SuperQueeros! for September 26th, 2012

Last month saw the birth of a new SuperQueero in the form of Captain James Howlett (what's up with these space-time-jumping captains, eh?) and this month we (hopefully!) get to find out if DCnU John Constantine has as fluid of a sexuality as his Vertigo counterpart!

Cowboys Are Frequently
Secretly Fond of Each Other

X-treme X-men #4

After last month's reveal of Captain Howlett's feelings for his dimension's Hercules I have a lot of questions! Luckily, it looks like this week we're going to get some answers: The X-treme Xavier Hunters (too soon, Marvel) are heading to a dimension that looks a lot like Howlett's past, including a younger, twinkier version of himself. With the opportunity to show baby-James that it really does get better, will the Captain help his younger self vanquish some foes? Or maybe capture someone's heart??? Hopefully we'll get both!!

Angel and Faith #14

Hey, guys, have Angel, Faith, and Connor ever met Dark Willow? I mean, Angel has definitely met Vampire Willow, but there were no crossovers in Season 6 and Angel was a baddie in Season 8, so... I don't think anyone of these n00bs knows what "their Willow on magic" looks like. Well now that they brought Wills to a hell dimension and juiced her up on some native pixie juice they are definitely going to become very well acquainted with the dark master of the Buffy-verse! The only questions are: Will they be able to bring back good Will?  Will she regain her new magics when she leaves Quor'toth? And will she manage to kill off Connor before she becomes a goody-goody again???

Justice League Dark #0

THIS IS THE DECIDING ISSUE! Yes, I have drawn a line in the sand. This issue focuses on John Constantine's origin and to me this story can only have one of two possible outcomes. The first is that they drop some sort of reference to John having a past same-sex relationship, or a queer identity, and I become a life-long DCnU-Constantine fan. The second option is that they make no mention of John being anything other than straight, or dismiss it with some sort "it was a phase" line, in which case I'm droppin' JC-fandom like a hot, surly potato! So, Mr. Lemire, in the words of RuPaul, "Don't f*** it up!"

Teen Titans #0

Red Robin's new origin. Yaaaaaawn... But, we also get Skitter and Bunker's origins, which is a much more exciting prospect! I'm continually pissed that the Karmas, Xavins, and Skitters of the world get beaten up, "killed", and written off of books because people don't want to write them. So I'm hoping that this issue will shed some light on the mysterious origin of Skitter's powers and set the stage for her triumphal return to the Teen Titans! And, on the 'queero side of things, maybe we'll get the reveal of Bunker's boyfriend!!

Astonishing X-Men #54

Woooo! Karma's on the cover!!! Maybe she will even do something this issue! And by "do something" I mean "kick butt", not "be used like a puppet by a super-villain (even if that super-villain is another API woman)". Because I'm tired of it being otherwise!!! Oh, and Northstar will probs continue to be awesome while wrecking his marriage.

BETCH Alert: General Howlett

The betches are coming out of the woodwork nowadays! The ever affable (and my personal crush) Greg Pak (credits include World War Hulk, Phoenix: Endsong, Alpha Flight, etc.) in the latest issue of X-Treme X-men that General James Howlett, the Wolverine of Earth 208, hinted at a relationship between Howlett and his universe's Hercules. Now, Hercules has already been established as being at least situationally bisexual in the 616 universe. In fact it was Greg Pak and co-writer Fred Van Lente who made Northstar/Hercules officially canon back in Hercules: Fall of an Avenger #1. So it's no surprise that Hercules would continue to be the paragon of all things Greek (including the Athenian penchant for pubescent young men) in other universes... but, at least to my knowledge, this is the first iteration of Wolverine that I know who has had an same-sex alternate universe relationship.

So, hats off to Greg Pak and his continued quest to queer the Marvel universe... one Hercules pairing at a time!

Check out scans of the reveal after the jump:

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SuperQueeros! for September 19th, 2012

At Dragon Con this year I went to an academic analysis of the racial make-up of and queer representation in the JL, Avengers, and X-men. The study only counted people as queer if they were explicitly so, i.e. if they were out. A lot of the books I'm covering this week don't necessarily feature explicitly queer characters, so I'll let you know who's what and why;

Batwoman #0

Kate Kane. The most awesome out lesbian ever. Sorry Ellen, sorry Karma, but Kate has a bat on the bottom of her shoe, so there's not really any competitsh. Anyway, this issue promises to reveal "how Kate shed her life of excess and disgrace." Didn't we already saw that in Detective Comics a few years ago? Eh, if there's one thing I've learned from Lost and Once Upon a Time, it's that you can always tell an audience the same backstory multiple times, as long as you tell it well. And with J.H. Williams III on EVERY aspect of this book (art, cover, AND writing), I'm pretty sure that's what we're about to get!

Avengers Academy #37

It's the last issue in the Final Exam storyline! And with Striker (out, gay brat) permanently scarred and Lightspeed (out, bi rainbow) ever in a state of moving on, will our heroes make it out of the Academy, or stick around for its new AvX status quo?

