Representation in comics has gradually been getting better over recent years; sure, it’s
by no means perfect, let alone satisfactory, but the kinds of representation in the panels
of major publishers has increased from non-existent and negative portrayals to ones of substance
and positivity.
The LGBTQ community are one of the groups who have longed for better representation
in the medium, and today, we’re taking a closer look at what’s out there, and, particularly,
the wild circumstances or series of events surrounding the queer couplings we see on
the pages of some of our favourite comic books.
For the most part, much of the ‘you won’t believe!’ factor comes from the surprisingly
circumstances under which these couples occurred, while others are just flat out surprising
in the sense that you probably didn’t know they were part of the queer community.
So with that in mind, let’s get to our list of the top 10 LGBT superhero couples you won’t
believe!
But actually totally can.
10 Apollo and Midnighter Have you ever wondered what it’d be like
if Superman and Batman fell in love?
Well, enter Apollo and Midnighter - they’re essentially analogues for Superman and Batman,
but gay.
These two were previously characters published by WildStorm prior to DC picking up their
rights and publishing a 6 issue miniseries that followed the adventures of the dynamic
duo.
Apollo was one of the first openly gay characters in comics, and similar to Superman, uses the
energy of the sun to power himself.
The difference is, his abilities go beyond DC’s man of steel; he’s omnipotent, can
manipulate on a molecular level, and he can warp reality, to boot.
Midnighter, compared to Batman, has no issue killing, generally murdering his opponents,
and has enhanced abilities beyond what Bruce Wayne is capable of.
The two first kissed on panel in The Authority issue 7, and would eventually get married
and even adopt a daughter together.
Then, when their rights went to DC, the two of them were no longer a couple, their history
practically retconned, despite their sexualities remaining intact and Midnighter dating around.
Oh retcons.
Anywho, back to that series we mentioned; as part of DC Rebirth, the two of them got
their own joint series, in which writer Steve Orlando wanted to further explore their romantic
relationship, and even re-introduced a queer character who had recieved abysmal treatment
in the past - magician Extrano - to aid them in their mission.
It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics, with many expressing it was
one of the best series of 2016.
9 Wiccan and Hulking Wiccan and Hulking are anything but shocking.
Wiccan, aka Billy Kaplan, the long lost son of Scarlet Witch, is a reality warper with
magical abilities who first debuted in Young Avengers issue 1 in 2005.
Hulking, who gets his name from his green muscular appearance, is Teddy Altman, the
half Kree half Skrull son of the original Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell, and Princess Anelle.
The two would found the Young Avengers together, and despite the intention of writer creator
Allan Heinberg to reveal that they were a couple in issue 12 of that series, fans kind
of put two and two together long before hand.
Despite this, their first on panel kiss wouldn’t occur until Avengers: The Children’s Crusade
in 2010, and they two would become engaged.
Now here’s where that whole shocking bit comes in.
After that kiss, in Brazil, the mayor of Rio de Janiero caused quite the scandal when they
attempted to seize copies of the comic and ban it.
Thus began a lot of censorship backlash, with newspapers even publishing the image of the
kiss on their front page in retaliation.
The major, evangelical Marcelo Crivella, tired to justify the actions by stating “it is
not censorship or homophobia as many people think.
We just want to protect our children, fight in defence of Brailian families and comply
with the law.”
Yeah, that sounds like homophobia to me.
F*ck that guy.
8 Karolina Dean & Xavin Karolina and Xavin are a couple from Runaways,
a series penned by Brian K Vaughan that follows teen superheroes whose parents turn out to
be super villains.
Karolina first came out in the series when she fell for team leader Nico, but was rejected.
And imagine the timing when Xavin, a Skrull prince who Karolina’s parents had promised
her to, shows up with the intention of getting their arranged marriage up and running.
Yeah, that’s a lot to handle for a teenager.
But here’s where things take a turn for the amazing.
Xavin, being a Skrull, took Karolina’s sexuality to heart, and being from a race of shapeshifters,
Xavin transformed into a form that would better suit what Karolina is attracted to.
For a race like the Skrulls, coming from a place where you can shift forms and adjust
your sexual identity more freely, it allowed Xavin and Karolina to have a unique relationship
that resonated with many queer readers all over the world.
The twists and turns in their love lives with one another has always managed to stay true
to many of the feelings that queer readers associate with as well, which is something
that Vaughan has proven to champion time and time again in his work.
7 Karolina Dean and Julie Power One of those twists and turns that Karolina
and Xavin faced was breaking up.
Xavin left earth disguised as Karolina with a group of Majesdanians (the race Karolina
is from) after a war broke out between the Skrulls and Majesdanians and they could no
longer get married.
But fear not, friends, Karolina would find love again in the form of Julie Power, who
she began a flirtatious relationship with after a trip to the Avengers Academy.
They would begin a long term relationship in which Julie tried to convince Karolina
to move to New York.
That never happened though; the two of them would eventually break up.
Julie broke it off, feeling that they were too incompatible, and that Karolina’s first
priority was the Runaways rather than their relationship.
6 Rictor and Shatterstar Rictor and Shatterstar are two characters
who were introduced in the late 80s and early 90s, the former debuting in X-Factor vol 1
issue 17 in 1987, and the latter in New Mutants issue 99 in 1991.
When Rictor first hit the scene, he dated his fellow teammate, the female character
Wolfsbane, but later, he’d head over to Cable’s X-Force team, where he’d meet
Shatterstar.
