Originally published on Set The Tape
Because DC Comics are doing such a good job at expanding their roster of queer characters, and giving them things to do in their books, we thought – why stop at just five characters? As such, we thought that we’d give you all another five queer DC characters to keep an eye on for Pride Month.
Tim Drake, aka Red Robin
Tim Drake is the third person to don the mantle of Robin, Batman‘s famous partner. Following the death of the second Robin, Jason Todd, Batman began to slip into a dark state, something that was noticed by Tm Drake, a young super fan of Batman. Using his own detective skills Tim was able to not only figure out that Bruce Wayne was Batman, but approached him and asked to become his new Robin. Whilst Batman at first refused, Tim would go on to prove himself, and became one of Bruce’s most trusted and beloved sons. Over the years Tim has evolved, and even left the title of Robin behind, becoming Red Robin after Bruce’s biological son, Damian, became Robin.
Despite having given up the name Robin, Tim is still part of the Bat-Family, and is the first Robin that a lot of comic readers will have experienced. Whilst not headlining his own series, he does frequently appear in many of the Batman books. It was in a recent issue of Batman: Urban Legends he came out as bisexual and began dating a young man named Bernard. Tim might not have his own solo series at the moment, but he is getting his own special, DC Pride: Tim Drake, which collects together his coming out stories from Batman: Urban Legends, as well as a new story.
Alysia Yeoh
Sticking with the Bat-Family, another character that’s getting more and more time to shine is Alysia Yeoh. First appearing in Gail Simone’s Batgirl run in 2011, Alysia quickly became best friends with Barbara Gordon, Batgirl. As the series progressed it was revealed that Alysia was a trans woman, and quickly became one of the most prominent trans character in DC at the time. She was featured in the first trans marriage story-line at the company, where Alysia married her girlfriend, and Barbara served as her maid of honour. Alysia has made several appearances since.
It was recently announced that Alysia would be appearing in the live action Batgirl film set for release on HBO Max, and will be played by trans actress Ivory Aquino. Not only that, but Alysia will also be featuring in one of the stories in DC Pride. Previews of the book show Alysia donning a Batgirl costume and defending herself with a baseball bat with the trans flag on it. It’s not clear if this is a one-off thing, or if she will become a Batgirl on a longer term basis, but she’s still going to be a trans Batgirl with a trans bat, and that sounds pretty damn cool.
Xiomara Rojas, aka Crush
Crush is probably a character you’ve not heard of, but her dad might be. Crush is the daughter of the intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo, a long-time anti-hero antagonist that has gone up against Superman and other members of the Justice League of the years. Found in the desert at the Burning Man festival by a young couple, Crush was adopted by human parents. Despite her upbringing, Crush seems to have a lot of her father in her, and is quick to anger, choosing to solve problems with her fists a lot of the time. After the death of her adoptive parents she survived by taking part in underground fighting rings, where she got her nickname Crush, and was approached to join the Teen Titans by Robin.
Since joining the team Crush has learnt to deal with her anger better, and has even made friends. She also started a relationship with Katie, revealing that she’s a lesbian. As part of DC’s Infinite Frontier Crush left the Teen Titans, and broke up with her girlfriend, to travel into space to confront her dad in Crush & Lobo. Crush is currently in space, having vowed to become a space bounty hunter, capturing escaped criminals. Thanks to her wit, humour, and fun-loving attitude, coupled with her explosive anger, Crush is a fun character to read, with some folks calling her DC’s answer to Deadpool.
John Constantine
The occult detective from Liverpool, John Constantine has gone from longer in the shadows to one of the more important figures in the DC universe, and a frequent sight on various Justice League line-ups. Originally appearing in an issue of The Saga of the Swamp Thing, Constantine soon took the lead in his own series, Hellblazer, as part of DC’s Vertigo imprint, which allowed for more mature content. Constantine chain-smokes, drinks, swears, and sleeps with anyone who’ll have him, all whilst fighting monsters from hell as he attempts to right some of the wrongs he’s done over the years.
Despite some of the Vertigo books being a part of the DC universe they were always kept slightly apart from the main titles, but in 2011 John Constantine was brought into the mainstream DC universe with Brightest Day. Since then he’s featured prominently as part of Justice League Dark, a team of magical characters who fight mystical threats to Earth. With both Zatana and Wonder Woman, both leaders of the Justice League Dark, having been apparently killed as the start of DC’s Dark Crisis it looks like Constantine will have to step up once again to help save the world.
Alan Scott, aka Green Lantern
Alan Scott is the oldest character on this list, and is one of the oldest DC characters to exist. First appearing in All-American Comics #16 in 1940, he’s the first hero to go by the name Green Lantern. However, Alan is not a Green Lantern in the same way that other heroes with that title are, and has a magical-based power. He’s not a space cop, and is instead part of the first generation of heroes, and a founding member of the Justice Society of America. Thanks to multiple universes, timelines merging, and other cosmic shenanigans, his origin and place in the DC universe was questionable for a while, but thanks to Infinite Frontier he, along with the rest of the JSA, is part of regular continuity once again.
Infinite Frontier did more than just bring Alan and the JSA back, however. In a story written by James Tynion IV, Alan meets with his two children, also super-heroes, in the JSA headquarters. Talking to his children, Alan reveals to them that he’s gay, and has been keeping it secret all his life. His children, who include the gay super-hero Obsidian, embrace their father and support him fully. Originally created in a time where being openly gay wasn’t accepted, Alan’s journey of hiding his identity and only coming out later in life once societal views have changed mirrors the journeys of many older queer people. Not only that, but it makes one of the first super-heroes to ever into a queer hero.
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