Retooled Green Lantern is a gay superhero.
PHILADELPHIA: Green Lantern, one of DC Comics’ oldest and enduring heroes, is serving as a beacon for the publisher again, this time as a proud and openly gay hero.
The change is revealed in the second issue of Earth 2, out this week, and comes on the heels of what has been an expansive year for gay and lesbian characters in the pages of comic books.
But purists note: this Green Lantern is not the space cop who was, and is, part of the Justice League. Instead, said James Robinson, who writes the new series, Alan Scott was the retooled version of the classic Lantern whose first appearance was in All-American Comics in July 1940.
And his being gay is not part of some wider story line meant to be exploited or undone down the road.
“This was my idea,” Robinson explained, noting that before DC relaunched all its titles last year, Scott had a son who was gay. But given that Earth 2 has retooled characters, he is not old enough to have a grown son.
“By making him younger, that son was not going to exist anymore,” Robinson said.
“He doesn’t come out. He’s gay when we see him in issue two… He’s fearless and he’s honest to the point where he realised he was gay and he said, ‘I’m gay’.”
In May, Marvel Entertainment said speedster Northstar would marry his longtime boyfriend in Astonishing X-Men. DC Comics has other gay characters, including Kate Kane, the current Batwoman.
Some groups have protested against the inclusion of gay characters, but Robinson isn’t discouraged, noting that being gay was just one aspect to Scott. – Sapa-AP
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