this could make a wonderful movie... New Batwoman is a lesbian Editor: 'We decided to give her a different point of view' Thursday, June 1, 2006; Posted: 10:25 p.m. EDT (02:25 GMT) NEW YORK (AP) -- Years after she first emerged from the Batcave, Batwoman is coming out of the closet. DC Comics is resurrecting the classic comic book character as a lesbian, unveiling the new Batwoman in July as part of an ongoing weekly series that began this year. The 5-foot-10 superhero comes with flowing red hair, knee-high red boots with spiked heels, and a form-fitting black outfit. "We decided to give her a different point of view," explained Dan DiDio, vice president and executive editor at DC. "We wanted to make her a more unique personality than others in the Bat-family. That's one of the reasons we went in this direction." (Watch people on the streets react -- 2:17) (DC Comics, like CNN, is a division of Time Warner.) The original Batwoman was started in 1956, and killed off in 1979. The new character will share the same name as her original alter ego, Kathy Kane. And the new Batwoman arrives with ties to others in the Gotham City world. "She's a socialite from Gotham high society," DiDio said. "She has some past connection with Bruce Wayne. And she's also had a past love affair with one of our lead characters, Renee Montoya." Montoya, in the "52" comic book series, is a former police detective. Wayne, of course, is Batman's true identity -- but he has disappeared, along with Superman and Wonder Woman, leaving Gotham a more dangerous place. The "52" series is a collaboration of four acclaimed writers, with one episode per week for one year. The comics will introduce other diverse characters as the story plays out. "This is not just about having a gay character," DiDio said. "We're trying for overall diversity in the DC universe. We have strong African-American, Hispanic and Asian characters. We're trying to get a better cross-section of our readership and the world." The outing of Batwoman created a furor of opinions on Web sites devoted to DC Comics. Opinions ranged from outrage to approval. Others took a more tongue-in-cheek approach to the announcement. "Wouldn't ugly people as heroes be more groundbreaking?" asked one poster. "You know, 200-pound woman, man with horseshoe hair loss pattern, people with cold sores, etc.?" DiDio asked that people wait until the new Batwoman's appearance in the series before they pass judgment. "You know what? Judge us by the story and character we create," he said. "We are confident that we are telling a great story with a strong, complex character." DiDio spent most of the morning fielding phone calls from media intrigued by the Batwoman reinvention. "It's kind of weird," he said. "We had a feeling it would attract some attention, but we're a little surprised it did this much." Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/books/06/01/batwoman.uncloseted.ap/index.html
Yes, I'm certain that having a lesbian superhero will attract MUCH more lesbian readership than, say, comic book geeks that want to spank it over romantic exploits with other superhero chicks.
the days of longing for a Batwoman, Wonder Woman, and Supergirl menage a trois are finally coming true.
Heh.. and no one here openly wondered whether Halle Barry will be in the sequel?? Threads been open an hour...Ya'll are slipping.
Man what is this world coming too.... What's next...........are they going to come out and say Batman and Robin are straight........
I was going to go this route but I was going to use the old Conservative argument, what's next, Aquaman flogging his Dolphins, where is the line drawn.
For clarification's sake This is the Batwoman they are talking about, she was written out of the current continuity in the 80s when DC was trying to fix their continuity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batwoman This is her new costume now that she's being reintroduced. This costume is not as gay as her costume when she was straight, but that was the 50s This is Batgirl, who most of you who have ever seen the old live action show or seen the Batman animated series of the 90's are familiar with. She is also Commissioner Gordan's daughter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batgirl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Gordon She's been stuck in a wheelchair in the comics since 1988 when in a story, the Joker shot her. This is the current Batgirl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra_Cain
Why do I get the feeling the p*rn/anime people already have their graphic design software working overtime?
^ Is the current Batgirl the robot from Fritz Lang's Metropolis? I got nothing against a lesbian Batwoman but why stick with the typical bat look? A bad ass lesbian superhero is likely to be a butch dyke so they should crop her hair, give her some piercings, hairy armpits and a flannel shirt.
When adults started outbuying kids in enormous numbers. DC puts out a line of comics specifically targeted to kids, but their core audience for the main line is in and around their thirties. But even while it's true that comics are considerably more "mature" these days, I don't think the existence of an openly gay or lesbian character ought to mean, in itself, that comics aren't for kids. Since the 1930s comics have featured romantic subplots in superhero stories. In the 1940s there were comics dedicated purely to romance. Even still it would have been outrageous then to feature interracial romance. Today the fact that that was once taboo is what seems outrageous. Gay relationships making their way into mainstream pop culture has taken longer than interracial ones, but it's a good and necessary evolution.
Nor do I, but it seems like all the cool comics I used to read as a kid... like Batman, Spiderman, (I even read some Archies back then... I'm still torn between Betty and Veronica) etc., have all turned dark, more violent (at least more realistic violence), and often have a bit too many S&M overtones for my admittedly provincial sensibilities. While I was gobbling up DC and Marvel comic books at their age, I won't let my kids read some of this stuff until they're a little older. Also, it doesn't seem like you can easily find the ones aimed at kids where I found them... convenience stores, grocery stores, etc. and where you do find them, they are expensive and the selection is sparse. You have to go to a book store or a specialty store to get some choices. Makes me wonder if the comic book industry is shooting itself in the foot by not connecting with a new generation of readers.
