Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Insert gay Batman joke here


I knew nothing about this...guess I've been out of the DC Comics loop for a while. I wonder if this "52" series is in response to how successful the Ultimate Marvel universe is.

From the BBC: "Batwoman Hero Returns as Lesbian

Comic book heroine Batwoman is to make a comeback as a "lipstick lesbian" who moonlights as a crime fighter, a DC Comics spokesman has confirmed. Batwoman - real name Kathy Kane - will appear in 52, a year-long DC Comics publication that began this month.

In her latest incarnation, she is a rich socialite who has a romantic history with another 52 character, ex-police detective Renee Montoya.

52 will be published in the UK as a graphic novel by Titan Books in 2007.

The series is set in a world in which established superheroes like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman no longer play a part.

Reinvention

The new-look Batwoman is just one of a wave of ethnically and sexually diverse characters entering the DC Comics universe.

Others include Mexican teenager Blue Beetle - who replaces the character's previous white incarnation - and the Great Ten, a government-sponsored team of Chinese superheroes.

Regular characters Firestorm and The Atom, meanwhile, have been reinvented as black and Asian heroes respectively.

The characters are part of a wider effort to broaden the make-up of comic-book creations in line with society as a whole.

Batwoman, who first appeared in July 1956, has not been seen since September 1979 when she was killed by the League of Assassins and the Bronze Tiger."

Note of clarity: This is Batwoman, not Batgirl, aka Barbara Gordon. As far as I know, she's still crippled from injuries sustained in The Killing Joke and now plays the role of Oracle, the data-crunching computer geek that backs up the JLA. There's a new Batgirl out there who's someone else.

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