Shatterstar was a warrior who was raised on Mojoworld, and the two quickly built a long
lasting friendship that would turn into something more when they kissed in X-Factor volume 2
issue 45 in 2009.
At the time, Rictor had been de-powered, and the two had reunited with said kiss.
And, fun fact, writer Peter David won a GLAAD Media Award in 2011 for their story.
5 Gravity Kid and Power Boy The Legion of Super-Heroes has always been
a welcome home for heroes who identify outside of hetero-normativity.
Gravity Kid is one of those characters – he first appeared in Legion of Super-Heroes issue
6 back in 2010, as a student at the Legion Academy.
His sexuality isn’t brought to the forefront of most stories – we’ve only seen him
with his fellow student and boyfriend Power Boy a handful of times.
Once, in Adventure issue 523, the two were seen coming out of the same bedroom together,
partially undressed.
Another time, in issue 528, after Power Boy has been rejected from the Legion, we see
Gravity Kid comforting him.
4 Mystique and Destiny Another shape shifting character whose abilities
play a large role in the portrayal of their sexuality, Mystique is typically seen as a
femme fatale villain of sorts.
But her history is much more fascinating than that.
Thanks to Chris Claremont, we got a much better picture of the blue mutant.
Mystique and Destiny, who were ‘technically’ villains at the time, were in a relationship
together, and raised not only Nightcrawler, but also, Rogue.
While the two were never explicitly stated as a couple (this was the 80s after all).
The two met at “the dawn of the 20th century”; Destiny is a blind, precognitive mutant, created
by Claremont, who first debuted in 1981’s Uncanny X-Men issue 141.
Claremont had intended for her to be Nightcrawler’s biological mother with Mystique being his
biological father, but thanks to the Comics code Authority still being active at that
time, there was a prohibition on explicit portrayals of queer characters.
Yet their relationship still subtly persisted!
Sadly, Destiny died of old age, leaving Mystique completely heart broken.
3 Batwoman and Maggie Sawyer This couple isn’t so much surprising in
terms of that they’re together, but more so surprising in how their relationship devolved
thanks to some negative influence from DC Editors.
When Batwoman was given her own series in 2011 during the New 52, J.H. Williams III
and W Haden Blackman gave us a version of Kate who was in a committed and complex relationship
with GCPD Captain Maggie Sawyer.
The series was praised not only for it’s accurate representation of a queer couple,
but also beause the writing and the art work was so damn good.
That’s coming a long way from how Kate Kane was initially portrayed in the comics; as
a forced love interest of Batman’s after the comics code authority became a thing and
DC gave him a family in order to squash any rumours of homosexuality.
Yeah.
True story there.
Anywho, here’s where things get silly.
In 2013, the Williams and Blackman would walk off the series after DC announced that their
plans of having Kate and Maggie get married were canned.
It was a sudden decision to not allow Kate to marry her partner, and they couldn’t
stand by that.
Things with the series went downhill from there, with Kate breaking up with Maggie WITH
A NOTE, and then Kate getting involved with a lesbian vampire character who essentially
sexually assaulted her.
Eventually, the series was cancelled.
So much ugh.
2 Wolverine and Hercules Let’s get back into the vein of surprising
couples with a pairing that no one expected - James Howlett aka Wolverine and the son
of Zeus, Hercules.
Yeah, wow.
It’s kind of amazing, isn’t it?
In the alternate universe of Earth 12025, Wolverine is James Howlett, the Governor General
of Dominion of Canada (this just keeps getting better), and goes on a slew of different adventures
with Hercules, which leads to the two of them being known as the world’s greatest heroes.
They would kiss on panel after defeating a dragon-esque monster that was attacking Canada.
Prior to this, they kept their relationship a secret because of Zeus forbidding any god
hooking up with mortals.
And when daddy dearest found out, he banished the two of them to the pits of Tartarus.
Eventually, Howlett would be abducted by Saviour, trapped and used as a power source until escaping
alongside the 616 Cyclops.
Fear not friends - Howlett and Herc would be reunited again in X-Treme X-Men, where
they would resume fighting side by side.
1 Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy When it was officially announced that Harley
Quinn and Poison Ivy were canon, shippers EVERYWHERE praised the heavens.
Or at least I did.
It’s true.
IT FELT LIKE A MAJOR WIN, YOU GUYS.
While Harley Quinn was introduced as a romantic side kick for the Joker, their relationship
was absolutely toxic over the years.
And when Harley was depicted independently, the character had amazing chemistry with Pamela
Isley aka Ivy, from the Animated Series to Gotham City Sirens.
It was getting to the point where the subtext was too much, people.
And with Harley’s more recent attempts at being good and venturing into anti-hero territory,
her friendship with Ivy only excelled (really, girl just wants to save the planet and just
happens to use mass eco-terroism to do so.
Villian with a point, people!)
All that aside, this pairing, while on and off again, has become arguably more compelling
for some readers compared to the one sided-ness of Harley and the Joker’s domestic debacles.
Needless to say, Harley and Ivy is likely one of the most adored queer couples in comics
to this day.
There we have it friends!
There are plenty of queer couples that we haven’t included on this list (include a
certain famous Marvel pairing and their famous cover) so if you folks would like to see a
part 2, give us a shout in those comments below!
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In the meantime, thanks for watching friends!
I’ll catch you all in the next video.