shall we?

Here they come, the sound of drums

If we were to declare a king of the gay geeks, Russel T. Davies would be the candidate to beat. The Doctor Who producer did plenty to increase gay visibility on sci-fi television. The past season of Who regularly showed gay people as simply a part of the human tapestry. More importantly, 2007 was the year Torchwood made its USA debut. The series quickly became BBC America's biggest hit and, seeking to maintain the momentum from season one's success, the network announced that the second season will air only two weeks after it airs on BBC Three.

The success of Torchwood, as well as Doctor Who, is a significant development for gay sci-fi fans. On Torchwood, Captain Jack Harkness is a very different way of portraying queer men on television: as a dashing, heroic lead. Meanwhile, Captain Jack's return to Doctor Who this season continued to show his relationship with The Doctor as one having the kind of strained affection previously seen only with female companions like Sarah Jane Smith and Rose Tyler.

While Doctor Who is an obscure series for American fans, it's a major franchise in the UK and the series is the target of constant rumors and speculation regarding arrivals and departures both in front and behind the cameras. Those rumors included talk that Davies' may be cutting back on his Who duties with Steven Moffat taking over the series. Moffat wrote some of Who's most popular episodes and created the gay-inclusive Coupling and Jeckyll. If the speculation has any merit, Moffat sounds like a promising replacement.

We're still holding on for our hero on Heroes, Monday nights

For some media pundits, Heroes is a solid example of what diversity should look like on television,; but for people who actively advocate for increased diversity, the show is a mix of potential and problems. Last December, we noted that early promotion for the series had Zach as gay but that the show had suddenly turned away from the idea. Discussion into the character continued into the new year. Out producer Bryan Fuller confirmed that the character was written as gay, only to have those plans derailed by the management of Thomas Dekker, who played Zach. In its second season, Heroes was supposed to add a lesbian character but she, too, disappeared before becoming a major presence.

Last night the Family Friendly Television Forum (an initiative of the Associated Network of Advertisers) handed their ninth annual top honor for family friendly show to none other than AfterElton.com fave Ugly Betty. It's hugely significant that a show that tirelessly drives home messages of tolerance and gay inclusion has been labeled praiseworthy family viewing by an organization such as this, particularly when several of the show's primary storylines have involved a transgender family member, a gay romance, and a showtune-loving teen struggling to find his identity.

Now, to be clear, this is an association of advertisers granting this honor, not one of those wingnut conservative "family" groups who polices television shows for hints of things that might turn little Jack and Sally gay or lead them to believe in evolution or whatever (guess Cavemen will never catch a break, huh?).

But you know what? These are the people who are making the the money decisions behind the scenes, and that's even more important, given that we're talking about an advertiser-driven medium here. The Forum gave best drama honors to Heroes, new series to gay creator Bryan Fuller's wonderful Pushing Daisies, and top acting nods to America Ferrera, Friday Night Lights' Kyle Chandler, Chuck's Zachary Levi, and Zac Efron.

• What is the secret of Slusho?:
  Over at his blog, Heroes producer Greg Beeman offers us some entertaining pictures featuring a cup of "Slusho!". Beeman teases that the pictures' "cultural significance will become clear in the coming months, so… pay attention." (BJ: Ooh! Ooh! I actually know this one! For once!) I do love the pic of Masi Oka and George Takei above.
  
  
• Bullets, bracelets and high bids:
  The Andy Mangels-organized Wonder Woman Day raised over $27,000 for Portland-area charities. The event claims to be " one of the most successful charity fundraisers in the history of the comic book medium". Out artists and former Wonder Woman writer Phil Jiminez was at the event, as well as the comic's current, fabulous scribe Gail Simone.
  
  
• Yes, it would become a dream come true:
  This makes me very excited. The Sega Saturn classic NiGHTS into Dreams is getting re-released for the PS2. The current plan has includes only a release in Japan, but there's certainly an audience for it stateside. Now, if only someone would re-release Dragon Force for the PS2, I could get rid of my old Saturn. There just aren't enough games out there with flying jesters.
  
  



• Faith would say it's Five by Five Ten:
  In case you Doctor Who fans out there missed it, last week's Children in Need broadcast included a short where David Tennant (the current Doctor) meets the fifth (Peter Davidson). For someone like me, who started watching the series with Russel T. Davies's run, it was cute and nicely played to Tennant's strengths. From what I've seen it worked for people who remember Davidson's Doctor as well. If you haven't seen it, check it out after the break: