Wednesday, May 23, 2012

New DC Gay Character Is An Iconic Male… | Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors

New DC Gay Character Is An Iconic Male… | Bleeding Cools “One of the major iconic DC characters will reveal that he is gay in a storyline in June”
Well, if DC was trying to upstage Marvel's upcoming Northstar nuptials, they did it. Now everyone's wondering who it will be.

Some are sniping at Fox News for having used the phrase "a gay Superman", replying "Of course, it's not going to be Superman." I'm not able to think of any reason why Superman would be off the table. Since the New 52 reboot, his relationship with Lois Lane has been deleted, and with it any sexual identity at all. I do recall a semi-official statement from Grant Morrison that the New 52 Superman is not able to breed with human women--but the exact reason why this might be true is open to interpretation. It's a valid alternative reason for his steadfast refusal to marry Lois all those years.

The initial interpretation of Didio's comment is that a familiar character not yet reintroduced in the New 52 will be gay. But Courtney Simmons' phrasing implies that the victim test subject character may already have been seen, just not specifically identified as gay.

I find myself longing for the good old days when comic book characters didn't have sex. That meant if it was important to you that your favorite character be gay, well, he might have been: There was no evidence to the contrary.

If we're going to play the guessing game, I don't think we can attach too much importance to Simmons' description of the character as "iconic". This is DC Marketing talking here: As far as they're concerned, they're all iconic. It could be Alfred, Zatara, or Charley "Golden Eagle" Parker. Or pretty much anybody or everybody on Earth 2.

If they are playing fair with "iconic", though, I vote for Barry Allen. The new original Silver Age Flash is badly in need of some defining characteristics, and gayness might just be the shot in the arm he needs to become an icon for the twenty-tens.

OOPS:  Apparently Scott Snyder has confirmed that it's a character we have not yet seen in the New 52. Which narrows the field quite a bit, if they are playing fair with "iconic". The most likely bet, then, is someone in Earth 2 (Flash or Green Lantern).

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

So, looks like no Black Widow movie?

She Has No Head! – Dear Marvel: Please Stop Ruining Everything | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources
In a chat afterwards, Joe told me that he’d love to make a tentpole [sic] movie with a female lead, but that he really doesn’t think there is an actress right now who could carry it, or a character that would work either.
Trivial issue: I don't get the "sic" on the phrase "tentpole movie". That's what they call a film they can build their summer release schedule around. The metaphor is that of a circus tent, with one big show and a collection of lesser attractions. Is "sic" what you say when you want to attempt a sexual entendre, but can't really think of one?

Main issue: Well, the reason I linked to Kelly Thompson's "She Has No Head!" and not the Ain't It Cool News remark that inspired it is that the smackdown has already been done. But I certainly didn't expect the Editor-in-Chief, head cheerleader and heir to Stan "the Man" Lee himself to go dissin' his own superbabes that way.

Perhaps this is the wrong time to point out that the "underwhelming" "Elektra" outgrossed either "Punisher" movie.

This is a production company that already has Scarlett Johansson (Iron Man 2, Avengers), Natalie Portman (Star Wars), Gwyneth Paltrow (won an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love), and Liv Tyler (Lord of the Rings) under contract. And Johansson is the first one they've used as anything other than a secretary.

Shall we also discuss Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Jennifer Connelly, Jessica Alba and Cobie Smulders, all of whom seem to be able to carry other people's movies and shows?

Really, dude, you're just not trying.