SuperQueeros! for January 25th, 2012

So many books this week and this is the only day I'm in the office! Okay, here's a quick run down of the SuperQueeros in stores this week:

Alpha Flight #8

It's the end of the series and the resolution to the Master of the World's machinations! Will Northstar save his boo? Will Kyle have awesome robot powers now???

Justice League Dark #5

Now that Constantine is working with the full team of the JLD will they be able to take out Enchantress? And at what cost??

Daken: Dark Wolverine #20

Resolution for the Donna Kiel relationship! Will Daken be redeemed? Gosh, I sure hope not!

Teen Titans #5

TAKE DOWN SUPERBOY! Can the team beat their own powerhouse? And is Skitter going to be the deus ex machina???

X-Men: Legacy #261

Anole has a cameo AND a line! In a really cute Blindfold scene! And Gambit is a jerk (of course).

SuperQueeros! for April 13th, 2011

I threw a lesbian under the bus!!! Victoria Hand has been one of my favorite queer Marvel characters ever since she came out during Dark Avengers, but I forgot that she's the new team handler for the New Avengers!! I've corrected that this week, but don't forget to pick up your post-Siege The New Avengers back issues if you love you some V. Hand! Other queers this week:

Adventure Comics #525

The misadventures of Gravity Kid and Power Boy, as well as of the not-gay Legionnaires in-training, continue! Basically Grav Kid and the freshmen are being schooled by the villains who took out Chemical Kid's family while Power Boy and the upperclassmen are dispatched to check up on them (if I remember correctly...). ANYWAY, FINGERS CROSSED FOR BOY KISSES!!!

Daken: Dark Wolverine #8

So the big Wolvie-spin-off-character fight went down last issue of X-23 and this week X-23 and Daken are teaming up! Of course, I'm sure Daken has some nefarious ulterior motive, because he's Daken and that's why we love 'im. Gambit guest stars as well, so FINGERS CROSSED FOR ("The-guards-are-coming-quick-kiss-me-so-they-don't-recognize-us,-Gambit!"-whispered-Daken) BOY KISSES!

The New Avengers #11

Victoria! I apologize for not remembering to include your exploits as an honest-to-goodness superqueero! You are patently awesome, especially due to your forward-thinking highlights!!! Anyway, I hear Mockingbird got stomped by "Superia" or something? Anyway, you should probably go save her or whatever, which shouldn't be a problem because you are LEZ-CREDIBLE. #ladykisses

X-Men: Legacy #247

Karma cameos, so it counts! Since Legion has a big role this issue/reality, maybe she'll help calm him again...? Anyway, we finally find out who X is (if not how) and Kitty gets to be super bad-@$$:

Which makes up for her being SO CRAP in the Uncanny X-Men issue this week:

YOU CAN'T THROW SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN'T TOUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CORRECTION: Kitty Pryde is never crap? Sure she has a bubble suit that adheres to her intagible body (WTF?) BUT she can't phase it! She can phase THROUGH it (see this week's issue of UXM), but this is not the "Let's give Arsenal a robot arm" of convenient comic book fixes! It's more like the "Let's give Arsenal a prosthetic arm" of convenient comic book fixes; there is still the potential for realistic angst!!!!!! #IAmStillAHappyCamper

SuperQueeros! for March 9th, 2011

Superqueeros! is a list of comics published this week that feature LGBTetc. characters. As always, let me know if I've missed anybody!

But first a note: evidently, Veronica #205 is shipping this week, not last week. Kevin Keller!

X-Men: Legacy #246

Age of X Karma (who looks like a silver version of Ruby Rose) is back as she and her fellow killers, the New Mutants Moonstar, Warlock, Sunspot, Magma, and Dust, work to track down Legacy a.k.a. Reaper a.k.a. Rogue. Hopefully we'll get some epic battling on her part, given that this version of Karma evidently has no ethical qualms with unleashing her abilities. Also, Anole appears as an unconscious body on page two so... yay?

Wonder Woman #608

Wonder Woman takes on Cheetah and Silver Swan! Jason and I have talked about how much we LOVE this reimagining of the WW rogues gallery, and Silver Swan seems like she would make an AWESOME addition, but she wasn't one of the three recreated villains from two issues ago. Still, the solicit says she'll be in the book fighting Wonder Woman, so it looks like were getting Silver Swan's origin this issue too!

