mattbaume
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Bonus! How Marvel executives were bullied into having the first gay superhero
🕑 Added 2025-08-24 16:00:12 +0000 UTCSometimes, you can get your way through polite negotiation. And other times, you just have to be a real jerk about it. That's what happened with Northstar, the first openly gay superhero at Marvel: Top executives went "ballistic" at the idea, back in 1992, but some brave writers and editors stood up for the character and managed to get their way after an especially aggressive meeting. This week's bonus video is all about Northstar's coming-out ... and about how Disney's Marvel films are only a fraction as brave as those writers and editors were.
Backup link in case the video doesn't play: https://youtu.be/JJZdt2Bn7Qs
Comments
Matt Baume
Oh geez what an unpredictable environment that must've been! Yeah that pendulum never stops swinging... though it's probably more like a tug of war, with folks pulling as hard as they can in many directions.
Jennifer Smith
Queer representation at Marvel has always been a push and pull. As an intern in the X-Men office in 2011, I was there the day the E-i-C came in and announced that we should have Northstar get married because same-sex marriage had been legalized in New York. I was also there, as an X-Men assistant editor in 2012/2013, when that same E-i-C threw a fit about the existence of a gay couple in another book I was working on. By all accounts things are quite a bit better now (under new leadership and with the passage of time), but I wouldn't be surprised if the pendulum swung again. What's important to remember, I think--and what your video makes clear--is that there are always people behind the scenes working as hard as they can to make the interventions that are in their power, even if that power is minimal.
Paul Anderson
Since we're talking about comics, this year's DC Pride has an amazing story by veteran writer Jenny Blake (fka Tony Isabella) about transitioning at 72. Seventy-two! It's an upbeat look back on how she navigated the 1950's onward feeling like a woman in disguise and found ways and people with whom to express it, leading directly to a career in superhero comics. Her life story fits right in with your videos on gay TV and movie artists. She finally transitioned both to be true to herself and defy today's violent transphobes. I highly recommend the comic. Jenny Blake Isabella could be her own video.
