Cultural Issues in Comics

Comic books have long been thought of as, “funny books," a term my father still uses to describe them. But comic books have come a long way in terms of their content and how they address the issues of society today. Some are meant as commentary, others plot devices, and still there are those that try to make us think, a lofty goal as we look at three issues that comics have brought from society into their world.

Sexuality

One of the first comic books to gain mainstream coverage from outing a character was Marvel’s Northstar. In 1992, during issue #106 of Alpha Flight, Northstar announces during a fight scene that, “I am gay!” This led to a flood of coverage from the media, but Marvel seemed to downplay it. Marvel later went on to release The Rawhide Kid in 2003, which showcased Marvel’s first gay lead character.

In 1999, Wildstorm’s The Authority introduced us to comics first openly gay couple. There wasn’t really any backlash, quite the opposite in fact. There was a lot of positive support from the gay and lesbian community. The Authority’s writer, Mark Millar, has won two gay and lesbian awards for his work on the comic.