Jyger’s Favourite 5 – 5 Favourite LGBT DC Characters

…So, I mentioned this on my Facebook, but I figured I should bring this up on my blog. Yes, I know about the horrible shooting at the Pulse gay nightclub in Florida. I don’t know all the details. What I do know is this: Around 50 people were killed in this shooting, and about 50 more were injured. I’ve heard that, in the wake of this, some people have chosen to put their own projects on indefinite hold. However, I’ve instead opted not to. On the contrary, I feel it necessary to continue my work as a form of entertainment and escapism for anyone affected by this tragedy. In fact, because the LGBT community has been the target of a lot of hate as of late, culminating in this attack, I’ve decided to do some LGBT related articles, starting with this one. It’s no secret that I love lots of diversity in comics, and while DC has kinda failed from time to time to get it right, there ARE a number of gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, and even asexual characters among their vast line-up. But who are my personal favourites? Well, let’s find out. Here are my 5 Favourite LGBT DC Characters.

#1 – Jackson Hyde, AKA Aqualad

I’ve actually heard that the staff of the Young Justice cartoon claimed that Jackson was “not straight”, and that’s where he made his first appearances, so no, DC Rebirth’s outing him isn’t necessarily a retcon…I think. I’m gonna get into this when I review DC Universe Rebirth #1, but the thing is, the implication some people are taking from his scene in the book is that he’s gay. However, I’m pretty sure the intent with him prior was that he was bi, not gay, so I’m hoping they stick with that. Regardless, I really like Aqualad. His position in the Aquaman stories is complex, but in a good way, he’s got a kickass power-set and a usually level-headed demeanor (at least in the show, I haven’t read much of his appearances in the comics), and I’m glad to see him making his return. I seem to recall hearing once that he was originally supposed to join the Teen Titans in the New 52, but it never came to be, and considering how the team did in that era, might be for the better that he didn’t. Still, this DOES make me wonder if he’ll either join the Titans in the Rebirth era, or perhaps be part of a new Young Justice team. And considering how many people would like to see a return of the Young Justice TV series, honestly, I’d go with the latter as a means to either push that idea or give the fans clamoring for it a consolation prize.

#2 – Pamela Isley, AKA Poison Ivy

Honestly, is anyone REALLY shocked? And yes, for the record, Pamela’s bisexuality has been made canon. Granted, it’s in a book I don’t much care for, and the writers don’t always seem to get her all that well, but I appreciate the fact that they made clear what many of us assumed for a while now. I remember for years thinking it already WAS established canon, actually. But anyway, Poison Ivy is a character who has a lot of layers to her. She suffers from seasonal affective disorder, which can sometimes undermine her better judgment and brilliant mind, and she’s been known to…well, let’s call a spade a spade, she kills people. However, she really DOES care for the planet, as most of her criminal endeavors over the years have been to stop people from polluting or otherwise mistreating it, and to those who think she doesn’t care about human beings, she once protected a park full of orphaned children. No one told her to, she just did it because she identified with their trauma and because it was the right thing to do. She once gave up her powers because she was afraid it might be killing them. So yeah, she IS a good person deep down. Just…don’t ever piss her off, and in the words of Captain Planet, protect the environment, or she’ll fucking kill you. 😛

#3 – Katherine Kane, AKA Batwoman

History’s a funny thing, isn’t it? The original Batwoman was created specifically to be Batman’s love interest as a means of disproving concerns that he was gay for Robin. 50 years later, the character was reintroduced as a lesbian, and is actually Bruce’s cousin. And frankly, all the better in my opinion, as she’s arguably the single most high-profile LGBT superhero in DC’s entire roster, and is currently Batman’s equal in his new boot camp in Detective Comics. Also, her existence provides more of something Batman is lacking: Family. While he’s brought in wards and made plenty of allies, we don’t see a lot of his surviving blood relatives. I think right now, off the top of my head, there’s Kate, her dad, her sister, and Bruce’s son, Damian, and alternate Earth daughter, Helena. That’s it. And while there’s more than a lot different about Bruce and Kate in their personalities and approaches to crime fighting, there’s also a lot that’s the same, which may be the real reason they haven’t always gotten along together that great as superheroes. Oh, and in Batman: Bad Blood, she used guns, and I’m not a big fan of that, but it at least makes sense with her military training, and she DID switch her live rounds for rubber bullets by the end, so I can tolerate it and still like her in that movie, unlike some other things in it, but let’s not go there…

#4 – Miguel Barragan, AKA Bunker

…Okay, I’m gonna admit to something that people might find a bit strange to hear come out of my mouth, and I understand that. Frankly, it baffles me a bit, too. But, having thought about it for a while, and looking back over the character’s history, I’ve come to a conclusion: Scott Lobdell wrote Bunker best so far. He was optimistic, entertaining, and just outright FUN. I don’t know what they were trying to do with him in the new book, but he wasn’t what I’d necessarily call “fun”. In fact, he kinda had an attitude that rubbed me the wrong way, at least in comparison to how I knew him to be prior. I hope if he comes back in Rebirth, he more resembles his previous personality. Also, I gotta wonder about something: As I said before, Aqualad was originally rumoured to be joining the Teen Titans in the New 52. Now, we’ve met Bunker’s boyfriend, and he’s not Jackson, but I can’t help but wonder if the original intent was for Jackson to be Bunker’s boyfriend and be on the team? Food for thought is all I’m saying.

