Perry Moore asks, "Who cares about the death of a gay superhero anyway?"
In 1999, the Women in Refrigerators list (also known as "WiR") spurred discussion in superhero comic fandom about the treatment of female characters. Assembled by a group of fans that included Gail Simone — who'd later go on to write superhero comics herself — the list drew reactions from superhero writers and artists and had a lasting effect on readers. The term "Women in Refrigerators" has taken meaning outside of comics as well, like when Television without Pity editors used the term to criticize one season of CSI.
Perry Moore, the author of Hero, takes a similar look at the treatment of gay characters in superhero comics with "Who cares about the death of a gay superhero anyway?", a list of over 70 lesbian and gay characters that was inspired by the 2005 death of Northstar.
Moore notes, "Yes, bad things do happen to all people, gay people included. But are there positive representations of gay characters to counterbalance these negative ones? Who cares about the death of a gay superhero anyway?"
Moore also takes a "by the numbers" approach to gay characters in superhero comics. Here are a few highlights:
- 65 The number of “Ultimate X-Men” issues it took for the hero Colossus finally to come out of the closet, thus alienating teammate Nightcrawler.
- Ages 4-10 The age-correlated sizes in which Wolverine Deluxe Child Costume is available for children for Halloween. Available with muscle torso, jumpsuit, boots, mask, and pair of claws. Northstar costume not available for impaling.
- ZERO. Number of straight X-Men that the most popular X-Man, Wolverine, has killed.
- ONE. Number of gay X-Men that the most popular X-Man, Wolverine, has killed:
- ZERO. Number of boyfriends Northstar has had since his coming out in 1992.
- TWO. Number of times Apollo has been the victim of male bondage and rape.
Do you feel accepted by the major publishers as a part of the superhero audience? Do you watch for z-list characters who are gay or find hints at minor characters' orientation? When you see a positive development, do you worry that it will be undone?
