• 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.
  
  

Yesterday, the latest issue of Young Avengers Presents arrived in comic shops. It focuses on gay Avenger Wiccan, who spends most of the issue getting to know his long-lost brother. The story also includes an early scene where Wiccan discusses his worries in his bedroom with his boyfriend, Hulkling. I can't think of a scene like that in superhero comics before, where a gay couple is shown in such an intimate setting while their relationship is in a stage that's still fresh and innocent.

I talked with Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who wrote the issue, about Hulking and Wiccan's romance: "It's not something we see a lot (in superhero comics)," he said. "You don't see a lot of young, blossoming gay love."

In terms of gay representation, Young Avengers has been a quietly revolutionary comic. Hulkling and Wiccan were outed without any fanfare: readers picked up that they were gay because their dialouge had a dynamic reminiscent of superteam couples like The Fantastic Four's Reed and Sue, The X-Men's Scott and Jean or The Legion's Val and Jekkie.

Gay characters in comics are usually either "barely there" gays or lead into a "very special issue". Seeing gay characters who are equal members of a team and whose sexual orientation isn't a surprising character twist still leaves superhero fans a little bit confused.

The Authority's Apollo and Midnighter had a similarly subtle coming out, one that also left readers wondering if their gaydar was set to "oversensitive". There is one major difference between Hulkling and Wiccan and Apollo and Midnighter, however: The Authority is a title aimed at mature readers (primarily for violence) while Young Avengers is geared for the same age groups as the rest of Marvel's superhero titles.

This wasn't without controversy; some Young Avengers readers might remember a frequent contributor to the letters column who kept insisting that the relationship would undoubtedly lead to sexual content that would be inappropriate for an all-ages title.

Typically, when it comes to age ratings, any sort of gay content earns a higher rating, but Hulkling and Wiccan are presented as equal to any other relationship in the Marvel Universe. That a teenage gay male couple are shown sitting on the same bed without any apologies or worries is another quiet but solid step toward equal treatment for gay couples.

• Getting a piece of the pi:
  Hey Math Geeks (or, if you're like me, Math Pun Geeks) didja know it's Pi Day? Yep, today is March 14, and therefore the day to celebrate the number we couldn't measure circles without. And if you didn't realize it even the hip kids at NPR are total nerds. Yeah, perhaps it's an odd thing to note, but then again I had a co-worker who'd take April 20th off every year.
  
  
• And you thought Rorschach had issues...:
  The fine Pink Kryptonite crew recently named Captain Excelsior as a webcomic to watch and, after taking a peek, I'm in total agreement. The webcomic follows the comically soapy dysfunctions of a superhero family -- think The Incredibles meet Soap with the morality the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia crew. Excelsior's son is rather hilariously dealing with coming out right now, which, so far, is one of the comic's more human moments. Of course, Captain Excelsior frequently has fun with that old Lois Lane joke:
  

  

• The two great teams that (you'd think would) go well together:
  While we're still waiting for news on the second volume of Young Avengers, it turns they'll soon team up with the kids from Runaways once more thanks to Marvel's Secret Invasion event. I have to admit, I'm not yet excited about this but maybe it'll turn out to be the team-up I hoped Civil War: Young Avengers/Runways would be.
  
  
• From the department of solicitation of clever and subtle plans:
  There may not be much more than a teaser image here but this one's too good not to share. The Fable 2 team recently shared a bit of teaser art with the Gay Gamer gang. This character is described as, "one is for all the girls, gays or male gamers who just feel adventurous!" Once again, I do love the Lionhead Studio guys for their inclusiveness.

  

  I have to admit, tho, there's something about this design that makes me expect him to be a bit dim with a tendency to suggest subtle and clever plans that are neither clever or subtle.
  
  
• A hilarious work of PhotoShop genius:
  Ah, the creative minds you can find on the internet. Over at the frequently-hilarious Chris' Invincible Super-Blog, we get a peek at DC's long-forgotten light-hearted silver age title, Li'l Bru¢e Wayne:

  

  Ah, those were the good days, when Frank Miller were telling stories about the Happiest Kid on Earth.

• Legion no more?
  Here's a bit of news I'm feeling very mixed about: things are looking grim for the Legion of Super-Heroes cartoon. The part of me who's been a part of the Legion's gay fanbase for ages is a bit saddened to hear this but, on the other hand, the animated adaptation missed the comic's best qualities for me, never capturing the melodramatics of the 30th century's teen superteam found in classic stories like "The Super-Sacrifice of the Legionnaires!" I'm talking to a gay audience, here, so there has got to be some Legion fans reading -- do you think anything we're missing out on much if the Legion cartoon doesn't get a third season?

