海角大神

While political pressure steadily mounts on the issue of gay marriage 鈥� President Obama was in Hollywood Wednesday night for two LGBT fundraisers 鈥� comic books, that canary in the mine of popular culture, are pushing the envelope on聽depictions of gay life further this summer.

Marvel Comics offers the first gay super-hero marriage proposal in its June issue of the聽鈥淎stonishing聽X-Men.鈥� A character known as Northstar, aka Jean-Paul Beaubier, a聽Canadian聽with silver-streaked black hair, piercing blue eyes, and聽the ability to fly and move at superhuman speeds, asks his long-time boyfriend Kyle聽Jinadu to tie the knot. DC comics also did a June reboot of the Green Lantern character, introducing a gay version from an alternate universe.

Comics put a toe in this water聽earlier this year when聽Archie comics featured聽Kevin Keller聽颅鈥� merely a US soldier with no super powers 鈥� marrying his African-American聽boyfriend in an issue that sold out by March.

鈥淲e were trying to be current,鈥� says Paul Kupperberg, the writer who created the Archie issue. 鈥淭his is what our society looks like, and Riverdale [Archie鈥檚 fictional hometown] is an inclusive place.鈥� [Editor's Note: The original version misstated Mr. Kupperberg's role in the Archie issue.]

Comic books have long been a mirror for society, points out comic book historian聽Julian Chambliss, who just聽presented a paper on teaching with comics at a conference on that topic at Juniata College in Huntington, Pa.

Mr. Chambliss, a history professor at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., says comic books reflect societal concerns, despite being characterized as juvenile escapism.

鈥淪uperheroes in particular are iconic symbols that mirror values, beliefs, and anxieties tightly linked to national circumstances,鈥� he says via e-mail.聽These characters 鈥渃an embody identity and patriotism (Superman), reflect disquiet about community stability (Batman), or explore struggles over gender roles聽(Wonder Woman).鈥�

Superhero comic books have a history of creating characters and featuring stories that balance established values while acknowledging changing reader expectations, points out Chambliss.

In 1966, he notes, Marvel introduced the first black character, a decade after civil rights protest began but one year after landmark antidiscrimination legislation passed Congress. In 1971, just two months after President Richard Nixon declared the first 鈥淲ar on Drugs,鈥� DC shed light on the dangers of drug abuse by having an established teen sidekick become a drug addict.聽

鈥淚n both cases,鈥� he says, 鈥渘on-comic readers met these changes with a mix of curiosity and protest, but most comic fans embraced the actions.鈥�

This latest foray into聽changing social mores聽is being met with a similar mix of acceptance and apprehension.

"I鈥檓 totally open to it, we鈥檝e got all kinds on this earth, why not in comic books?" says Arthur Magdaleno, custodian at Dixie Canyon Elementary school in Sherman Oaks, Calif., who has two children, ages 26 and 27. "We raised them to have an open mind about relationships and this seems the moment to stand by that training."

Krista McCauley, a 29-year-old nurse, sitting at a Sherman Oaks cafe with her 2-year old daughter, expresses reservations.

"I'm not against the gay lifestyle, but 鈥� I don't think it's appropriate to be dangling something in front of kids that they might think the adult world is telling them, 鈥榯his is something you could or should be aspiring to ... Like fight crime and be gay.鈥� I think it sends a confused message."

Dan Gainor, vice president for business and culture at the conservative Culture and Media Institute, is flatly opposed, saying聽via e-mail, 鈥渃omics join movies, TV, music, and news media as part of the barrage of pro-gay propaganda that targets our nation every day.鈥澛燭he goal of the media industry, he says, 鈥渋s to overwhelm American morality and bully opponents into complete acceptance of the gay subculture.鈥�

However, the economics of a聽faltering comic book industry are聽 perhaps an equally聽significant factor, says聽Brad Ricca,聽author of the upcoming聽 book on comic book superheroes, 鈥淪uper boys.鈥�

Mr. Ricca, who teaches classes on popular culture and superheroes at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, says via e-mail that while the new population of gay superheroes in comics is being accepted by many readers, it is proving to be divisive among the usual political suspects on both sides.聽

But, he says, this divisiveness is exactly what the comics companies are going for, 鈥渂ecause this outcry results in media coverage. Parents have always been leery of comics, mostly because of their crazy physical violence and vigilante justice. Not to mention the fear of 10-year-olds attaching blankets to their backs and trying to jump off the roof, which, very sadly, has happened.鈥�

But, adds Ricca,聽if parents are against something, it usually means kids will flock to it, 鈥渨hich is what the companies are hoping for.鈥�

Staff writer Daniel B. Wood contributed to this report.