Fan Feedback On
"The Lesbian Scene"
In "Annihilation: Conquest"

On the Newsarama forums...

"Wow, a lesbian scene with lame porno-esque dialogue. "I like it when you watch my back." Poor taste IMO."

"Does anyone think that DC and Marvel are really over doing the lesbian couple thing?
Moondragon & New Quasar (was Moondragon shown as a lesbian before this pairing?)
Thunder & Grace in Outsiders
Scandal & Knockout in Secret Six
I have nothing against lesbian couples (nor am I a tongue wagging lech over them), but it almost seems like they are using lesbian couples as a "safe" way to handle gay relationships in comics."

"How is it poor taste? The characters have been clearly established previously as lesbians, and the dialogue is only lame or porno-esque if you read that into it. Taken at face value, it reads as normal, couple conversation for superheroes. She might just as well be saying "I like it when you make scrambled eggs," or, "I like it when you take the day off with me." Except in their world, what they do is watch each others' back, because they're fighting hordes of angry, malevolent aliens."

"I agree with with your last line a lot about it being the "safe way." Like, you really don't see a lot gay male couples ( Young Avengers, and Ultimate X-men, and some others being an exception). I would like to see all varieties of couples and sexualities in comics...it adds texture and substance, makes people that much more interesting, and appealing to a bigger audience. I like how Chuck Austen handled Northstar and Icemans friendship, and Northstar and the nurse Annie (i think was her name) in Uncanny X-men a bunch of years ago, I really enjoyed those scenes., and thought they added a lot in the book."

"WHO complains about attractively drawn lesbians. ..seriously. thats like saying "i dont like oxygen, or pizza" or other such beautiful things."

A few notes:

"lame porno-esque dialogue" -- oh, come on. You can totally see Black Canary saying that to Green Arrow and vice-versa.

"they are using lesbian couples as a safe way to handle gay relationships in comics" -- well...yes. But you have to start somewhere.

"you really don't see a lot gay male couples"(in comics) -- this is true.

"WHO complains about attractively drawn lesbians. ..seriously. thats like saying "i dont like oxygen, or pizza" or other such beautiful things." -- oy, vey.

with thanks to David the G. who virtually puts posts like this together for me with space enough for me to give it my rant.

A Tale Of Two Lesbian Superheroines

1. Batwoman: I gots nothing other than: stabbed, bound to a table, smoochies with new Question. Where is she now? Where is her series?

2. Quasar (Phylla-Vell): Has a four-issue limited series coming out.

Phylla who? Quasar gay what?

As I said in an earlier post, the the differences are:

* Quasar is not a top tier character -- she is second/third tier, like other gay characters such as Pied Piper, Hulkling, Holly Robinson, Moondragon, etc. So there is a feeling of more freedom to be bold, to be creative, to be more diverse. Batwoman, as "Wikipedia" describes her, is "the female counterpart to DC Comics' popular superhero Batman."

* Quasar is not "marketed" as a gay character. That is to say, there is not a publicity campaign focusing specifically on her sexuality. Like Hulkling & Wiccan from "Young Avengers," the sexual preference of the character is just one facet of a multi-layered character. In contrast, Batwoman was specifically "pushed" in the media as a lesbian character first, superheroine second.

But I think since DC initially traded off of the publicity surrounding Batwoman's sexuality, I would hope that they have a series starring her in the works soon and are ready to promote it. Yes, there may be fears that having a character so "close" to the Batman brand (if only by name and design) be gay might spark controversy -- might set off the "Boycott Tinky Winky" contingent.

On the other hand, America loves "Ellen." If the networks were chicken-shits they never would have found this out and made lots of money.

So grow a pair and give "Batwoman" the spotlight again. And give her good stories. If I want to read slash fan-fiction with a liberal dose of girl-on-girl bondage scenes I can get that for free online.