Hellblazer #295

John Constantine definitely dated a dude for a bit. He's married to a lady these days, though, so I'm not sure whether he identifies as queer, or if I should read that label onto him since he is, in fact, fictitious and not a real person.

X-Factor #244

Rictor and Shatterstar are totes boyfriends. Maybe they will even be in this issue!

New Mutants #49

My hero, lez-brarian Karma, was killed a couple of issues ago. Since this is the second-to-last issue of this run of New Mutants, I figure they'll bring her back this month so that all the straight characters can have some denouement next month.

True Blood #5

This book is on here because it is POSSIBLE that Lafayette will make an appearance. Also, they're looking into some villain's past this issue, and I'm assuming its a vampire and that AT SOME POINT Alan Ball made him/her sex a dude/lady (in a dream or otherwise). So Laffs probs not in this issue, but somequeer might be...

Wonder Woman #0

Is Wonder Woman queer? I think it's canon that she's had lady-friends, but I also don't think she identifies as queer (do they even have a name for queer-ness on Themyscira?). So take your pick of whether or not she's a friend of, or friendly with, Sappho.

Sword of Sorcery #0

No one has told me there will be queers in this book, but if there are no gays in "Gemworld" then there is no justice! #fingerscrossed

SuperQueeros for September 12th, 2012

The SuperQueeros this week are mostly speculation on my part, so I'll arrange them in order of likelihood:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9: Freefall #13

This one is first because I 100% know that Kennedy will be in it. I love that the move to comics has really helped the queer-Buffyverse thrive, including bringing us a new gay male slayer next month! Now, while Billy isn't in this issue, a resolution to last month's CRAZY cliffhanger is! Will Buffy's demon pal really sell her out to Wolfram& Hart? Will Buffy and Kennedy be able to take out Facebook once and for all??? Will their client have any role in this story???

Honestly guys, I am loving this title right now. And I was never the biggest Kennedy fan, but she is so dang awesome in the comic book! Check it out.

Uncanny X-Force #31

Wolvie et al. are back in 616 and they're headed to rescue Evan. Will they arrive in time to stop Daken and Mystique's nefarious plans? Or are Evan's halcyon school days over for good?

Ultimate Comics X-Men #16

Nick Fury and the Howling Kittens are aiming to take down the Sentinels dividing America! What with  Kitty's team wading into the former prison camps, maybe we'll get a Colossus cameo! (I kind of doubt it since they have two more issues in the arc after this one, but the story is pretty rockin', so I continue to hold out hope!)

Demon Knights #0

This issue is an origin story that does not mention Madame Xanadu, but she OOOOOLD, so she might make an appearance.

BETCH Alert: Billy the Vampire Slayer

Now, I don't think it's a far cry to say that Buffy has a strong following in the queer community. The messages of empowerment, overcoming oppression, and accepting one's full self all resonate deeply with the experience of queer kids. On top of that Buffy was a pioneer in inclusion of openly queer characters with Willow, Tara, Andrew, and Kennedy (and eventually Buffy herself in the comics). Now, with the help of the ever amazing and frequent Whedon-collaborator Jane Esponson (credits include Buffy, Battlestar Galactica, Torchwood, and Husbands), the very first gay male slayer is being introduced to the buffyverse.

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SuperQueeros! for September 5th, 2012

It's Zero Hour, folks! Yes, one year after the launch of the new 52 each title is getting an issue #0 origin issue! Not sure why DC wants to do this, other than providing the opportunity to tie up some plot holes and ret-con some of their newly minted cannons for this year's Trinity War, but at least the covers look cool!

X-Factor #234

The "Five Days That Change X-Factor" is on Day 3. Strong Guy is now Bad Guy, Darwin is a demon hunter, and Rahne is single-mom-ing it up with her pup. But that's not enough! No, the destruction of X-Factor continues this week when someone goes crazy! It's no surprise that, given that her BF is featured heavily in the post-AvX universe, the comics gods have chosen Polaris for this not-at-all-cliche fate. After all, how else could they unencumber Havok? A long distance relationship with a non-traditional, complex, and flawed set of rules permitting sexual tension with new teammates but requiring angsty, angsty monogamy? 

BWAHAHAHA, be serious! Making your ex insane is much easier!

But enough of my tomfoolery! It looks like Lorna is going to find out who her real mom is and tumble into some sort of "Lovecraftian" insanity. So she's the daughter of Magneto and Cthulu? 

Suddenly I'm more okay with this story.

Stormwatch #0

See the stuff that Stormwatch did before we joined their narrative! Since issue #1 dealt with Midnighter and Apollo's recruitment I'm not sure if we will have any sort of queer characters at all, but they are gracing the cover, so I will allow for the possibility of an appearance!

Avengers Academy #36

Striker: disfigured and undone! Hazmat: irreparably toxic! Mettle: right back to the feeling-less shell he was two months ago! And everyone else is powerless! Things do not appear to be going well, which can only mean one thing: they're about to get worse!!

Issue of Note:

The new Green Lantern is showing up in Green Lantern #0 this week!