Times are changing and the entertainment industry must do its best to keep up with its consumers’ preferences. That is why DC Comics recently announced that they plan to produce their first gay superhero in a future issue, says Huffington Post.
DC Comics is famous for some of the superheroes they created so far, namely Superman and Wonder Woman. However, the company thinks these characters are too conservatory for our days, so they decided to create a gay hero. Their choice is also meant to support President Obama’s position towards gay marriage.
The American comic books firm did not provide any details in relation to the story of the character and the powers that he will possess. Their co-publisher, Dan DiDio was the only one who declared in a recent interview that the superhero is an already famous character in one of their series who was first introduced as straight, but will eventually confess his homosexual orientations.
This is not the first time when DC Comics speaks about the introduction of a gay character among their series. They also mentioned this subject last year, during an interview with “The Advocate”. Back then, DiDio stated that the company wants to introduce a gay character in order to reflect the diversity of their fan base. According to him, their audience is much wider than it used to be decades ago and DC Comics book needs to show the world that their fan base is evolving and expanding.
Archie Comics has already introduced a gay character earlier this year, that is, Kevin Keller, who is an American military officer. Keller is portrayed in the series as being married to his African-American boyfriend, Clay Walker. A similar attempt took place in 1993, but cartoonist Lynn Johnston’s gay character Lawrence from “For Better Or For Worse” sparked controversy among readers.
DC Comics thinks this change will help young people accept themselves and their sexuality. According to them, gay teenagers will gain the courage they need to acknowledge their sexuality in front of other people once they see their superheroes doing the same.
