BT: It seems that in an industry that’s based on pop culture, that things like race and sex would take a backseat…
DM: Well think about it, half the population is female, and how many female writers are there?
BT: Right exactly what I mean. It seems like that wouldn’t be an issue in this time. It’s 2007 how can that be going on?
The character will appear in a revival of the 1950s title, "The Rawhide Kid." Marvel expects a February debut.
The new series pairs the original artist, John Severin, now 86, with Ron Zimmerman, a writer for the "Howard Stern Show."
The Rawhide Kid has been a Marvel character since the 1950s both as a main and a secondary character. However, it was not until Zimmerman approached Marvel with his idea of a homosexual Rawhide Kid that sexuality was mentioned in the discussion of the character.
and
DC Comics says the character, who was brought in originally in 1956 as Batman's love interest, will be reintroduced as a lesbian as part of an effort to diversify its superhero roster. Kane is open about her sexuality with her friends, but has not come out to her family, executive director Don Didio said.
A quick Google search for "lesbian Batwoman" drew more than half a million hits with some blog posts calling it a sign of "the steady decline of our society," and others questioning whether a 5-foot-10-inch redhead in big boots and a skin-tight suit was a role model or a straight teenagers' fantasy."
"Aquaman," RIP
Well, the latest "Aquaman" series seems to be kind of cancelled. Mixed feelings, I helped edit the series way back for the first batch of issues. Our biggest problem with Aquaman was "reimagining" him -- trying to reposition him for today's readers. There was a really brief moment when we even toyed with the idea of making him subtextually bisexual. In the end, we settled for the water hand.
But in case DC is looking for ideas on how to reboot the character, may I suggest:
