| Most boys grow up reading comic books and relate, on some level, to the superheroes portrayed in them. For young gay boys, those muscle-bound superheroes in their form-fitting costumes were sometimes the objects of quite different fantasies.
Mount Royal College instructor Lee Easton, whose specialty is pop culture, grew up reading and collecting comic books. As an adult, he began to perceive metaphors for the gay male experience in many of the storylines and artwork.
"Young straight males read superhero comics and want the body of their heroes, because those are the archetypes of masculinities in our culture. With young homosexual males, there is often a double-desire – we want to have those bodies, but we also want to ‘have’ those bodies too," he says.
The dynamic is not unlike gay men’s response to porn, in that we identify not only with the actor and what he is doing, but also doing it with (or to) him. One fantasy mirrors the other, creating a double, often overlaid fantasy, where the individual occupies two distinct fantasies simultaneously.
I know I entertained a few fantasies about Clark Kent/Superboy (later Superman), developing an abiding interest in tight little red Speedos and what might be encased inside them. As I matured, Batman and his black leather body armour, cape and cowl stirred a few subterranean fantasies involving the Boy Wonder and "Daddy" Batman – although the camp TV series of the 1960s, featuring a distinctly paunchy Batman, almost killed that one off. Even then, Robin in that series was a hot little power-bottom if ever there was one.
In recent years, storylines have featured openly gay (and lesbian) superheroes, with very little negative effect on their respective universes. But the Golden Age of comics, and comic book superheroes, was between the 1940s and the early 1970s, and largely targeted young boys and adolescents.
"It’s been hard to wrest the superhero away from his beginnings in what was perceived to be a genre for adolescents," says Easton. "The problem has been, ‘How do you let these guys have sex in a genre that’s still perceived to be aimed mostly at younger readers?’ One of the ways that has been resolved at Marvel, for example, is choosing to create what they call the Ultimate Series, or DC Comics’ Vertigo line, where you get more adult representations of sexuality. So you got more gay characters – Colossus in the X-Men, and the Rawhide Kid, which was an attempt to revamp a character and make him gay from the outset – not very successfully, in my view."
Early depictions of Superman, for instance, are quite distinct from later representations. "His musculature in those early renditions is nothing like the almost steroid-induced musculature of later depictions," observes Easton. "Part of that is tied in with the different social ideas of masculinity. By the late ’70s, and certainly by the ’80s and ’90s, ‘masculine’ took on a completely different connotation. It was no longer enough for the hero simply to hold high ideals ("truth, justice, and the American way") – he now had to look bigger, stronger and more masculine than mere mortals."
The mythology around the creation of Superman claims that the original concept was based on the old circus strongman, in his tights, trunks and boots. "Superman and the other superheroes emerged post-World War II," says Easton. "Scores of young men were returning home from the war in Europe, where masculine bonding had had a profound effect on them. Meanwhile, the women at home had stepped into previously male-only trades and professions. Comic books reflected that new ideal."
Despite conscious attempts, first by the artists themselves and later by the Comic Book Code (that came into existence largely due to pressures from groups like the Catholic League for Decency and other "social purity" campaigns), to have their heroes decidedly non-sexual, it became increasingly difficult to ignore.
Even Robin’s costume of a short tight red tunic, cut away at just below hip level, revealing snug green trunks over cream-coloured tights, focused visual attention on his crotch. "I think what’s remarkable is not so much that he started that way – the comics were, after all, aimed at young boys in a non-sexual way – but that they didn’t change the costume until about the mid-’80s, when the first Robin/Dick Grayson morphs into Nightwing," says Easton. They then had to find replacements for him – Jason Todd first, then later, Tim Drake. It’s only with Tim Drake that they actually change the costume to something different. But the gay subtext, especially in the movie versions, is always there and never goes away."
Easton adds that he talks about this Batman-Boy Wonder relationship in his lectures, telling his students Batman isn’t "gay," but the character of Robin makes Batman "read gay."
"The superheroine, on the other hand, does seem in some ways to follow one of two patterns. Either they get their powers from nature – the goddess ideal – or they get them as the distaff of the male heroes," says Easton.
"Batwoman, for instance, was introduced in the 1950s as a direct way to clear up the ambiguity around what’s going on in the Wayne mansion. Batgirl was introduced in 1965 to further clarify the nature of the relationships that are going on between Alfred, Batman and Robin," says Easton. "Batwoman and Batgirl are definitely an attempt to anchor Batman and Robin’s heterosexual identity."
Most of the superheroes lead "double lives," a fact not lost on gay readers. Clark Kent is forever running into a closet-like space to then emerge as Superman. The Bat Cave can also be read as a metaphor for the closet – it’s where Bruce Wayne’s true self is hidden away from the prying eyes of the general public.
Easton is not sure if the metaphors were inherent or if we, as gay men, see them and interpret them that way ourselves. "Certainly several men I’ve talked to for the study have talked about ‘the secret identity’ as being one of the key moments of identification and understanding of the idea of leading a double life," he says.
"One man spoke about identifying with the idea of having this secret that could be potentially dangerous to everybody else or to his family. He was thinking about Spiderman keeping his identity secret so that, in his case, Aunt May and his friends are safe. I think that connection is there for many gay men – many of us find ourselves in situations where we have to pass for something or somebody else."
The images of comic book superheroes are engrained in our culture, and epitomize our culture’s definition of the ideal male – strong, self-possessed, somewhat aloof, assertive and aggressive. Who can resist that, especially when he is tall, muscled and dressed head-to-toe in spandex or leather? |
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