Marking National Coming Out Day (October 11), DC Comics has announced that Jon Kent, the son of the original Superman Clark Kent, is bisexual.
The upcoming fifth issue of the comic book Superman: Son of Kal-El sees Jon enter into a relationship with reporter Jay Nakamura. In a recent interview with IGN, writer Tom Taylor says, “Over the years in this industry, it probably won’t surprise you to hear I’ve had queer characters and storylines rejected. I felt like I was letting down people I loved every time this happened.” He comments on how the present time is “very different” than what the environment for comics has been a decade ago stating, “When I was asked if I wanted to write a new Superman with a new #1 for the DC Universe, I knew replacing Clark with another straight white savior could be a real opportunity missed. I’ve always said everyone needs heroes and everyone deserves to see themselves in their heroes. Today, Superman, the strongest superhero on the planet, is coming out.”
The comic book artist John Timms said, “It is a pretty big deal doing it with Jon Kent as Superman…On the other hand, I hope this kind of thing will not be seen as a big deal in the future. You could visualize how it could pan in the future when the most powerful man in the world is part of the LGBT community. So many things are on the horizon and beyond.” It is important to note that Superman is not the first character of the DC universe to come out as queer.
In the past, Robin, Tim Drake, was revealed to be bisexual in the Batman: Urban Legends series. The fifth issue of Superman: Son of Kal-El comes out on November 9.
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