DC Comics reveals The Green Lantern as the first major superhero to be openly gay

In an industry where killing off characters only to bring them back a few months later is common practice, it is often hard to do something new or unexpected. But, DC Comics held to their promise to reveal that one of their superheroes is gay.

That superhero turned out to be the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott.  (NOTE: In case you didn’t know, the Warner Bros/DC film GREEN LANTERN was Hal Jordan, not Alan Scott)

The change occurs in DC’s Earth 2 universe, which is not their main comic timeline. However, this marks the biggest superhero to come out of the closet in comics history. DC previously released a series featuring a lesbian Batwoman and Marvel recently had two of the X-Men, who are gay, get engaged to be married.

It should be noted that making the Green Lantern gay is not the only other major change to the character. The Earth 2 Alan Scott also doesn’t have a lantern at all! In fact, he derives his power from the green energy of the planet that feeds through his ring, not an intergalactic corps of heroes. Also, he is no longer weakened by wood (which I didn’t even know was a Green Lantern weakness).

Writer James Robinson had this to say about the new Alan Scott/Green Lantern: He’s a giant of the media industry. By getting involved in communication, the news, and the Internet, he’s become a billionaire. He’s kind of a cross between Mark Zuckerberg and David Geffen. The original Alan Scott owned a radio station in the ’40s and ’50s, so he was a media giant then. He was this bold, heroic, brave man who took control, who would risk his life for you and be this emerald knight that was always there to protect the world. The Alan Scott I’m doing now is that same dynamic, brave, honorable man. A man that you’d want guarding your welfare, your children, your life, your home. He’s willing to give his life for the world. He’s everything you want in a hero. And he happens to be gay. So really, apart from his sexuality, there isn’t that much of a difference.

What do you think of this new change in the direction for an established comic icon?

Click the image below to enlarge.