all 26 comments

[–][deleted] 18 insightful - 19 fun18 insightful - 18 fun19 insightful - 19 fun -  (0 children)

Can't believe Superman came out as a TERF who acknowledges sex is binary.

[–]CaptainMooseEx-Bathhouse Employee 18 insightful - 1 fun18 insightful - 0 fun19 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Just as an FYI, this version of Superman is Jon Kent, son of the original Superman Clark Kent. More specifically he is Jonathan Samuel Kent as opposed to Jonathan Lane Kent from another timeline.

So this isn't a case of a long-established character becoming "suddenly gay/bi," - this is a character who was introduced in 2015 who is his own separate character. However, within superhero comics the characters taking on each others' names as one retires/dies makes this confusing as hell to the general public.

[–]RedEyedWarriorGay | Male | 🇮🇪 Irish 🇮🇪 | Antineoliberal | Cocks are Compulsory 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

That’s still not an entirely original character though. He’s still based off of his father, in other worths, another character. So it doesn’t seem original to me.

[–]ChunkeeguyTeam T*RF Fuck Yeah[S] 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Especially with the endless reboots where everyone gets killed off - eg Crisis on Infinite Earths.

[–]RedEyedWarriorGay | Male | 🇮🇪 Irish 🇮🇪 | Antineoliberal | Cocks are Compulsory 7 insightful - 6 fun7 insightful - 5 fun8 insightful - 6 fun -  (2 children)

At this point, I would not be surprised if Marvel officially declared that Captain America is bisexual next year. Fuck it, they might as well make Ironman bi too and have them get married and adopt Spider-Man as their son - who will also be bisexual.

[–]ChunkeeguyTeam T*RF Fuck Yeah[S] 5 insightful - 5 fun5 insightful - 4 fun6 insightful - 5 fun -  (1 child)

Nooooooooooo. Why couldn't they have done that before Chris Evans retired????

[–]RedEyedWarriorGay | Male | 🇮🇪 Irish 🇮🇪 | Antineoliberal | Cocks are Compulsory 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Chris Evans without makeup doesn’t look exactly like Steve Rogers though. A replacement actor has to look similar enough anyway.

[–][deleted] 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

Today, more people can see themselves in the most powerful superhero in comics

Isn't the whole point of these kinds of things (fantasy, comics, etc) to be able to imagine ourselves and life are something we're NOT?

I dunno, I've never been into graphic novels or the culture, it's not my genre of entertainment and I totally admit that I could be getting it wrong. I've always looked at media like this as "pretend", and the last thing I want in my pretend moments is a reflection of myself. I want to be inspired and imagine worlds completely different than anything I'm going through.

[–][deleted] 10 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 0 fun11 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Nah, if you play any fantasy game that has multiple races the majority of people are going to pick humans to play or races that are basically humans like elves.

The majority of people just pick the thing that's closest to themselves and that's what they go with.

[–]spanishprofanity 5 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Yup. Like in World of Warcraft there are two factions. Humans on the Alliance side are the most popular race (out of 12) and Elves on the Horde side are the most popular race (also out of 12) lol

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

So is it like different races or species on the outside, but ultimately just "better" humans?

Or is it human-esque for familiarity, but with different races or species as the baseline?

[–]Ladis_Wascheharuum 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Isn't the whole point of these kinds of things (fantasy, comics, etc) to be able to imagine ourselves and life are something we're NOT?

Not quite, and neither is it the case that people pick the "closest to themselves".

What people actually tend to pick is aspirational; who they want be. In other words, the idealized version of themselves, not their actual selves.

[–]lovelyspearmintLesbeing a lesbian 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

That's why D&D has become so popular with the TQ crowd. They can live out their fantasies of being the opposite 'gender', being furries or being able to switch genders at will (changelings).

[–]PatsyStoneMaverique 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

What's the point of representation in media if it's so divorced from reality and unrelatable? This has been a problem in comics for years, at least the ones I read. The bisexual subplot in the new Tank Girl comics was hard to read and not relatable at all. I would hope actual bisexuals are writing these stories, but even if there are- it's not like we're known for our self-understanding. It all seems too idealized and preachy. That's not how life works.

