Gay superheroes...

[fajrdrako]

Latest news headline: Stan Lee to create first gay superhero.

Say what? If you look up 'first gay superhero' on Wikipedia, you get Extrano at DC, from 1988. And what about Northstar, a superhero so gay he had a press conference about it, but never had a boyfriend? At least he had the good taste to think Gambit was cute.

There are so many gay superheros, there are websites devoted to listing them. And the bi ones. And the trans ones. Remember Paradox, the bisexual shape-changer? I loved him. Her. Whichever. So obscure, he's not on Wikipedia. And the subject shouldn't ignore Apollo and Midnighter, who are not just gay, but a dramatically gay couple. In my favourite era of Legion of Super-Heroes, Element Lad was gay, as were Lightning Lass and Shrinking Violet.

Considering that the 'first gay superhero' phrase doesn't even specifically refer to comic books, I'm not sure the first gay superhero wasn't Achilles, from three thousand years ago.

I love media hype. And I hope Thom Creed is a raging success.

Comments

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Was Xena technically a superhero though, or just a well-skilled fighter?

I'd call her a superhero because her abilities were way above the average. Enchanced ability to fight, great strength, skill with weapons, speed - these are common superpowers. No, she didn't carry it to the extent of, say, Wonder Woman (whom she most resembles), but I think she was on that continuum.

Many superheroes don't have internal physical powers. Batman, Robin (any of the Robins) and Nightwing are simply highly trained and skilled people. Other superheroes operate with technical devices - Green Lantern's ring, Iron Man's armour - they don't have any special powers without the gadget.

For Jack, I suppose being able to kill Abaddon with life force is a superpower skill, so that counts.

I think Jack has a lot of the characteristics of a superhero. His regeneration powers are very like Wolverine's, minus the claws. I was going to say he was prettier than Wolverine, but that's only true of comic-book Wolvie - Hugh Jackman isn't bad himself.

I'd say Captain Jack has the following superpowers, skills and attributes of the typical superhero:

- the ability to revive after death
- the ability to quickly heal all wounds
- the ability not to age, or to age very slowly
- a collection of alien tech which he can adapt to his use
- knowledge of the future and future technology - information that other humans don't possess
- the ability to travel in time (when his vortex manipulator works)
- the ability to teleport (ditto)
- unusual skill with weapons (marksmanship)
- the ability to make certain aliens glow yellow when he kisses them
- the ability to resist mind-probes (cf "Greeks Bearing Gifts")
- he wears a distinctive outfit by which he can be recognized (vintage military as a sort of costume)
- he has a team, which he trains
- he lurks on rooftops - that doesn't make a man a superhero, no, but it's very typical. Along with things like being chained spread-eagled to walls, engineering high-tech gadgets, living underground, and using a name he wasn't given at birth.
- his hair and beard don't grow

Abaddon is the least of it, but yes, he showed the ability to absorb infinite amounts of strange energy. One of Gambit's powers (in X-Men) is having the ability to charm - Jack has that, too.

Jack is never described as a superhero and you certainly don't need to think of him as such if you don't want to - we all have our own parameters for definition of the term. Since I love superheroes, I like thinking of Captin Jack as one of them, too.