So one of the new characters to join the Teen Titans is Bunker, a flamboyantly gay Mexican teenager with forcefield powers. All diehard Teen Titan fans I’ve talked to have come to the same conclusion when they heard the announcement about him:

Why is Tim Drake trying to give him a crotch-hug?

He’s doomed.

It’s not a judgment on him – we have yet to see him in action – rather, it’s a judgment on both his writer and the company publishing him.

Scott Lobdell has not shown mature handling of sexuality lately (see: Starfire in Red Hood and the Outlaws and the ensuing controversy) which is a far cry from his great work in the 90s handling Generation X and Alpha Flight. Now, I know that writing straight female sexuality and gay male sexuality are very different things, and some people can fail miserably at one while acing the other (Hi, Judd Winick!) but the Starfire issue, combined with his comments in interviews where he’s bragging about how diverse his cast of Teen Titans is and how Bunker is going to be flamboyantly gay, because that’s how gay people are, does not give me much hope.

(Also, is it just me, or did his interview feel like he’s taking potshots at Marvel’s teen gay superheroes – Wiccan, Hulkling, Karolina Dean, Anole, etc. – who while being gay, aren’t stereotypes?)

Those clothes definitely stand out. He is probably the worst dressed gay teen I've seen outside of a cosplay convention.

This is the same writer who gave us Northstar’s coming out story while discussing AIDS in a grown-up, non-preachy manner. (It caused a slight controversy in the 90s.

Read it, it’s still good.) How did he go from that to Starfire “I don’t remember who you are and I don’t care. Let’s fuck.” in “Red Hood and the Outlaws”?

(And did they really need to add more gay characters to Teen Titans? I mean, Tim Drake and Kon-El are already there…) </obligatory Tim and Kon are gay joke>

The problem is, the addition of Bunker just feels like another big corporate DC decision – “We need to add more non-white characters to our roster!” “We heard that Glee is popular with teens right now – why not add someone just like that gay kid, Kurt, to the line-up of Teen Titans?” and so we got a gay, Mexican, superpowered Kurt who his writer probably doesn’t get and will be dead meat the next crossover.

How dead? As dead as…

Wonder Man called, he wants his shades back.

Vibe – DC’s first Hispanic superhero. Also, the first member of the Justice League to ever die on panel. He was an inner city gang leader with sonic breakdancing powers! He managed to be a racial cliche AND an obsolete popculture reference in one go!

This is the only pic we could find of Extrano.

Extrano – DC’s first ever gay Hispanic superhero. He was also fabulous, if the costume didn’t clue you in. He died after being given AIDS by a vampire.

NOOOO NOT JAMIE

Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle – THE breakout star of Infinite Crisis (not EmoBoy Prime). Got a well-received solo title that managed to sell well, but got unceremoniously cancelled, he got shuffled over to the Teen Titans (!) then was killed. (Sure, he got better… but I think he lost a lot of momentum from the ensuing business since his solo title got cancelled)

There are a lot of other minority and/or gay characters who’ve been shunted to the wayside, if not outright killed in DC’s history – and a lot of them were Teen Titans. So I would not be surprised if Teen Titans fans don’t emotionally invest in him, since he is practically marked for death here.

Carl

Related posts:

1. Team Reviews: JSA, JLA and Teen Titans
2. More DC Relaunch Commentary, Plus Disbelief Over The Teen Titans Redesign
3. Delayed Reviews: Amazons Attack #6, 52: Aftermath, Countdown 35, Countdown to Adventure, Outsiders: Five of a kind #5 and Teen Titans #50
4. Quickie delayed reviews, a new Superman: Doomsday trailer and Tiny Titans!