[–]wendyokoopa1 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

sadly most of the comics these days are written by the tumblr crowd. Who believe that representation alone is enough to sell their characters. them "So we have this new character named Steven Parker he's Gay" that's it. We'll ask so what makes Steven Parker special what does he do? What's he into sports? Gaming? Music? them. "Well he's gay and uses them/they" pronouns. us: So that's it regarding the character? "Yeah" Character in episode one "HI I'm Steven I'm gay and use them/they pronouns" rest of cast "Hey steve so what else should we know" "I'm gay" Ok Steven we've established that. I mean I was on the fence about Kevin from Archie Comics. Especially because well it's Archie. But then I read Life With(The Archie what if series where they examine would happen if Arch married Betty or Veronica) and I really liked Kevin as a person. he was a vet who loved his community, his country, he was hard working, respectful. He just happened to be gay.

[–]PanhandleNutter 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Those teaser pics have zero chemistry. That is sad.

[–]boypower 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I don't get it. Are we supposed to be outraged about same sex couples in comics now? Is the pink-haired guy not a guy?

[–]ChunkeeguyTeam T*RF Fuck Yeah[S] 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Not at all. But I very much doubt the pink haired person will turn out to be a gay "guy" rather than several other letters on the acronym. Most of the gay men in the world do not have pink, blue or green hair, so why does the love interest of Superbi other than virtue signalling to the Alphabet mafia?

[–]JulienMayfair 2 insightful - 3 fun2 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 3 fun -  (1 child)

I haven't read comics since I was in elementary school, so forgive me if I'm behind on things. But if Superman is an alien, how does he have a kid?

And if the kid is also an alien, then isn't it all inter-species sex?

[–]7874 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Haha yeah. I guess they're similar enough, like horses and donkeys lol. It remains to be seen whether his son is sterile.

[–]ArthnoldManacatsaman🇬🇧🌳🟦 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I have no interest in comics and never have done, I think they're much more popular across the pond than they are here, but I think this is just the latest instance of a popular trend of 'diversifying' beloved or long-standing characters in popular culture as an attempt at virtue signalling.

In-world intricacies explaining how it's not actually Superman who's bisexual now, it's not actually Spiderman who's a black kid now, it's not actually James Bond who's a woman now are lost on the vast majority of people who simply read the headline and think 'Oh, I guess Superman is panromantic aro demiqueer now'.

There's nothing wrong with having 'diverse' characters, as long as that's not the most interesting thing about them. If you want a female superspy or a panromantic genderqueer superhero, create one. From scratch. Then they can be exactly how you envisage them, without any of the 'baggage' that comes with their predecessors.

It's like vegan food. There are plenty of ingredients in the world that are animal free. Make good vegan dishes that stand on their own, not poor imitations of things that already exist. Enjoy the pizza by accepting that it has meat and cheese on it (or simply don't eat it) and enjoy James Bond by accepting that's he's a bit of a misogynist prick.

[–]7874 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

His boyfriend is pretty and all, but it's not really positive representation. Hyper-masculine bi guys who love pretty, feminine gay guys who will "take care" of them aren't exactly rare or in desperate need of representation. And the drawing where it's angled so we can see Superman's dick and his pretty boyfriend's ass and underside of his balls is just gratuitous. We get it okay. Superman's the bi "top" and his bf's the gay "bottom".

They've never had a feminine gay guy like that as a main character (or even a masculine gay guy) and it looks like we're still not there yet. Seems like his only purpose in the story is going to be Superman's piece of ass who worships and admires and takes care of him emotionally. They made sure to emphasize his admiration of Superman and Clark Kent; he's a journalist because he loves Clark Kent so much. And now he gets fucked by his son and takes care of him emotionally and gets what in return? Superman's super alien dick I guess?

Just doesn't seem like the kind of narrative we should be feeding to our young gay kids. Couldn't he have his own identity and skills and goals outside of "worships this guy/his dad". A feminine gay guy is finally being "represented" and he's just Superman's pink-haired pet.

Even hets would roll their eyes at this degrading depiction (and maybe they are, but probably not) if his boyfriend were female. At least Clark Kent and Lois Lane were co-workers and she had her own reasons for become a journalist besides "my love interest is a sexy god and I admire him so much I'm going to dedicate my life to him/being like him". We condemn these depictions of women, but when it's a feminine gay guy being treated the same way, radio silence. And they actually are treated this way in real life, it's not just a story, it's a piece of propaganda promoting this treatment. Same as the stories told to little girls about useless, helpless princesses being rescued by powerful princes and then dedicating their lives to the guy. It's despicable and we need to condemn this.