Superqueeros! for December 22nd, 2010

HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND KWANZAA!!!!!! The comic book industry can sense when you're about to get gift cards to your local comic book store (call it a Spectacular Spider-Man Sense) and so they're throwing caution to the wind and inundating the market with new comics on Wednesday. I'm serious: things about the get crazy. So who's gay on Wednesday?

Wildcats #30

Did you read The Authority #29? Do you know who the new Doctor is? Are you ready for The End of All Things (Wildstorm)? This is THE ISSUE, guys! Apocalypse came to Wildstorm and it's about to be retconned, solved, or otherwise resolved as we meet the fastest Doctor ever to hold the title! Expect Rainmaker, Apollo, and Midnighter cameos, as well as EVERY OTHER WILDSTORM CHARACTER EVER. If Christmas is about family, then this is the most Christmas-y comic you'll read this month! #soexcited

New Mutants #20

TEAM UP. We all know that Karma is the most important New Mutant (certainly the most interesting), but FINALLY the universe agrees. With every other New Mutant held captive by the Purgatory Babies, Karma and Magik are going to rally Utopia and save their friends! Well, unless they're too late. Then the world is going to end. And in Marvel there's no Doctor to fix everything when your planet gets turned into a hell-dimension. #whoops!

Uncanny X-Men #531

Quarantine continues! E'erybody on Utopia is sick! Wolvie is DYING! Rockslide is... basically over? How does a psychic entity get sick again? PLOT HOLES ASIDE, Northstar is going to be KICKING BUTT this month! As one of the 5 X-men outside of the quarantine, he, Dazzler, Pixie, Angel, and Storm are going to be putting the smack down on Sublime's latest home-made mutants and, hopefully, the Collective Man! People have criticized this storyline as being, basically, exactly what Grant Morrison did during New X-Men, to which I say: New X-Men was AMAZING!!!!! Don't knock a working formula! And buy this book, even though Greg Land is doing the art!

Daken: Dark Wolverine #4

Okay, so this book is called "Daken: Dark Wolverine" but, according to the solicit, Daken is going to be forging a new identity after faking his death last issue? Meaning that this comic book is about to NOT be about Daken, since he's presumably going to be selecting a new moniker, and is DEFINITELY not about "Dark Wolverine" (sooo 2009) ? So why does it retain the outdated name? PLOT HOLES ASIDE, Marjorie Liu and Daniel Way rock at writing, so this is going to be a ball-busting issue no matter who it stars. I wonder if Daken's going to refrain from using his claws in his new identity? The cover shows him fighting the FF; will Johnny et al. be able to recognize their former friend? And what is the next step in Daken's plan for world conquest???

Honorable Mentions after the cut!

Wonder Woman #605

Diana vs The Morrigan! The solicit tells us that Diana is facing off against one of the three Morrigan, and Wikipedia tells us that there is no definitive story to that. Evidently in Latin texts morrigans are scary evil monster ladies and in Ireland it's a proper noun that refers to either a war goddess or a trio of goddesses. Does this mean that for JMS's Wonder Woman she's defending her people and her religion against the very real attacks on them by other pantheons? There are more questions than answers here, but never have I been more excited for a Wonder Woman book than this month! Irish goddesses fighting the champion of the Greeks? This is what comics were made for!

X-Men: Legacy #243

As Jason noted, Bling! is one of the X-Men within the radius of Karima's wrath, so even though this book seems to be focusing more on Hope helping Julian deal with the anger he has over loosing his arms we may get some queer cameos! Also, Mike Carey is a god amongst scribes.

