Batman is not gay and superheroes can be deaf

My wife can testify to the fact that I’m a fanboy.  I subscribe to a couple comic books and can recite more than a couple lines from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.   There were a couple items this past week that fanboys, marketers, PR people, GLAAD and the National Association of the Deaf can celebrate.

A major DC comic character is GAY

Being an ex-PR flax and a fanboy something about this smelled fishy from the beginning.  On one side you’ve got DC comic guru Grant Morrison telling Playboy that “Batman is very, very gay….all the women fancy him and he’s more interested in hanging out with the old man and the kid.”

To my old school Dallas fans: remember when Bobby Ewing was killed off in season 8, but at the end of season 9 he came back?  Having Batman suddenly announce that he’s gay would have that same reaction.  Well damn, if last season was all just a dream then you don’t respect me as a viewer so I’m out of here.  I’m about to that point with DC Comics.

By the end of the news cycle it turns out that Batman probably isn’t gay, it’s Green Lantern.  But, it’s not Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern from the comic book; it’s the original Green Lantern from the 40’s who is also the GL on Earth 2.  Whaaa?  Basically, the original GL is on an alternate version of Earth in modern day times.  Earth 2 is a new release from the “all new 52” that DC put out last year.

Assuming that Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern is the major gay character to come out of the closet, it’s a cop out and a PR stunt that people can see through.   Having said that, I’m glad Batman isn’t gay; it would’ve been Bobby Ewing in the shower all over again.

I just had a conversation with my wife and she asked me something that was manly and required thought.  “Sweetie, I’m right in the middle of writing a post about who is gayer, Batman or Green Lantern, it’s not the best time to ask me this.”

For the record I don’t care what comic book character is gay or not, as long as it feels genuine and not a PR stunt.  Marvel Comics is having Northstar and Kyle get married in the next issue of Astonishing X-Men.  Granted they sent out a press release about it, but it doesn’t feel as forced as DC saying a MAJOR CHARACTER IS GAY. *

Marvel Comics creates deaf superhero in honor of young boy

Anthony Smith is a four-year old who was born without a right ear and only partial hearing in his right ear.  One day he said to his mother that he wasn’t going to wear his hearing aid anymore because superheroes didn’t wear them.   His mother wrote Marvel asking why any superheroes didn’t have hearing aids.  Marvel wrote back the next day, with pictures of a Blue Ear, a hero who suffered hearing damage.

That is great PR and an awesome act.  Blue Ear will have a limited run in a short series, but it makes the geek dad in me cry.  It’s feel good greatness that shames DC and makes their ‘major gay character’ seem like the cheap PR stunt it is.  The full video can be seen here and is worth watching.

 

*Said major character is in an alternate universe and isn’t the accepted choice of the fans, but never mind that.  DC has a gay character now, go back to your lives.