Diversity in comics has been slowly but surely improving. Not only are we seeing more women and more racially diverse characters take on leading roles, the LGBT representation has been expanding as well. Here are just SOME of the comics featuring lead characters who identify as LGBT.
Kim & Kim
Published by Black Mask Studios. Written by Magdalene Visaggio with art by Eva Cabrera
An epic tale about a bounty hunting duo, Kim and Kim follows besties Kim Q. who is trans and Kim D. who is bisexual. In an attempt to make a name for themselves as well as stick it to their parents, Kim and Kim decide to go after some high-stakes bounty, follow that up with running into fugitives and hunting a mysterious person by the name “Lady Babylon”, and Kim and Kim may have bit off a little more than they could chew. But hey, it makes it all the more entertaining for us to read! A futuristic-punk-western following 2 amazing female, LGBT characters on some crazy, extravagent adventures. What's not to love already?
Alters
Published by Aftershock. Written by Paul Jenkins with art by Leila
This is a unique super hero story about Charlie, a.k.a Charlice, who is an “Alter”. A small portion of the population is mutating, they are being altered, and they are discovering powers that could easily be wielded for good or bad. No one knows what caused it, but Charlie finds himself not only realizing he's transitioning into an Alter, but also he has begun his transition from male to female. As a civilian, she's Charlie, but as a super hero, as her true self, she is Charlice. When an incredibly powerful villain, Matter Man, begins hunting powerful Alters (such as Charlice), she must struggle as a hero and as a human to figure out who she is and what path she wants to take.
InSEXts
Published by Aftershock. Written by Marguerite Bennett with art by Ariela Kristantina.
I have talked about InSEXts before in my article featuring horror comics, but it applies here as well! The story is about Lady and Mariah, 2 women in the victorian era who are in love. But Lady is married to a crappy husband and she and Mariah cannot live happily together like they want. That is, until Mariah shares a crazy power with Lady, turning them both into something...different. A whole new can of worms (Ha. Puns.) opens though, making Lady and Mariah have to continue fighting for their child's life and the happily ever after they've been dreaming of.
The Infinite Loop
Published by IDW. Written by Pierrick Colinet with art by Elsa Charretier.
The story takes place in the future and follows a young woman named Teddy. In this future, time travel is a regular occurrence, however, it's the jobs of people like Teddy, to maintain the status quo and fix any time paradoxes. During routine check, she meets Ano. Who is both a time paradox and the woman of Teddy's dreams. So what will she choose? The love of her life, or fixing the paradox?
Red Sonja
Published by Marvel initially but was taken over by Dynamite. Written by various authors, such as Robert E. Howard, Roy Thomas, Gail Simone, Marguerite Bennett, and
So, I'll be honest, I didn't start reading Red Sonja until Gail Simone took over as the author. From what I've read about her history, it wasn't until Gail Simone that her “fluid” sexuality really became apparent. Red Sonja, at least in more modern versions, is bisexual. Well. Maybe more on the pansexual side. She doesn't have a preference whether its a man or a woman, whoever she has taken an interest in at that time is all that matters. Again, Gail Simone's revamped Red Sonja is the one I know best and is the one I prefer, so that's the one I'm mostly talking about (some facts cross over). In Simone's version, Red Sonja still loses her family, but she is not raped as in previous origins, and she is not bestowed divine powers by a goddess. Instead, she becomes the badass we know and love through her own hard work and training. Unlike previous versions, she is much more short-tempered, crude, and she drinks more alcohol and has more of a lustful nature (considering in some versions she had an oath of chastity). She is empowered as a woman in pretty much every sense you can think of.
Batwoman
Published by DC. Her first solo volume was in the New 52, from the creative team of J. H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman. She will be getting a Rebirth series in February, which will be written by Marguerite Bennett and James Tynion, with art by Steve Epting.
The Batwoman of these solo series is Kate Kane. She was a marine who was dishonorably discharged after her commander found out she was a lesbian. After that, due to her father marrying a wealthy heiress, she became a socialite. Kate had little to no direction in her life though, until one night she was saved from a mugger by Batman. After that, she decided to become a vigilante and dawn the bat-symbol, using her fortune to travel to world to train and create weaponry for herself just like Bruce Wayne did. The fact that she did this all on her own shows what an amazing and determined individual she is. Definitely one of the strongest LGBT characters out there. Plus she has a relationship with Renee Montoya (The Question), who is one of my favorite Batman characters (but she has not yet received a solo series which is why she isn't on this list). Anyway, the point is Batwoman is a kick-ass lesbian lead.
Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy
Published by DC. Harley Quinn was created and mainly written by Paul Dini and drawn by Bruce Timm, however, Karl Kesel wrote her first solo series (issues #1-38) with
Many know Harley's story, but to quickly recap: she was Doctor Harleen Quinzel, who was working with The Joker at Arkham Asylum, she fell in love with him and thus became Harley Quinn. However, following years of emotional and physical abuse, she finally broke away from the Joker and I genuinely feel that breaking away can be attributed to her growing relationship with Poison Ivy. Which is why I included them both. They have a mini series by Paul Dini together called “Harley and Ivy” where, though it's not explicit, there are definitely hints of their relationship growing into more than friendship. She and Poison Ivy are both bisexual and have an amazing friendship, that is sometimes something more, but generally they just love and support each other whether they are together or with someone else. In the DC Bombshells comic they actually share their first kiss. DAWWWHH. Their relationship is incredibly important because you can read it from the beginnings of friendship, to growing into something more. It helps with both of their character developments as well, Harley getting over a past negative relationship, and Ivy growing to have more humanity than we've seen previously (she generally prefers plants over people).
Poison Ivy received her own solo 6-issue mini series called “Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death”. It is written by Amy Chu with art by Clay Mann.
Apollo & Midnighter
Published by DC. Apollo and Midnighter were both created by Bryan Hitch and Warren Ellis. They have both been members of Stormwatch and The Authority, but Midnighter while Midnighter received a solo series, Apollo did not. They both currently have a 6-issue mini series together that began this October, titled “Midnighter and Apollo”, it is written by Steve Orlando with art by Fernando Blanco.
Apollo and Midnighter are very important LGBT characters because Apollo was among the first openly gay superheroes. They are married and they have an adopted daughter, Jenny Quantum, who is also a superhero and member of Stormwatch. They're so freaking cute. They're also total opposites in many ways. Midnighter is brash and violent while Apollo is much more....majestic. But this just makes the two compliment each other even more.
Wonder Woman
Published by DC. Wonder Woman comics recently celebrated their 75th year! Yay! So, needless to say, she has had a lot of different authors and artists. She was created by William Moulton Marston, Harry G. Peter and Elizabeth Holloway Marston. Currently, she is written by Greg Rucka with art by Liam Sharp.
Wonder Woman has never officially had a relationship with a woman. However, as Rucka recently stated, she is canonically bisexual. She was raised on Themyscira, an island of Amazon women. Just women. So, although it has not been expressly shown in comics, she is bisexual. She more likely than not had relationships with other women as these Amazonian women believe in having a happy and fulfilled life, that includes romance and sex. She has been depicted as officiating a same-sex marriage in Sensation Comics (2016) #48, and she has always been a character advocating women's rights, including consensual sex with other women. In her current Rebirth series, we get to see more of her life on Themyscira as Wonder Woman tries to figure out what is truth and what is lies within her past.
Iceman
Published by Marvel. The versions I will be referencing are from All New X-Men #40 and Uncanny X-Men #600, which were both written by Brian Michael Bendis (love him) with art by Mahmud Asrar.
Iceman a.k.a. Bobby Drake, is a mutant and member of the X-Men. He has the ability to freeze and manipulate water vapor, also allowing him to turn his whole body into ice as a means of protection. He was revealed in All New X-Men #40 in 2015 to be gay. This was due to a comment his younger self made (there's a time paradox going on) in front of Jean Grey, who was reading his mind at the time. Later, in Uncanny X-men #600, his younger self confronts his older self, who confirms that he is gay. I included him in this list because it was recently announced that he will have his own solo series! (He did have two different 4-issue minis, one in 1984 and one in 2001). He will be the first series launching Marvel's “ResurreXion”. It will be available in Spring of 2017!
Angela: Queen of Hel
Published by Marvel. Written by Marguerite Bennett with art by Aaron Kim Jacinto and Stephanie Hans. Angela was originally created in a Spawn comic, which is published by Image, but she transitioned into Marvel comics in 2013 following the Age of Ultron events.
Angela was brought into the Marvel universe due to a rip in space and time, which pulled her out of Heaven and into Midgard, where she then made her way to Earth to seek revenge on the one who pulled her out of her dimension. Angela is the first bisexual/gay lead in Marvel comics. Although she had a clearly intimate relationship with another young woman, Sera, it was not officially confirmed until Queen of Hel #1, which is why I'm focusing on this series (though she has had others, “Angela: Asgard's Assassin” and “1602: Witch Hunter Angela”). In this series, we follow Angela on an epic journey into what is essentially “hell” as she tries to save Sera, her dearest companion, while possibly paving her way to the throne herself.
This isn't it for LGBT characters in comics, but it'd be a REALLY long list, so I hope this is sufficient for those of you interested to get started! If you like what you read, I definitely suggest doing some more research and picking up more titles. There are more than you may think, I assure you! (Some comics include: Saga, Loki, Young Avengers, The Wicked and the Divine, The Spire, plus more!)
Happy reading!
