The next article comprises spoilers from Dark Crisis #1, on sale now.
The Dark Crisis has already seemingly claimed its first casualties after the dying of the Justice League. Nevertheless, Dark Crisis #1 (by Joshua Williamson, Daniel Sampere, Alejandro Sanchez, Tom Napolitano), might have made a vital mistake of their alternative of sufferer. The difficulty appeared to indicate Chupacabra, the youngest of the brand new era of Teen Titans, being assaulted by Deathstroke’s forces. He then had a bomb strapped to his chest, which detonated.
Whereas it is not confirmed if this killed him or not, it is exhausting to think about how he would have escaped dying seeing as he had literal seconds to spare. What makes his dying such a miscalculation is that Chupacabra canonically identifies as queer. For him to not solely be assaulted, however then murdered throughout satisfaction month unintentionally spits within the face of what the month is meant to be about: a celebration of affection and acceptance for the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood.
It isn’t exhausting to check what occurred to Chupacabra to what may probably occur to somebody who additionally identifies as queer. The world has come a good distance from the times when being homosexual was a felony offense, however the discrimination and hatred directed in the direction of the neighborhood has not gone away. There are nonetheless some who can be prepared to assault an individual for not being heterosexual, focusing on them out of nowhere for no different motive than spite.
The parallels are there. Chupacabra was minding his personal enterprise when he was attacked by the Secret Society. They let him go, however clearly beat him so badly that he may barely stroll again to his dwelling. Sadly, it additionally appears they wished to complete the job. Chupacabra stumbled into Titan Tower to hunt medical consideration, however did not understand that they’d strapped a bomb to him. Sadly, by the point anybody seen, the bomb detonated.
Now, granting DC the advantage of the doubt, it’s unlikely that this determination was intentionally made figuring out it might coincide with satisfaction month. Extra importantly, Chupacabra was not proven dying, it was solely proven that the bomb went off. Seeing as Nightwing is supposed to outlive into the following situation and that he would have been at floor zero of the blast, it appears probably that if he survived someway, then so too did Chupacabra.
That being stated, it may solely be Nightwing who managed to get away, possibly whisked out of hurt’s means by a speedster or shielded by a extra sturdy Titan. In that case, then Chupacabra virtually definitely was the one sufferer of the blast, his final moments being spent crushed to a bloody pulp by individuals who had been in search of a simple sufferer to rattle the Titans. This is perhaps a nightmare for DC from a publicity standpoint. They’ve already launched their newest guide compiling tales of queer characters in DC Delight #1.
So, for it to coincide with the violent dying of a hero from that neighborhood, and in a fashion that mirrors far too many real-life acts of violence in opposition to the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood, it simply leaves a foul style within the mouth. It’s negligent on their half at finest, and offensive on the worst. Hopefully, the writers of the collection had the foresight to see the place this might have been heading and had some final minute rescue deliberate for Chupacabra. In any other case, DC simply opened a can of worms on a month they meant to have fun.