#5 – Harleen Quinzel, AKA Harley Quinn

Again, like Ivy, Harley Quinn has been confirmed to be bisexual by the writers of her book, so she counts. And, like I said before, I honestly thought she already WAS confirmed to be a while ago, and I have no idea why it took anyone from DC so long to finally let that particular cat (or hyena, as it were) out of the bag. Now, maybe it was a concern that such might be controversial, but lemme ask you something: Which is the more controversial thing to do with a character? To have Harley be bisexual, or to have her be in a long-term abusive relationship with a killer clown, and have her get the shit kicked outta her multiple times, once or twice even in a cartoon show? And I’m not saying they shouldn’t have done that, as it was an intriguing look into abusive relationships and twisted psyches, while also serving as a cautionary tale. I’m just saying, once you’ve crossed that line, how is this any worse? Regardless, it’s out in the open now, with no going back, though I have my doubts they’ll reference that in DC Super Hero Girls. lol

Hmm, y’know, while I like this list, I feel like there are others I should at least mention… … …Ah, screw it, here’s a collage of some of my other favourite confirmed LGBT characters in DC Comics, so no Wonder Woman since DC’s never made it 100% clear about her. lol

Anyway, be sure to leave your own favourites in the comments, OR let me know if there’s anyone else you’d like to see officially come out at DC these days. Ja né!

How Would I Rebuild The DC Universe From Scratch? – Teen Titans (Robin, Wonder Girl, Bunker, And More)

Well, welcome back to my own personal Put Up Or Shut Up moment for comics, How Would I Rebuild The DC Universe From Scratch. Granted, I may not be the best person to make such judgements, since apparently DC Comics is meant for 45 year olds, but this is just my own personal take on it. This time around, I thought I’d take a closer look at the members of one of my favourite superhero teams of all time, who I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up writing a fic about in the future…

Now, because a lot of these are known primarily for being Teen Titans, and/or for being sidekicks to other superheroes, not all of ’em have logos, so I’ll be using pictures. With that said, let’s start with who is usually considered the leader…

Robin

As I mentioned before, I’d naturally start with Dick Grayson as Robin. However, following his eventual transformation to Nightwing, I’d probably do as the Young Justice cartoon apparently did and skip over Jason Todd in favour of probably my favourite Robin of all time, Tim Drake. Now, that’s not to say that I would never involve Jason Todd, just not as Robin. Why? Well, for starters, I’m not exactly a huge fan of Jason Todd and what DC continues to try to do with him. Second, like I said, I prefer Tim Drake as Robin (and yes, he WAS Robin, I don’t care what anyone says. I don’t even mind calling him Red Robin, I just hate that DC insists he was never Robin). Now, would I put the mantle on others like Stephanie Brown and Damian Wayne later on? I dunno yet. Either way, though, Dick would be the leader of the team, though would often-times confer to this next individual…

Cyborg

I already covered most of what I’d do with Cyborg, but at the same time, I think I’d want him to act as a sort of mentor to the Titans. He’d be in charge of training them, putting together their base and equipment, etc. He might occasionally butt heads with Robin over leadership decisions, but otherwise would be friends.

Wonder Girl

Yes, I know that’s Donna Troy. Sorry to Cassie fans, and I MIGHT eventually show her some love too, but frankly, I just prefer Donna. As for her origin (hoo boy, Donna Troy’s origin), I’d probably just go with the story where she’s a mirror duplicate of Wonder Woman as a teenager, though I’d put her in the black costume with the blue stars. It’s just my personal favourite look for her. Otherwise, her role would be something similar to what Superboy’s was in the Young Justice cartoon, though with a better relationship with her counterpart. Finally, I think I’d want her to have a silver lasso as opposed to Wonder Woman’s golden lasso.

Bunker

Y’know, much as I like to rag on Scott Lobdell from time to time, one thing I can thank him for is for intentionally making Bunker and his back-story completely angst free. And trust me, you have no idea how much I appreciate that, given the status quo of DC Superhero angst these days. So yeah, Miguel’s personality? Perfect. His powers? Pretty awesome. The only thing I’d change about him is his costume’s colour-scheme. I’d change it to violet and some other colour, like green or black. I just don’t like that sort of reddish-purple that goes down the middle of his mask and across the right side of his costume. Maybe it just bugs me because, in the comics, he’s on a team brought to you by the colours red, yellow, and brown, but it’s always bugged me.

Jesse Quick

Yeah, with enough characters in other colours, I can let Jesse Quick keep her normal red and yellow. 🙂 Also, as far as why I picked Jesse Quick over Bart Allen, it’s two-fold. One is that I already picked Wally West over Barry Allen to be The Flash, and two is that I’d want a more diverse team. After all, Jesse can not only tap into the Speed Force, but she also inherits her mother’s enhanced strength and stamina. As for her back-story, pretty much the same, minus the affair with her mother’s younger fiancée, because oh dear GOD that was stupid. Speaking of which, she’d also have the costume she wore in the earlier issues of The Titans, AKA Lewis Lovhaug‘s favourite comic book series ever. I just like it a lot, and find her other costumes to be kinda…eh.

Aqualad

No offence to Garth (in fact, far from it, I think I’d rather have Garth as Tempest), but Kaldur’ahm would be the Aqualad of this team, likely in his Young Justice TV show appearance (although I’d change the shade of red to a more orange tone) and power-set. However, to keep things from getting overly repetitive, I think I would kinda want him to be the sort-of Sixth Ranger member of the group (look it up on TV Tropes). Still, Kaldur would be the serious one, and would pretty much play designated driver to some of the antics the rest of the team might occasionally get up to.

Anyway, that’s it for the Teen Titans. Next time, I talk more about the villains, specifically who faces whom. Ja né!

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