X-Men #6

This is the ultimate issue of X-men vs. Vampires! It's the mutants against Dracula, perhaps one of the X-Men's most classic conflicts. But this time there's an additional element: Jubilee is among the enemy! How will the X-men save one of their own without losing any more compatriots??? And will Bling! get to do some slaying???? #ToughSkinGang

SuperQueeros! for October 27th, 2010

X-Men: Curse of the Mutants - X-Men vs. Vampires #2

KARMA STORY! The traditional annual collection of X-Men character vignettes has rolled around to it's requisite queer story, and it's about KARMA! I've definitely been missing my monthly Karma-inclusive stories ever since New Mutants started ignoring its X-men to focus on Project Purgatory, so this is going to be like a rainstorm in the desert for me! And it's about her being in Weight Watchers (BEST NOD TO THE 80s EVER) and having a metal leg (THANK YOU FOR FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGING IT) and checking out the sexy ladies! So basically it's amazing. #getit

X-Men: Legacy #241

The conclusion to the Dubai story! Anole + Loa + butt-kicking = AWESOME. I can't wait to see what happens to Luz (is she going to become a cast member for the new book? Is she going to be an X-Ally, thereby mitigating or ending the threat of the Children of the Vault?) and how Magneto and Rogue end their trip together. I figure that they won't hate each other, given that Magneto is getting his own continuing series, but I'm also hoping they don't hook-up. Now that Rogue can control her powers she should go find some GOOD love interests! #Anole!!!

Wildcats #28

So the world is basically exploding around our heroes right now as Gaia tries to kill everything, Ladytron has resurrected a robot army to take on the Spirit of the Earth, and those not on damage control are trying to find a new Doctor quickly who can cure the planet and set things to rights. Midnighter has so far been MIA in this new storyline, but Apollo is at ground zero, fighting to keep Gaia at bay. Hopefully we'll get some character development for him this issue? #notlikely

JSA #44

New creative team!!! Obsidian isn't featured on the cover or the variant cover, so I'm not holding my breath for his inclusion in this title, but it was his last known team affiliation. Hopefully he's included and used, and the spotlight he and his father had last issue wasn't a farewell issue to placate fanboys and fangirls. #fingerscrossed

Wonder Woman #604

AWESOME! Another story arc resolution this week as JMS's first Wonder Woman tale closes out. NewDiana faces down the man who re-wrote reality and turned her world (and ours!) upside-down! I don't usually advocate misandry but, Diana, KICK HIM IN THE BALLS!

Madame Xanadu #28

It's the last of the Five Senses as Xanadu helps a chibopath (see Chew) who's starving from all the stories she's eating! MX continues to be a very entertaining read, though I'm not sure what aspect made it a GLAAD nominee last year... ALSO: next month is THE SIXTH SENSE!!!!!!!!

SuperQueeros! for September 29th, 2010

A much better showing this week when compared to last: two clans of ambiguously bi/gay women, two out and proud gay supes, and TORCHWOOD!

Torchwood #3

GARETH DAVID-LLOYD WROTE THE FIRST STORY! Everyone done swooning? Good: The tale involves Ianto (solo adventure?) meeting "a beautiful, deadly woman who may upend his life." So this looks like a prequel, but is it a pre-Lisa-the-Cyberwoman story or post-Cyberwoman? Is Ianto working for Torchwood One, or is this even earlier? There's only one way to find out! #buyit

(Also, Broken Part 3 is the back-up story and I think we are all eager for some inappropriately timed Ianto-Jack flirting!)

Wonder Woman #603

Last month JMS surprised us with one of the most kick-butt Wonder Woman stories I've read in a long while, and this month he adds to the growing mythology by introducing the monstrous Keres to fight Diana. Check out their wiki article here. Very exciting, no? Despite not featuring Anole, Ianto, or any visibly queer characters, this book is one of my most anticipated this month! #excited

X-Men: Legacy #240

The penultimate issue of the Dubai storyline, guest starring Anole! This'll mostly be watching Anole get his butt handed to him by the Children of the Vault until Luz steps in to save 'im (and the rest of the team), but any time in the spotlight is good time in the spotlight! Plus, maybe we'll get to see his camouflage powers interacting with Luz's light manipulation abilities!

JSA #43

Post-JLA crossover, Obsidian and his dad deal with the fall out. I am SO excited to finally get an Obsidian-centric story! Hopefully it will be a good one: I don't really know Obsidian beyond his sexuality, and, especially after putting him through the ringer, I think this book has an opportunity to redefine him as a person and a superhero. Also, maybe we will see something about his boyfriend?????

GCS #16

AWESOME CROSSOVER ALERT! Zatanna and Talia Al Ghul guest star as Catwoman is kidnapped, probably for her knowledge of Batman's identity. The December solicits are hinting at a potential secret tearing apart the Sirens: could this storyline - and Batman's impending return - be the end of this incarnation of the GCS??? It all starts here, folks!

