Gay Comics History

Sanjak in Terry and the Pirates

While the character didn't explicitly come out of the closet, cartoonist Milton Caniff alluded to the homosexual orientation of French naval officer Sanjak in the 1938 to 1939 edition of his comic Terry and the Pirates. The villainous woman disguises herself as a man and calls herself Madame Sud, then essentially hits on the protagonist's girlfriend, April Kane.

Milton said in those days you couldn't have an outed homosexual character in a comic, but he hinted at Sanjak being gay. He even named her after a Greek island next to the island of Lesbos, from which the word "lesbian" is derived.

Smurfette

There are rumors that Smurfette was introduced to The Smurfs comic in 1966 to prove that the all-male Smurf village wasn't full of gay inhabitants. But the introduction of Smurfette's story seems more offensive to women than to the gay community.

Smurfette is created as an "evil" character by the wizard Gargamel, as is evidenced by her hideous appearance of brown hair and plain outfit. After she stirs up trouble with the boys, Papa Smurf transforms her into the sweet, blond bombshell we're all familiar with — naturally causing all the male smurfs to chase after her.

Gay Comix

LGBT themes have been explored in underground comix since the early '70s. One of these alternative comics is Gay Comix, which was published from 1980 to 1998. Many of the early story lines were autobiographical from the homosexual artists involved in the series, and themes included falling in love, coming out, and sex. Even though the comics featured gay relationships, they weren't as sexually explicit as some of the other graphic novels in the genre.

Japanese Yuri and Yaoi in Manga

Manga, aka Japanese comics, have featured both gay and lesbian relationships since the 1970s. Yuri (Girls' Love) is the term for lesbian relationships in anime and manga, while Yaoi (Boys' Love) is the term for male gay relationships. The stories involve sexual experiences, but they focus on the romantic and intimate relationships as opposed to pornographic material.

In yaoi, the two male characters are usually called "seme" and "uke," slang for anal sex. These martial-arts terms could be a reference to the male same-sex relationships that used to take place between the samurai and their companions.

Beginning in the '70s, yuri followed a common plot line that would involve a more mature-looking woman with a young admirer. They would have to work through a family upheaval of some kind, deal with a scandal due to their lesbian relationship, and then the older woman would die in a tragic ending.

Andy Lippincott in Doonesbury

Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury became the first widely distributed comic strip to take on LGBT themes when it introduced gay character Andy Lippincott in 1976. Andy's story line, which included his diagnosis with HIV in 1989 and AIDS-related death in 1991, earned Garry a Pulitzer Prize nomination. It also caused a handful of newspapers to boycott the strip.

Mark Slackmeyer in Doonesbury

Another Doonesbury character ruffled feathers when he came out in the comic strip in the '90s. The strip followed the relationship of liberal NPR host Mark Slackmeyer and his politically conservative partner, Chase Talbot III, including their onair "outing" in 1996, marriage in 1999, and separation in 2007.

Lawrence Poirier in For Better or For Worse

Lynn Johnston received hate mail and death threats from anti-gay readers when she had a teenage character, Michael Patterson's friend Lawrence Poirier, come out in her comic strip For Better or For Worse in 1993. Despite the opposition, Lynn was a nominated finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning for the story line. The Pulitzer board said the strip "sensitively depicted a youth's disclosure of his homosexuality and its effect on his family and friends."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Dark Horse's Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics feature the lesbian characters from the TV show Willow, Tara, and Kennedy, but the comic-book series takes some liberties by having Buffy enter into a brief same-sex sexual experience. After she has a one-night stand (twice) with another girl, the creators call it experimentation, not coming out.

Kevin Keller in Archie Comics

In 2010, Kevin Keller was the first gay character to join Archie Comic Books. Co-CEO Jon Goldwater explained the decision: "The introduction of Kevin is just about keeping the world of Archie Comics current and inclusive. Archie's hometown of Riverdale has always been a safe world for everyone. It just makes sense to have an openly gay character in Archie comic books." Sorry, Veronica, I don't think you're Kevin's type!