Marvel Comics to release Pro-Homosexual Comic Book.

Excerpt: NEW YORK (CNN) -- Marvel Comics plans to break new ground in the comic book industry by introducing the first openly gay title character in a comic book.

The character will appear in a revival of the 1950s title, "The Rawhide Kid." Marvel expects a February debut.

The new series pairs the original artist, John Severin, now 86, with Ron Zimmerman, a writer for the "Howard Stern Show."

The Rawhide Kid has been a Marvel character since the 1950s both as a main and a secondary character. However, it was not until Zimmerman approached Marvel with his idea of a homosexual Rawhide Kid that sexuality was mentioned in the discussion of the character.

Although shy with girls, the original Rawhide Kid was not intended to be gay. The new version uses double entendres and euphemisms to reveal his homosexuality without saying anything explicitly. Based on a blurb on Marvel's Web site, the tone may be campy.

Oh for the day when men were men, er... gorillas.

You’ve gotta admit, it’d be awful tough to become any more he-manly than this issue of HE-MAN’s hirsute cover-star! (And contrary to this cover’s misleading layout of copy, his name is not “Mr. Flatfoot”!) Many funnybook editors (notably, DC’s Julius Schwartz) believe that adding a gorilla to a comic’s cover situation will increase sales, but in this case, the gorilla is the situation, to the exclusion of nearly everything and anyone else! (To be fair, there are two humans on this cover, but they’re so damned tiny that you practically need an electron microscope to find ‘em!) Strangely enough, this comic was edited by Mell Lazarus, a cartoonist who would go on to create the comic strips MISS PEACH and MOMMA. (And speaking of comic strip artists, Toby Press was owned by the creator of LI’L ABNER, cartoonist Al Capp, whose brother Elliot Caplan was managing editor of the publishing company!)

Found a better description of Peter Parker's (aka Spider-Man's) molestation as a child. It wasn't his babysitter, it was an acquaintence. I was going from memory and couldn't find a match to the following article in my google search:

Scott Shaw discusses Spider-Man and Power Pack comic

As Spider-Man reassures Tony that he did nothing wrong and that the situation wasn’t his fault, he’s reminded of a long-suppressed memory of his own! When he was young, long before he gained his spider-powers, Peter Parker was the constant target of the neighborhood bullies. One day, after a run-in with a group of young tough guys, Peter was befriended by a fastidiously-coiffed older boy named Steven Westcott, whose nickname was “Skip”. At first, Skip’s interest seems beneficent, but one afternoon, alone together at Skip’s mother’s apartment, the older boy showed Peter some items “guaranteed” to take his mind off science – “girlie” magazines!
STEVEN “SKIP” WESTCOTT: Bet you’ve never seen pictures like those in a stuff textbook!
PETER PARKER: UH, no!
STEVEN “SKIP” WESTCOTT: Come on, Einstein! Let’s conduct a little experiment of our own! Let’s see if we can touch each other like the people in that magazine!
PETER PARKER: Please, Skip, DON’T! I’ve got to go now!
But young Peter was too frightened to leave! (Remember, kids, never trust anyone with fastidiously-coiffed hair!) Days later, his Aunt and Uncle noticed that he was no longer spending any time with Skip, and they questioned him about it. After much hesitation, he somehow found the courage to tell them what happened. When Spider-Man reveals to Tony that he was that boy, it inspires Tony to “do the right thing” and tell his parents what Judy did to him. Swinging over Manhattan, Spidey takes Tony to his parents, who have been attending a party across town. In a private room, the webbed party-crasher encourages Tony to spill the beans to his folks, who are understandably shocked and outraged at the news, but are also concerned, grateful and proud of Tony’s bravery. After the Lewis family thanks Spider-Man, he races back home to his dark room, conducting a soliloquy with himself:
SPIDER-MAN: I’ve never admitted it to myself before, but for years I’ve been haunted – ashamed of that part of my past! Like Tony I though I did something WRONG! – that I was responsible! It wasn’t until tonight, and Tony’s similar experience, that I finally truly realized that what happened back then wasn’t m fault! It really wasn’t my fault! And I owe it all to Tony!

Alternate take is that he was embellishing his own past history as Bill Clinton does to make other people feel better. "I remember..."

Or if the town tries to organize a possie, he would say, "I don't like 'possie'".

LOL! This thread is highly entertaining.

The historic comic references & pictures are also quite enlightening given that we are especially tuned to this crap these days due to the fact that it is figuratively speaking crammed down our throat on a daily basis. How many TV shows these days DON'T actually have a token gay castmember.

I wonder how many folks noticed all the various innuendos in these comics during the period when they were actually published.

Some of the above examples seem campy today but they weren't necessarily intended that way.

Additionally, Dr. Frederic Wertham, who together with Tennessee Democrat Senator Estes Keffauver, did more than anyone else to kill off comic books. Among his assertions in his book, Seduction Of The Innocent, he made the allegation that Batman and Robin were gay. Additionally he illustrated his book with examples of subversive illustrations in the comics. At his most extreme was this sample with the caption: "There are pictures within pictures for those who know how to look."

(You'll need to go to the link above to see the picture, the pic is on a geocities site)

Here's a more modern (1970s) example of what someone thinks is another example of this (it certainly is an odd positioning of the "equipment")

This is to be published under Marvel's (failing) MAX imprint. MAX stories are set in an alternate Marvel reality from the core universe. It is a publicity stunt using a hero not well known outside of comic book fandom.

MAX was started as an experiment to see if they can boost sales by getting down and dirty for adults. Comics are no longer read by kids the way they used to be. The average comic book reader/collector is in his 20s and getting older as time goes by. Efforts to sell comic books to younger kids has not been possible this last decade probably because of video games and card collectable fads.

I know there will be a lot of outraged parents on this thread but I doubt any of their kids read comic books or would know where to buy them since comics are no longer sold in newsstands but in specialty stores.

..and now you know and knowing is half the battle.

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