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Topic: Jim Shooter’s views on homosexuality in comics Locked Post Reply | Post New Topic
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Michael Hunt
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 10 April 2007
Posts: 297
Posted: 10 September 2007 at 11:34am | IP Logged | 1  

Talk about forcing the character to serve your story!


*****************


You mean serve the story of RAPE -- that is what he was afraid of (Banner) -- getting raped.


I still fail to see homophobia in an anti-rape story.



edit:
(I've never read the Hulk story, by-the-way)


Edited by Michael Hunt on 10 September 2007 at 11:34am
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Joe Hollon
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Joined: 08 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 13669
Posted: 10 September 2007 at 11:34am | IP Logged | 2  

What issue did that happen in?!?!?!
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132064
Posted: 10 September 2007 at 11:39am | IP Logged | 3  

why does homosexuality need to be in comics ?

•••

Okay! As the creator of the first Gay superhero, this one I can answer.

There need to be Gays in comics because there are Gays in real life. No other reason. Same reason, in fact, that there are Blacks in comics. Asians in comics. Women and children in comics! The population of the fictional world should represent the real world.

That's why I created Northstar -- I felt the Marvel Universe needed a Gay superhero (even if I would never be allowed to say it in so many words in the comics themselves), and I felt that I should create one, rather than retrofitting an existing character.

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John Mietus
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Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 9704
Posted: 10 September 2007 at 11:42am | IP Logged | 4  

Without retrofitting an existing character? Not trying to stir up anything, JB,
but I just want to clarify -- I thought you decided to make Northstar gay
when you were given the assignment to do Alpha Flight as a comic, and that
it hadn't occurred to you when you created him in X-Men. Was I mistaken?
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Christopher Alan Miller
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Joined: 26 October 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 2787
Posted: 10 September 2007 at 11:42am | IP Logged | 5  

Colossus is gay? Are you serious?
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Victor Rodgers
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 26 December 2004
Posts: 3508
Posted: 10 September 2007 at 11:44am | IP Logged | 6  

Banner being too scared too turn into the Hulk seems odd. I mean the rush you get from anger and the rush you get from fear are basically the same. I would think scared Banner turns into the Hulk faster than pissed Banner.

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Michael Hunt
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 10 April 2007
Posts: 297
Posted: 10 September 2007 at 11:44am | IP Logged | 7  

I agree (with you, JB) -- I guess my question should be more "how many gay superheroes do we need?"

to which the answer could be the same -- "as many as is representative of the public"


Which leads me to my point about Shooter -- he may be a homophobe - or he may be a good editor looking out for sales figures.   I tend to think this scenario is NOT a "chicken/egg" thing -- being a good business man doesn't mean you're making decisions based upon personal bias -- but it is cool when your good decisions reflect positively on your personal beliefs.


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Michael Hunt
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 10 April 2007
Posts: 297
Posted: 10 September 2007 at 11:45am | IP Logged | 8  

Colossus is gay? Are you serious?



YEP -- in Ultimate X-Men -- him and Northstar are banging each other.
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Bradley Dean
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 26 March 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 536
Posted: 10 September 2007 at 11:46am | IP Logged | 9  

Without retrofitting an existing character? Not trying to stir up anything, JB,
but I just want to clarify -- I thought you decided to make Northstar gay
when you were given the assignment to do Alpha Flight as a comic, and that
it hadn't occurred to you when you created him in X-Men. Was I mistaken?

-------------------------

John, the answer to your question is in the Byrne FAQ, http://www.byrnerobotics.com/FAQ/listing.asp?ID=2&T1=Que stions+about+Comic+Book+Projects#106



Edited by Bradley Dean on 10 September 2007 at 11:50am
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132064
Posted: 10 September 2007 at 11:49am | IP Logged | 10  

Without retrofitting an existing character? Not trying to stir up anything, JB, but I just want to clarify -- I thought you decided to make Northstar gay when you were given the assignment to do Alpha Flight as a comic, and that it hadn't occurred to you when you created him in X-Men. Was I mistaken?

•••

When Alpha Flight first appeared, none of them had any background.* It is true that I have said Northstar was "Gay from Day 2", in that he was not conceived as Gay -- but none of them were really conceived as anything. They were created or presented (a couple pre-existed, from my fan days) to be a team that could survive a fight with the X-Men.

When they got their own title, I started coming up with backstory. That's how Walt came to be divorced, Heather was "revealed" to be from a big family, Michael had a daughter and. . . Jean-Paul became Gay.

This is, I think you will agree, a very different thing from "outing" the Beast, or Colossus, or Iceman. That's what I mean by "existing characters". Characters that have long established backstories.




*Actually, I knew Jean-Marie was a split personality, tho there is no hint of it in the first appearance.

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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132064
Posted: 10 September 2007 at 11:50am | IP Logged | 11  

I guess my question should be more "how many gay superheroes do we need?"

••

Somewhere between 6 and 10%.

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John Mietus
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 9704
Posted: 10 September 2007 at 11:53am | IP Logged | 12  

 John Byrne wrote:
That's what I mean by "existing characters". Characters
that have long established backstories.


That's what I figured, based on what was on the FAQ (and thanks, Bradley --
that was, in fact, what I was referring to), but I wanted to clarify. Thanks, JB.
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