• Gay comics chatter:
  Finally, here's a bit of Wondercon hype I missed the first time, but still seems worth watching. So Super Duper's Brian Andersen and comics retailer Rich Boutell appeared on Bay Area talk show OUT Spoken:
  

Alan Heinberg’s Young Avengers, which featured gay male supercouple Hulking and Wiccan, ended its first “season” in June 2006. The characters went on to co-star in the 2006 mini-series Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways, a title that ruffled the feathers of some gay fans. (The mini-series also starred the characters from another series, Runways, that includes a lesbian character and her shapeshifter Skrull girlfriend Xavin.)

Hulkling and Wiccan return to form in Young Avengers Presents, a six-issue mini-series that gives each member of the team a moment in the spotlight. In the second issue (which hit comic shops Wednesday), Hulking takes the lead as he meets with his father Mar-Vell. Wiccan is there to support his boyfriend through the tough time.

I got to chat with Brian Reed, writer of Young Avengers Presents #2 to get his take on writing the team’s gay couple, stepping in the footsteps of Allan Heinberg and how alien cultures in the Marvel universe might view sexual orientation.

AfterElton.com: One thing gay readers found really satisfying about Allan's work on Young Avengers was that Hulkling and Wiccan were written very much the same way as opposite-sex couples have been written in the past, with an intimate, affectionate tone to their battle banter. I think you capture that really nicely in your issue of Young Avengers Presents...
Brian Reed: Well thank you.

AE: And I was wondering, was that a conscious effort or did you just write them the way you would write … say, Vision and Wanda?
BR: Yeah, it was how I would write my wife and I. It was, ‘These were two people who are in love, there we go.’ You know what I mean? When you’re in love with someone and you spend all your time with them, you pick up certain conversational cadences with them and that was how I approached it.

AE: Minority characters in comics are so rare that their fans tend to be very protective of them – sometimes plot points and storylines that are meant innocently give an unintended message – was that an extra concern tackling a diverse cast like the Young Avengers?
BR: No, I joke that I have two first audiences. The first one is me and am I having fun telling the story I’m telling because if I’m not then you’re not going to have any fun reading it. The very next audience is whatever editor I’m working with – that’s because it’s their job to tell me, “Yes, you’ve entertained yourself but you’re the only one you’ll entertain.”

So when I approached the Young Avengers stuff, I sat down, I re-read the Young Avengers series, familiarized myself with who everybody was, how they behaved and just tried to match personality with my own storytelling.

AE: I think that shows, and the thing I enjoyed about this issue was that it felt like going right back into the series.
BR: That was the goal, yeah.

AE: Hulkling comes from two different alien races, the Kree and the Skrulls. In Runaways, we learn from Xavin that the Skrulls have a rather fluid view of sexuality and gender. Since Teddy is Kree and Skrull, have you thought about how Kree culture would view Teddy’s sexual orientation and his having a relationship with a teammate?
BR: I didn’t really think much about the Krees because working that into the story was going to feel like I worked that into the story. It was very much the story of a father and son meeting for the first time and honestly in my initial outline about ‘find out about the boyfriend’ and then I just went ‘Why?’ I’m so totally forcing that, it would have come off as a bad sitcom joke and that’s not what this story is – that’s forcing something in – and one of the first things to come off the list, too.

AE: If he had the chance, what do you think Mar-Vell would have thought of Wiccan?
BR: He would have seen another warrior, honestly. His great pride in Teddy in that Teddy has chosen to be a warrior and that Mar-Vell was conscripted as a child. He got to the point where it was ‘You’re 12 years old, now you’re in the army. Off you go.’ because that’s how the Kree worked. He was very proud of Teddy for saying ‘Hey, look, I need to stand up for what I think is right and what is good.’ and becoming that warrior. I think if he saw Wiccan he’d say, “You found yourself another warrior. Congratulations.”

AE: I read that you’ve said that you wanted to tell the story of Teddy and Mar-Vell meeting in the Captain Marvel mini-series but that didn’t work out. Was it satisfying to give that meeting a full issue?
BR: It was incredibly satisfying. When I originally pitched the Captain Marvel mini-series, Steve Wacker, the editor on the book, came back and said, “You’ve pitched five story arcs worth of plot and you have five issues. Let’s pare this down, let’s find what that story is and let’s do that five issue story.” I had Rick Jones, I had Teddy, I had time travel problems, all that stuff and Teddy was one of those things – because all those things kept getting trimmed away – I kept leaving in, I kept wanting him to be in there. And it finally came down to, ‘Wow, he’s just not part of the story that was being told.’ When I was given the chance to not only tell the story about Teddy but to do it from Teddy’s point of view, I couldn’t be happier.

AE: The worrisome thing about a Young Avengers Presents for me is that because Young Avengers has mostly been in the hands of Allan, when a new writer take it on you worry “Is this going to change the course of the character?”
BR: Marvel has that concern as well. All of our stuff got bounced by Allan. I read notes on how my story went. There were certainly things that – every writer, any artist coming into an artistic project has a tendency to go ‘I would have done it this way’ but that’s human nature. There was some of that in the notes, some of ‘I like this’, ‘I like that.’ So, it was nice we were able to run things by him and make sure it was in the vision.