LGBT comics, with queer characters and queer themes, are becoming mainstream. Marvel and DC celebrate Pride month every June with anthology collections featuring their characters. Major and independent publishers are giving queer authors and artists the chance to tell their stories. All in all, there are more and more superheroes coming out of the closet.
Of course, there are queer comics outside of the world of superhero comics. Queer stories exist in many different genres: for example, horror, science fiction, and even slice-of-life. Many publishers, from DC and Marvel to independent publishers, to webcomic sites are putting out more and more new content every year.
With such a large variety of comics, it can be a bit daunting where to start reading. For those who are looking good LGBT characters, good LGBT representation, or just plain good stories, this list is for you.
Let’s take a look at five different LGBT Comics from five different genres. These series are all currently being published, so now is a great time to catch up on them!
Superhero Comics: Poison Ivy
[Image via Time Warner]
Ivy getting her own series is a culmination of a long history of queer subtext with her character. However, at her beginning, Ivy started as a character defined entirely by her relationship with men.
When designing the character, creator Robert Kanigher modeled her after popular pin-up model Bettie Page. Ivy’s original characterization takes cues from the “femme fatale” archetype. A femme fatale is typically a female character that uses her attractiveness to deceive men.
Then came Batman: The Animated Series, which paired up Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. The two villainesses teamed up together in a Thelma and Louise-style duo.Creator Paul Dini also acknowledged the subtext between them. Their show relationship would eventually get adapted into the comics.
Just as Ivy’s queer identity developed over the years, so is her solo series developing Ivy’s character. The comic explores heavy environmentalism themes with Ivy’s environmental activism. Ivy’s own mindscape is often shown through her trauma-induced hallucinations. Ivy as a character is dealing with her past pain.
However, in the first issue, Ivy narrates in a this isn’t a story about revenge, it’s a story about love.
Author G. Willow Wilson said as much in an interview with Entertainment Weekly:
“This is in many ways a love story. I feel like that’s not giving too much away because she says so in the very first page of the book. So I think that fans of the Harley-Ivy romance will be pleased, because I think there’s no question that her relationship with Harley is now the central, defining relationship of this character. Speaking of evolution, she’s evolved out of being a straight-up villain whose sole job is to thwart Batman to someone who has her own identity, her own story arc, and her own individual relationships with other people in the Bat-verse completely independent of Batman and the Bat-family. “
The Poison Ivy solo explores both violent trauma and love. The first collected volume Poison Ivy: the virtuous cycle is on sale.
Urban Fantasy Comics: The Vampire Slayer
[Image via Boom! Studios]
Over seven seasons, Willow Rosenberg comes out of the closet. By word of show creator Joss Whedon, they planned from the beginning to make her or her best friend, Xander, gay. After the show ended, the publisher BOOM! Studios made many spinoffs featuring different takes on these familiar characters.
In The Vampire Slayer, Willow is the protagonist and Buffy takes a back seat. When Buffy’s trauma makes being the slayer impossible, Willow casts a spell. The spell erases Buffy’s memories of her time as the slayer, forcing Willow to take over.
The original show often treats Willow as a side character in Buffy’s story. While a complex character in her own right, she’s still the sidekick to Buffy’s hero. Willow herself even comments on her relationship to Buffy.
Come on. This is a huge deal for me. Six years as a sideman, and now I get to be the slayer.
This new series updates the TV show by allowing a queer character to be the main hero. In addition, the series reimagines Xander as a queer young man. He even shares some sexual tension with the vampire Spike, who is traditionally a love interest of either Buffy or Drusilla. The Vampire Slayer is an example of an LGBT comics adaptation of a classic show updated to be even queerer.
Horror LGBT Comics: House of Slaughter
[Image via Boom! Studios]
In general, there is a lot of intersection between queer culture and the horror genre. Horror can sometimes depict queer identities as something inherently monstrous. However, it can also capture the anxiety of existing in a world that’s dangerous to you. This, unfortunately, is a danger many young queer people feel in real life.
The main story quickly kills off Aaron Slaughter. Only in his spinoff House of Slaughter do we learn of his first love with another man. Tragically, this love is cut short when the organization he works for orders him to terminate that man.
House of Slaughter is about an organization of monster hunters. They are incredibly secretive and follow archaic social rules. The spinoff does not focus as much on the monsters, as the organization itself. It’s the house and its rules that is an antagonist to Aaron here. He and his lover end up on opposite sides of a conflict because of the house’s dated traditions.
These rules force Aaron to make a choice between the person he loves and the house that raised him. His story depicts a world where it is difficult to survive and find love, something which can be true of our own world too. This is what makes this such an impactful example of horror in LGBT comics.
Sci-fi Fantasy LGBT Comics: Cosmoknights
[Image via Hannah Templar]
In this neo-medieval world ,individual planets are ruled by royal families. These families hold Cosmoknights tournaments where suitors compete for the right to wed a princess. The knights themselves fight each other in a suit of mecha armor rather than jousting.
The main character, Pan, joins up with a group of rebel female Cosmoknights. These knights enter tournaments while hiding their gender. When they win, they release the princess used as a trophy in the tournament. It is their attempt to take down the patriarchy from the inside.
Cosmoknights shows its readers a highly fantastical world, where characters struggle with real-life social issues. The characters are literally battling against the heteronormative expectations of the society around them. The story is fantastical, full of adventure, but the characters are not without their struggles.
It is an escapist story where queer women get to put on giant suits of armor and fight back against the patriarchy. At the same time, it’s not pure fantasy and it doesn’t lose its edge. The characters and their struggles are real and engaging. In general, it’s just nice to have a queer version of the typical mecha robots fighting in space story that’s still its own thing.
Originally published as a webcomic this series is re-releasing as a graphic novel. The first volume released in 2019, and the second in 2023 with more to come. It is one of the most creative examples of LGBT comics in its setting to date which makes it worth a read.
Slice-of-Life LGBT Comics: Heartstopper
[Image via Alice Osman]
Originally a webcomic on Tumblr and Tapas, Heartstopper became a huge hit. Netflix even released a live-action adaptation of the original webcomic.
The series likely finds its popularity perhaps from its relatable cast of characters. Nick is a student at an all-boys prep school. Last year someone outed him as gay, and while the bullying died down he still has not recovered. Charlie, on the other hand, is a popular rugby player who becomes fast friends with introverted Nick.
The series starts small, just depicting them both starting to question their relationship as it grows deeper. The comic uses its small scale to show many stumbling blocks much queer youth face in their daily life. The comic tactfully discusses things like when to come out and when to tell others you are officially dating.
The strength of the comic is how mundane it makes the queer experience seem. Which is a good thing, because queerness is a part of everyday life. People reading the comic may have faced the issues the main characters faced. It’s true-to-life while still telling an entertaining story. As the story’s cast expands, adding different queer people each with their own daily struggles the umbrella of queer experiences represented gets wider and wider.
While the comics above are interesting and full of adventure, everyday life for queer kids growing up and discovering themselves can be just as exciting. Heartstopper became one of the most popular examples of LGBT comics just for speaking to the wide range of experiences LGBT youth can have in their daily lives.
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