SuperQueeros! for August 25th, 2010

I'm a proponent of using bisexuality to make storyline-flexible queer characters. By definition the lesbian and gay communities' romantic dramas are insular and often disconnected from our day-to-day interactions with the (majority straight) rest of the world. IMO, bisexuality is a great way to let new and old characters have a queer storyline, while not invalidating past romances or forbidding future non-queer couplings. Plus it fights bi-phobia! And if this week is any indication, it's a track that a few good writers are taking advantage of:

Dark Wolverine #90

It's the end of Dark Wolverine! Well, this series, at least! Stay tuned, though, as Daken moves from one eponymous solo series to another with next month's launch of Daken: Dark Wolverine #1!! (Oh, right, this month: find out how the "Dark Wolverine" segment of Daken's life ends! He totally flirts with a gay anti-mutant activist in the preview, so #hot and #thought-provoking!)

X-Factor #208

Rahne's back! And like any good storyline featuring pregnancy and bisexuality (#oxymoron) we get a pregnant-wolf-woman vs. cloned-alien-swordmaster betch-fight! It'll be like a flashback to Rahne's X-Force days (last month?), but with better writing! And, side note, isn't this baby NOT Rictor's? Like, isn't it some Norse wolf-god's spawnling? Layla Miller: Puppy Edition, subtitle: "I Smell Stuff"? Meaning Rahne should stick with her baby wolf-daddy, not break up my longest fan 'ship?

Anyway, back to the main plot, stuff with the Norse hell goddess Hela is going down or something. To paraphrase Pam Ravenscroft "Blah, blah, Norse emergency, blah."

X-Men: Legacy #239

ANOLE!!!!!!! LOA!!!!!!!!!!! KILLING ROBOTS!!!!!!! It's like the good old days of Kitty phasing through Sentinels all over again, but with more explosions and punching! This is one of my fav books on the market today, and it has Anole AND Rogue! (And Magneto and Loa and Indra!) #buyit

Wildcats #26

Blah, blah, magic emergency, blah. Apollo + Midnighter are in this book! They're not listed in the solicitation, and with a team this expansive they might not be in the book at all, but get it anyway! Because gay marriage is teh cutexorz!!!!!

Justice League of America #48

The end of the Starheart saga! A White Lantern reveal!!! Some Obsidian/Starman make outs? I don't think I remembered to get this month's issue of the JSA, but when last I left our gay boy and bi boy one was evil and one was unconscious. Plus they'll have to finish fighting Obsidian's dad before they can "have each other's adopted babies," but I've still got my fingers crossed! #wallacewellsrocks

Wonder Woman #602

Blah, blah, amazon-rape secrets, blah. Wonder Woman kicks some more guyz and stuff and finds out some scary thingz. I'm buying it, but there's been no indication of queerness, just butt-kicking. And the weirdest woman-in-the-refrigerator storyline evar. But what they're doing with an iconic character is interesting, if fated to be as fleeting as Superman's post-resurrection redesign.

Gotham City Sirens #15

Denouement and new storylines! Catwoman deals with the aftermath of her battle with her sister and Poison Ivy's new job takes an interesting turn! They say villains drive stories, and this is one of the best books out there, so Q.E.D., I guess. The Sapphism might be a little on the light side to warrant a place in this column, but by femme-fatalism (a new category of "awesome") it makes the post.

Madame Xanadu #26

Boys are smelly! Well, at least this boy is. Sammy's malodorous melodrama is the focus of this issue of the GLAAD-nominated comic. Will MX be able to help Sammy, or will this comic just stink?

SuperQueeros! for May 19th, 2010

The Who's Who of Comics' Queers (for this week ;) )!!

X-Men: Legacy #236

Maybe someone will give Karma a leg! Also, big dome, lots of killing about to start, destruction, violence, action, one of the best x-overs ever, blah, blah, blah. Let's get back to Karma! And Greymalkin. Whatever happened to him?

X-Factor #205

The Second Coming tie-in continues! Last issue saw a car full of main characters (all boys on a team with the Multiple Man) get shot to bits. Let's see if they survived (they did) and cross our fingers that Rictor gets to kick butt this issue!
Peter David is delivering a really good story with this tie-in! I was expecting some sort of lukewarm lip service to the event, but instead he's turing out one of the better X-Factor stories in the past year!

