Back in the Golden Age of comic books, nobody probably thought twice about a character's
sexuality.
But times change, and audiences want to find more ways to relate to the stories they consume.
Readers want to know that superheroes don't discriminate, and creators have responded
throughout the years.
Here are a few superheroes who aren't afraid to be themselves.
Iceman
When the X-Men were first introduced in 1963, the team consisted of Cyclops, Beast, Angel,
Marvel Girl, and Iceman.
Over the years, Iceman evolved a number of different looks and even had a few relationships.
But it wasn't until a storyline in 2015 when a time-displaced, teenage version of Iceman
was introduced that psychic Jean Grey discovered he was gay.
Since the Iceman we'd all been reading since the 1960s never indicated this was the case,
except maybe once, the characters had a talk.
It was revealed that Iceman couldn't cope with being both a mutant and gay, but since
he had to deal with his powers openly, he suppressed his own sexuality to the point
where he refused to even think about it.
After talking with his teen self, Iceman was able to come to terms with his feelings, and
the character is now openly gay, arguably making him Marvel's most powerful character
who is also homosexual.
Northstar
The Canadian mutant known as Northstar is a member of Alpha Flight and has had numerous
appearances in the X-Men comics over the years.
He's also Marvel's first openly gay character.
In fact, in issue 51 of Astonishing X-Men, Northstar marries his husband.
Though not as popular as the X-Men, Alpha Flight was a team of mutants who operated
north of the border in Canada.
Northstar serves as an integral member of the team and has a variety of powers including
superhuman speed, flight, and the ability to fire photonic blasts of energy.
He and the rest of the team were created by legendary writer John Byrne in 1983, who at
first didn't want to create the team as two-dimensional nobodies to counter the X-Men.
In order to alleviate his own misgivings, he created more fleshed out backgrounds for
the characters, which included making Northstar a gay character.
Unfortunately, Northstar's sexual orientation could only be hinted at for years, since editorial
policy at the time forbade characters from being homosexual.
Batwoman
You're probably familiar with Batgirl, the alter ego of Barbara Gordon, but Batwoman
actually predates her by a few years.
Ironically, she was introduced in the mid-1950s to as a love interest for Batman, in order
to counter rumors that Batman was gay.
Seduction of the Innocent, a book written by psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, had called
comics into question for their influence over children, and in particular called out the
characters of Batman and Robin, suggesting their relationship was a homosexual one.
Batwoman ended up being axed as a character midway through the 1960s only to be resurrected
again in 2006.
This time she was given a new twist and was re-introduced as a gay character herself,
in an effort on DC's part to offer more diverse characters for their readers.
Rictor
Introduced in the late 1980s, Rictor made his way through a number of X-titles, including
X-Factor and X-Force, as well as The New Mutants.
His mutant power involves generating seismic energy, which is basically directing earthquakes
at stuff.
In 2009, Rictor shared a kiss with fellow X-Force member Shatterstar, the first ever
in a Marvel comic book.
Since that time, the character has been an open and out gay man.
The relationship between Rictor and Shatterstar proved to be so popular and well done that
writer Peter David won a GLAAD award for the portrayal of their relationship in the pages
of X-Factor.
Graymalkin
Even casual Marvel fans may have heard the word "Graymalkin" pop up now and then.
It's the name of the street where Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters was built, as
well as the name of Cable's space station.
And, since 2008, Graymalkin has also been a mutant with the young X-Men.
How'd he get his name?
His family owned the land on which Xavier's school was built and the street was named
after them.
As it turns out, though, the character is over 200 years old, and was caught by his
father as a teen experimenting with another boy.
Enraged, his father beat him unconscious and actually buried him alive on the land that
would one day become Xavier's school.
Fortunately for Graymalkin, his mutant powers activated and saved him from death, putting
him in a kind of hibernation until the present when he was freed and eventually became a
member of the Young X-Men.
Anole
One of the New X-Men, Anole's mutation is a number of lizard-like abilities to match
his scaly appearance, including the ability to crawl up walls, a prehensile tongue, and
adaptive camouflage.
The character was introduced with hints that he might be gay, given his closeness to his
mentor Northstar.
It was later confirmed as the real deal by the comics' writers.
Anole has since been praised for being openly gay while not making every storyline revolve
around that particular aspect of his life.
He's gay, but he's also a superhero, so he does superhero things that aren't affected
by his sexuality.
In other words, despite looking like a lizard, he's just a normal guy.
Angela
One of the coolest characters in recent comics history, Angela was originally created by
Neil Gaiman and Todd McFarlane to be part of Image Comics' Spawn universe.
However, after a lawsuit over rights, a court ordered that Angela should revert fully to
Gaiman, who has since sold the character to Marvel.
Angela was originally a warrior from Heaven sent to fight the hellspawn.
Once she joined the Marvel Universe, she ended up with the Guardians of the Galaxy, of all
people, until she has to run off with Odin's baby to protect it after finding out she,
too, is an Asgardian, and the daughter of Odin.
Accompanying her is Sera, her companion, friend, and lover.
Deadpool
Deadpool is played straight in his movie, but writers and the man in red himself, Ryan
Reynolds, have openly acknowledged Mr. Pool is actually a lot more fluid in his sexuality
than that.
Reynolds described Deadpool as "pansexual," but don't take it from him.
Here's Deadpool co-creator Fabian Nicieza explaining the Merc's sexuality:
"He can be hetereosexual one day.
And a few days later he can believe 100 percent that he's not."
Deadpool is ready to have fun with anyone from moment to moment.
Reynolds has gone on record saying he loves this aspect of the character and hopes that
in a sequel the character could have a boyfriend, just because it's another way Deadpool breaks
the boundaries of traditional superhero roles.
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