(Of course, this only works when a conservative creator is involved. Nobody makes this presuppositions about storylines based on political motivations of liberal writers, who are the clear majority in the world of comics.)

That’s an overgeneralization. When someone has publically taken an anti-gay stance, it’s reasonable to question whether he should then be hired to write a gay character. It has nothing to do with whether he’s conservative or liberal.

Huh? What are we forced to deal with? what exactly is the situation? I love the Midnighter character, and I think I will give it a try BEFORE I flambay the writer. If they do a stupid job of portraying the character, THEN I will get all agitated.

Did you read what I wrote? It was a lot shorter, but nowhere did it employ the word “evil” nor anything that could be construed as such. Don’t you put words in my mouth, bucko; you’ve got enough trouble with your own.

So, it’s great that Mr. Dixon is a wonderful writer, and it’s great that he can separate his “politics” from his work, but that’s not really the issue at hand. The issue at hand is that gay people are still forced to even have to deal with situations like this at all.

Note: I think it’s funny when someone calls a person’s homophobia their “politics” - I guess that means Michael Richards was just expressing his political viewpoint that night at the Laugh Factory…?

Augie: We had this discussion about whether comics are all pushing a liberal agenda 10 years ago, and I’m not in the mood to repeat it. But I will add that if you think that people don’t start making snarky predictions of a leftie storyline about AIDS or homosexuality when Judd Winick is announced as a writer (for example), you’re not paying attention.

I don’t get so agitated about the web shooters, so I delight in those knee jerk reactions, too.

There are plenty of comics out there that I’ve enjoyed that haven’t included a personal romantic life for its lead character: About 95% of the Duck books I’ve read. ASTERIX. Plenty of individual issues of Batman and Robin comics written by Chuck Dixon. You don’t NEED a romantic subplot to carry a storyline. Plenty of stories would be fine without one, and plenty have them forced in for the sake of forcing a movie blockbuster to draw in the teenaged girls. (TITANIC? PEARL HARBOR?)

Someone else mentioned AMERICAN POWER — yes, how evil to suggest that fighting radical Islamic terrorists is a good thing. How horribly political. Dixon made the script available? Did you read it?

I don’t think his career (or any writer who has the longevity that he has) would last as long as it has if he was only capable of writing characters who reflect his own worldview.

“Never has he ever let his politics or views tint the color of the characters. He has too much respect as a creator and for the characters to ever do something like that.”

coughkoffAMERICANPOWERcoff

OK, look, the vast majority of his output, both in quality and in politics, can swing either way, no pun intended. And part of what makes a good writer is making even characters one finds loathsome sympathetic. Plus, of course, Midnighter is intended as an X-treme version of Batman, who Dixon was practically married to (OK, pun intended there). So I expect that this will likely be a well-written book for those who like such things.

Just remember one thing, and that one thing speaks volumes more about the comics industry than Chuck Dixon:

Nobody is going to ask Michael Richards to write a Chris Rock vehicle. Like, EVER.

Thats kind of what I figured too. But if he feels that the concept itself is something that he has to sheild his kids from, he can’t have a very open mind about it.

I would also like to remind folks that when working for a large publisher like Marvel or DC Comics and using their characters, you are also as a writer “playing with their toys� so editorial almost always has a heavy hand in what comes out. Yes, the writer usually gets the praise as well as the spitballs, but please remember that when it’s spitballs there is always someone trying to wipe their fingerprints off the dead body.

Your amigo,

Beau

Personally, I see it as more than a bit hypocritical that the comics community—which generally goes completely stark-raving-mad upon hearing rumors that Spider-Man’s web-shooters might be biological, for example—is so casual about erasing character traits that ostensibly have something real to do with a person’s life.

Take all the traces of heterosexualty out of your comics, Augie, and see how much you have left.

I can’t wait.

And every comics blogger analyzing every panel looking for homophobic undercurrent.

I can’t wait.