X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back #4

The end of the series! It's a little strange seeing Nightcrawler in action in the pages of this book, all the while knowing that he's good and gone in the main titles. Like seeing a blue, furry ghost. But his team up with Frost, Psylocke, Santos, and Anole unites some of the best X-characters under an author who is proving her mettle issue after issue! And ANOLE!

Justice League of America #45

Both Starman and Obsidian in one book!!! Yes, even though Obsidian is still trapped in an egg (WHAT?) in his own title, during the JSA's guest stint in the current JLA storyline he's alive and kickin' and trying to save his dad from being absorbed by his newly resurrected twin sister (don't ask)! Plus, with Todd's fine-ness and Starman's alien attraction to both genders (and shirtless-ness!), maybe there will be some cute flirt-y scenes during the Starheart catastrophe! #silverlining

Superqueeros! for December 23rd, 2009

You know the schtick: I scour the solicitations each week for LGBTT-SAP...etc. characters and you guys make your pink dollar known. If you let me know when I've missed somebody, I'll edit the entry faster than Barry Allen on a sugar high!

Speaking of lesbians, this is Ladies Week at your comic book store! Hot on the heels of Bling!'s coming out last week in the pages of X-Men: Legacy, we have a jumbo week of SIX queer and queer-adjacent titles, all of whom heavily feature our female forces. So let's see who's gaying it up this week:

Detective Comics #860

The end of an era!!! This is the last issue of J.H. Williams III's AMAZING run on the interiors of this book, so if you haven't picked up a copy yet, this is your last chance (before the trade)! And for those of us who are now devout Williams-ites, make sure you don't miss out on what is sure to be another stunning issue. Batwoman dons her costume for the first time in this, the third piece of her origin story. My prediction? AWESOME. And for those of you still weeping over Williams' departure, rest assured that he'll be doing the cover art well into 2010, if not longer. Just think of him as Kate Kane's Jo Chen. #artistgasm

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow (One-Shot)

Speaking of Jo Chen, she's got half the covers of this month's BtVS issue, a Willow one-shot! I didn't use it on the side bar because I couldn't find a small version of it online, but rest assured that there is plenty of snake-goddess-on-Willow action basically everywhere in the book. Willow has gone through some of the most drastic changes (or at least drastically mysterious) since the end of season 7 and it's in this issue that we get some answers. I am more turned on by the prospect of this issue than if I woke up next to X-Factor's Rictor! #notreally #omgwillow!!!

New Mutants #8

Necrosha is scary! It's the New Mutants + Warlock (+ Doug?) vs. The Hellions + Feral!!!?? (+ Doug?) in the ultimate issue of the New Mutants' run in the Necrosha event. As a book whose characters have a history of tying up their loose storylines with angst-y, explosive deaths, this event is working the C-list cameos like there's no tomorrow and it is BETCHIN'. Expect blood, fire, resurrection, death, and Catseye! #fierce

Wonder Woman #39

Oh Gail Simone. Why are you so amazing? Evidently basically everyone in this book is a liiittle gay plus we get an explanation of Wonder Woman's new powers (wikipedia is failing me on this so much rgt now!) and a reveal of her newest nemesis! All in all, I think this is gonna be a rawkin' issue and, given Simone's penchant for working half-naked beefcake into her work, INFINITELY rewarding! #awesomecovertoo

X-Men: Legacy #231

DESTINY!!!!!!!!!!! Man, this week does not let up with the heavy hitter lesbians, does it? Destiny is far and away the best conceptualized, best written, and most mysterious lesbian character besides Batwoman (imo) and guess what: she's back! Expect three issues of tender moments and all-out brawls as Destiny works her way out of Selene's clutches to protect her daughter, Rogue. And, given Carey's consistent use of queer characters as guest stars, expect some cameos from your fav LGBT muties. #anissueofonlyanoleplz #DESTINY

Gotham City Sirens #7

I debate every month whether to add this title, but I've read some recent reviews that have been pretty positive and the three-issue panorama cover is BEAUTIFUL, so I'm giving Harley and Ivy the last slot in this week's Superqueeros. The focus has been on Harley for the past few issues, but now it's time for a little Selina and that is always #hawt!