Homoeroticism And Super Hero Comics

By Rickey Price

on June 28, 2020

(If you are offended by the content of this article-see title– or male affection/sexuality I would suggest this isn’t the article for you. Rated MA)

Homoeroticism in comic books has been present from the beginning. As comic books started out as a children’s medium back then, any homoerotic inference came from older readers. Gay subtext in comics goes all the way back to the Golden Age of Comics with readers inferring homosexuality between super heroes and their side kicks–primarily represented by Batman and Robin–but also the all female Paradise Island. Burt Ward, TV’s Robin, mentioned in his autobiography that the relationship between Batman and Robin could be interpreted as a sexual one by some. “Real Life Super-Villain” Frederic Wertham notoriously attacked the comic book industry in his book Seduction of The Innocent. He claimed because Wonder Woman was a physically powerful and independent woman who could beat up men she was a lesbian and Batman might subvert children into homosexual fantasies. When The Comics Code Of Authority was created after comic books were put on trial in the fifties it made any mention or inference of homosexuality forbidden.

From his ground breaking announcement in Alpha Flight #106 in the nineties to his other ground breaking moment for Marvel Comics 20 years later, Northstar of the Canadian Super Group Alpha Flight has been at the forefront of LGBT representation in comics. Since Northstar first came out, the number of gay super heroes have increased in the 21st century. One of the Scarlet Witch’s sons is gay, Wiccan. He has a boyfriend, Hulkling, who is about to take center stage in Marvel’s Latest Big Event, Empyre. Moondragon has been revealed as a lesbian.

Back around the beginning of the 21st century as the internet grew and anyone could learn to do artwork on their computers, photo-manipulation became a thing. People could take a photograph and using an art program of their choice they could turn a model and turn him or her into a superhero by overlaying or painting a costume on the person. These Photomanips would then be showed off in places such as Yahoo chat groups. I made a few friends there whom I’m still friends with today on Face Book. One of these friends does some of the best super hero photomanips I’ve ever seen. Some are simply sexy men, some are a little more sexual in nature. All are fantasies of super heroes which many have fantasized as being gay. The characters in these images are a work of fan fiction and are not meant as a copyright infringement and are copyrighted by DC Comics/Warner Media and Marvel Comics/Disney. I’m very proud to present the work of James Cesena aka The iMiJ Factory!