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Reuters

Faster than a speeding bullet, change is coming to the Superman comics.
Jon Kent, the son of original Superman Clark Kent and journalist Lois Lane, turns out to be bisexual in DC Comics’ latest iteration of the superhero’s adventures.
The young man kisses reporter Jay Nakamura in issue five of the comic book Superman: Son of Kal-El, which will be released on November 9.
“It’s not a gimmick,” the writer, Tom Taylor, said in an interview from Melbourne, Australia, wearing a T-shirt with a rainbow-striped Superman logo.
DC Comics Asian-American superhero anthology
“When I was offered this job, I thought, ‘Well, if we’re going to have a new Superman for the DC Universe, it feels like a missed opportunity to have another straight white saviour,” he said.
National Coming Out Day is observed on October 11 to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
“We didn’t want this to be ‘DC Comics creates new queer Superman’,” Taylor said. “We want this to be ‘Superman finds himself, becomes Superman and then comes out,’ and I think that’s a really important distinction there.”

I’ve always said everyone needs heroes and everyone deserves to see themselves in their heroes. Today, #Superman, the strongest superhero on the planet, comes out as bisexual. I chatted to @georgegustines at the @nytimes about what's coming for Jon Kent.https://t.co/rcIYLXl7FB
— Tom Taylor (@TomTaylorMade) October 11, 2021

Reactions have been mostly positive, Taylor said.
“I’m seeing tweets of people saying they burst into tears when they read the news, that they wished that Superman was this when they were growing up, that they could see themselves,” he added.
“People are saying for the first time ever they’re seeing themselves in Superman – something they never thought was possible.”
Jon Kent cares about climate crisis and refugees.
Meet Marvel’s new gay teen superhero
“He is as powerful as hope, faster than fate and able to lift us all and he’s a very new hero finding his way, fighting things his father didn’t as much,” Taylor said, who wants this to be the new normal.
“I hope this isn’t a headline in a few years time. I hope this isn’t trending on Twitter. I hope this just something about a person and good rep for everybody that that represents.”
The coming out of America’s most famous superhero comes as more comic books embrace diversity.
In March, Marvel Comics announced its first gay Captain America and “Aquaman” introduced a black, gay superhero earlier this summer.
The latest Robin in the Batman comics came out as bisexual in August.
While the new Superman is not the first LGBTQ comic book character, he is arguably the most recognisable.
Marvel’s Pride: Tom Hiddleston’s Loki is the studio’s first LGBT lead
“Nowadays, we live in a less closeted age. That’s an absolute good,” said Ben Saunders, director of comics and cartoon studies at the University of Oregon.
“One consequence might be that the mainstream culture has caught on to what some people have known all along: superheroes have always been, at least potentially, a bit queer,” said.
Additional reporting by Tribune News Service and Agence France-Presse


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LGBTQ

Superman’s son bisexual as DC Comics embraces diversity, following Aquaman, Robin, and Marvel’s Captain America

A forthcoming comic book will feature Jon, the son of Clark Kent, beginning a relationship with a male reporter, Jay Nakamura. Photo: DC Comics

Marvel’s Pride: Tom Hiddleston’s Loki is the studio’s first LGBT lead character, the Disney+ series director confirmed on Twitter – so can we expect more representation in future too?

Tom Hiddleston as Loki in Disney+‘s Loki (2021). Photo: Handout

Tom Hiddleston is the Norse God of Mischief in Marvel Studios’ Loki, which launched June 9 on Disney+. Photo: Marvel Studios

Tom Hiddleston is back in the Marvel Universe as the title character of Loki. Photo: Marvel Studios/TNS

Meet Marvel’s new gay teen superhero – an LGBT Captain America marking Pride Month and the comic book’s 80th anniversary

The United States of Captain America comic strips will introduce the superhero to a series of everyday heroes across the country, starting with Aaron Fischer, co-written by Joshua Trujillo with art by Jan Bazaldua, who is gay and will be released in honour of Pride Month in June. Photo: @IGN/Twitter

A scene from Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War with, from left to right, Falcon/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), Ant-Man/Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), Hawkeye/Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). Photo: Marvel

The 2011 Captain America featured Chris Evans in the title role, supported by Hayley Atwell and Tommy Lee Jones. Photo: Marvel Studios

News

World

United States & Canada


New Superman will have a romantic relationship with a male friend
The coming out comes as more comic books embrace diversity



Superman fell for a reporter and now his son is doing the same, although this time the superhero’s love interest is a man called Jay.


United States

Gender

Superman’s son bisexual as DC Comics embraces diversity, following Aquaman, Robin, and Marvel’s Captain America

New Superman will have a romantic relationship with a male friend The coming out comes as more comic books embrace diversity

New Superman will have a romantic relationship with a male friend

The coming out comes as more comic books embrace diversity