Transgender Representation in Comic Books

Comic books have been a staple of our culture since Superman took to the skies in 1938. Since then, titles such as Spiderman, Batman, X-Men, Iron Man....(are you seeing a pattern yet?) have dominated the comic store shelves. That's not to say that women haven't been represented in mainstream titles. Wonder Woman, Power Girl, Captain Marvel, as well as a variety of feminine variants of originally male superheroes (SpiderWoman, Super Girl, etc.) have also achieved notable success, even if they are oversexualized. Since the more recent upsurge of support for the LGBT community, even homosexual superheroes have received at least respectable attention in mainstream comics. (Northstar in Astonishing X-Men #51). However, there is one relatively untapped market that has been avoided, misrepresented, underappreciated and even persecuted by the mainstream comic industry: The Transgender community.

Ok, Ok, So I know what you may be thinking. "Oh boy, yet another transperson screaming for attention and inclusive representation from some form of media.". Well, yeah...kinda. Look, I have some pretty reasonable points that make my argument in this case. The first of which has to do with how comic books are marketed and who they are marketed to. Traditionally, comics have been considered an industry that caters mostly to males. Hence the plethora of male superheroes clad in spandex costumes, showing off their godlike prowess from Genosha to Metropolis. In my personal opinion, this fact can be best illustrated by a joke by Jerry Seinfeld where he states "See cause all men kind of think of themselves as like low-level superheroes in their own world. I'm not even supposed to be telling you this. But when men are growing up and looking at comic books and see Batman, Spiderman, Superman... these aren't fantasies, these are options. This is the deep inner secret truth of the male mind". Even before Seinfeld unwittingly exposed this intrinsic truth of the male psyche with a comedic magnifying glass, the comic book industry had long since noticed and cashed in on the idea. While the medium was originally intended for all readers in general, it was quickly discovered that young men were the primary market that supported the industry. As a result, companies began to tailor their stories to attract more young male readers. This lead to attempts to make girls more interested in superhero comics by introducing characters like Wonder Woman, Supergirl and superhero teams that included female characters. Over the years these characters were given skimpier outfits and more unrealistic, yet pleasant to look at figures for boys to drool over...you know...to keep them "interested" in the "story".

The second point has to do with the Comics Code Authority. In 1954, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham published the book Seduction of the Innocent which posed a scathing opposition to entertainment media and it's effects on the minds of adolescents. The publication rallied the U.S. lawmakers into proposing various methods of regulation and censorship on everything from music and movies to comics and radio stories. The comic book industry, elected to establish it's own code authority in order to self regulate rather than be controlled by the government establishing the institution later that same year. Authors or publishers would have to submit their stories to the Code Authority for review

and if all criteria was met, a stamp of approval would be imposed onto every cover of the issue. Most retailers refused to sell product without this stamp of approval. To receive this approval a story could not include gore, horror, terror, sexual innuendo; it could not portray disrespect of policeman, judges, politicians or respected institutions and such characters could never die as a result of criminal activities. In every instance, the hero had to triumph over the villain or avert disaster with a happy end. Kidnapping, excessive violence, classic Hollywood monsters (Vampires, Werewolves, zombies etc.), seduction, rape, sadism, masochism, were all strictly prohibited. Even many words and phrases were not tolerable. With most of these stipulations making sense, especially regarding the mindset of the general public of the time, it may come to no surprise that "sex perversion, abnormality, and sexual relations" were all specifically prohibited. Include the fact that traditional and wholesome love stories were highly favored as well as stories that "propped up the sanctity of marriage", you have favorable conditions for a perfect storm of LGBT exclusion. This trend continued well into the 1970's until the CCA loosened it's stranglehold on the industry allowing just a little more freedom of creativity every year. So by the mid 80's LGBT characters and story lines started to make appearances on store shelves, even if much of it was negative or purposefully insignificant. By 2001, most publisher's had abandoned the self regulation and the CCA was finally put to rest in 2011 when DC Comics and a few other lesser publications withdrew support.

The third point has to do with how the LGBT community and more specifically the trans community has been represented by the comic book industry in the past. In the early days of inclusion in comics, LGBT characters tended to be minor, situational characters only displayed in a short sequences and usually as a victim of some sort of crime or the target of a joke. Very few of these characters are transgender. Gradually, this practice began to transcend from depicting LGBT people as victims or mockeries to giving them slightly more to do. That is yes these people do exist in the comic's universe but are used lightly and in supporting or background roles as comic relief or to assist the hero in order to further a plot. While this slightly better treatment mirrored the shift in real life support of the LGBT community, it hardly did the community any justice as these characters lacked depth and offered little to no emotional connection to readers.

Then, in 2000, the first X-Men film came out. I mean that both factually and  kind of figuratively. The history of the X-Men comics was no stranger to condemning social inequality. Issues in the 1960's strongly resembled the struggles and triumphs of the civil rights movement at the time even with the CCA breathing down the neck of the industry. When that film was released, it again challenged inequality again. But this time the theme revolved more around the struggles of LGBT people, invoking the ideas that people are born the way we are and there is no shame in being different. It's subsequent sequels hammered these ideas further. Recall the scene at the beginning of The Last Stand where Angel, as a child, is desperately trying to hide his mutation from his father only to be discovered and sobbing to his father "I'm sorry." as he enters the bathroom. Later in the film we learn a cure to mutation has been discovered and further the government intends to weaponize it. An idea that bears a disturbing resemblance to the real life practice of gay conversion therapy. These films opened a door for the industry, allowing them to represent the LGBT community more adequately and respectfully, by further exploring and illustrating our struggles. But as time progressed and lesbian, gay and bisexual people received better representation more often, the trans community was getting left behind.

Now, and very slowly, transgender representation in comics is starting to take hold, mostly in the independent markets. Aftershock Comics has a series called Alters, which is a lot like X-Men but centers around a transgender woman named Chalice(pictured at the very top of the article.). In the comic which is colored by transwoman Tamra Bonvillain, Chalice trys to balance being an in-the closet transwoman, a responsible and productive family member who supports their disabled sibling, and an Alter(mutant) who must hide their identity from a disapproving government, fearful public, and dangerous villains. Stories like this can help people who aren't trans discover and learn about the struggles we face as transfolk and that those circumstances are not the only obstacles we face. It shows that quite often transgender people deal with many of the same everyday problems anyone else might face. But not every story has to be a desperate call to end struggle and oppression. Another comic Kim & Kim is a space themed bounty hunter story which features a lesbian and a transwoman. It's fun and exciting and doesn't really delve into the darkness of the trans experience. It very simply involves a trans character and her adventures. which is also a healthy story as it allows the reader to see the bright shiny personality that many transfolk have and what it might be like if we were treated like everyone else.


The next major step in representation in comics is the upcoming season of Supergirl on the CW which will feature a transgender superhero character played by transwoman and activist Nicole Maines. I predict that, if executed correctly, this particular season and character will open doors for more well established comic publishers like DC and Marvel to represent us with dignity, enthusiasm and respect. Just like the X-Men films of the early 2000's did for the LGB community. It's an exciting prospect and I'm really looking forward to it.