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Cowl by Khoi Pham
Ever because the DC Rebirth one-shot final yr, we waited to see Aqualad floor. In any case, he was briefly launched within the situation, together with affirmation that he was a brand new homosexual character for the DC Universe.
Now, with Teen Titans #6 this week the erstwhile character returns, and we now have his home-life, historical past and relationships additional expanded whereas nonetheless leaving sufficient thriller to maintain the reader .
Varaint cowl by Chris Burnham and Nathan Fairbairn
This situation, by Benjamin Percy, Khoi Pham, Wade Von Grawbadger and Jim Charalampidis, is actually a arrange situation, however not in a foul approach in any respect. It units up the brand new location, relationships and personalities of the core Teen Titan group, a brand new thriller for the workforce and in addition the brand new character, Jackson Hyde a.ok.a. Aqualad, who we be taught is a reasonably optimistic, overtly homosexual younger man who has continuously confronted push again for these pure issues about himself (he is a water-powered hero residing within the desert, he is homosexual however dates a man that has to cover it and so on.)
Artwork by Gary Frank
One ingredient is the slight change in illustration of his mom. Within the DC Rebirth one-shot, Jackson Hyde’s mom, within the transient time we see her, comes throughout as deeply homophobic, telling her son what he does with different boys is ‘unnatural’. Nonetheless, on this situation, her issues about her sons sexuality appear extra nuanced: she is anxious about him pushing his variations from different individuals and drawing consideration to himself. From his powers, the markings on his pores and skin, he already has many peculiarities to attract maybe undesirable consideration to him. Jackson’s sexuality, in an space the place being totally different and being LGBTQ specifically is considered negatively, is an additional ingredient that might draw this undesirable consideration to her son.
As such, her response feels extra like a mom’s concern. Clearly a bit of too aggressively overbearing and maybe unintentionally homophobic, however nonetheless an indication of her fears and look after her sons security.
It is a selection in course I am nonetheless grappling with. Personally, I appreciated the concept of a hero character having to beat the homophobia and bigotry of his personal dad and mom, one thing that many LGBTQ+ individuals sadly nonetheless face day-after-day. I really feel like that might have been very helpful and provoking to readers going via the identical issues, to see an superior hero overcome it. Nonetheless, I do like this extra nuanced course too. It provides extra depth to Jackson’s mom’s character than merely ‘massive, ol’ homophobe’ and provides an additional wrinkle to their relationship to be explored.
A part of the thriller arrange is of course who Aqualad’s father is. In fact, in case you’ve seen Young Justice and the earlier Aqualad, together with latest DC solicits, it could appear apparent. And what few clues there are thus far would appear to assist it. However possibly we are going to but see a shock.
Khoi Pham er al.’s art work is nice for the collection too. The characters appear younger and contemporary, and the linework is splendidly clear. The quantity of emotion the characters present on their faces and stances is nice too, because it stretches previous the generic and into the fascinating to have a look at, and at instances enjoyable too.
The difficulty as a complete presents lots of set-up for what guarantees to be an thrilling arc, and a strong and intriguing introduction of a brand new character, not to mention a brand new ingredient of LGBTQ+ illustration within the DCU. I for one sit up for seeing extra of Aqualad and what the long run holds for this character.
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Posted in: Comics, Evaluate | Tagged: aqualad, Benjamin Percy, Comics, dc, homosexual, jackson hyde, jim charalampidis, khoi pham, lgbt, LGBTQ, illustration issues, Evaluate, teen titans, wade von grawbadger, younger justice
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