Green Lantern, now with more gay!

[jcastick]

Still think it should have been Plastic Man.......

[Twisted Two-Face]

i have nothing to add to the alan scott conversation, but i do know quite a few jewish comic book characters:

Wiccan

Moonknight

QuickSilver

Scarlet Witch

Ambush bug

Atom Smasher

Magneto

(some of those are by heritage but still)

Wiccan's Jewish?? How does that even WORK???

I don't think you can say just because a parent is Jewish that a child is; i know several families with mixed religion parents that the children choose one to follow. Kitty's the only one actually outspoken as Jewish, as i recall.

But, well, thank you guys. I didn't want to get to political or too "insulting" so i tried to reel is in a bit, but i'm glad i'm not alone in this. Sadly, comic creators seem to be a vast majority of cliche liberal mentalities (nothing wrong with that, sometimes comics need to be progressive to move forward and they're very good writers) but people like Gail Simone are just generally happy to see a prominent gay character and have VERY open disdain for critics of it. They're missing the point entirely. To quote Dolores Umbridge, "Progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged." There's no reason to change him, and i'm very disappointed.

That said, i will keep buying Earth 2. It's well written and i want to see a new JSA form. But i won't have anywhere near the interest in Alan as i did before this. (And, by the way, he's a billionaire now?? Not a lower-middle-class railway worker?? Come on, DC.)

[battlecat]

Wiccan's Jewish?? How does that even WORK???

I don't think you can say just because a parent is Jewish that a child is; i know several families with mixed religion parents that the children choose one to follow. Kitty's the only one actually outspoken as Jewish, as i recall.

Is Wiccan actually a practicing wiccan, or is that just a codename because of his powers? Either way being Jewish isn't just about religion, it also refers to ethnicity and sometimes nationality, which is where family lineage plays a bigger part. Not all Jews practice Judaism.

[Mirymate]

I am not sure Wanda or Pietro have ever stated any religious preference. They are Jewish by birth, but not practicing. Given their upbringing, I suspect they may be some brand of pagans. I think it's safe to assume Wiccan has turned his back on his heritage in pursuit of magic. Magneto lost his faith in the camps, and Moonknight... he's so mentally unstable I don't think he knows where his faith lies.

I mean, I can look at where and when Steve Rodgers was born and raised and assume he was likely raised a Catholic, but that's never been specified I don't believe.

Faith is more than what religion your parents are, or your lineage (though both can play a role), it a matter of choosing what you believe and what truths you hold sacred over all others. Aside from Nightcrawler, examples of heroes of any strong religious conviction are purposely rare, I think, to broaden their appeal and increase moral flexibility.

And I guess, fundamentally what I don't understand about the DC/Alan Scott thing is why did they feel it was nesseccary. If what we are "progressing" to is suppossed to be a color blind, gender blind, orientation blind society, then why is this even a big deal? Alan's not even their first gay character, or their first character to come out after years of not being. It's not even their first major gay lifestyle storyline involving Alan. Hell it's not even the Alan Scott we've been reading about for years, it's an alternate realiy Green Lantern we've just recently met. Might as well announce Earth 47's Superman is gay too for all it actually matters. It only matters because his name is Green Lantern, a name that just got more exposure than ever, and DC can milk a little publicity out of this "event" that they will turn around and preach at us later that it shouldn't matter and we shouldn't notice. Of course we noticed, idiot, you keep pointing it out! If I'm not suppossed to notce or care, quit slapping a neon sign on it and highlighting it so I can't help but think you want me to think of this as the defining characteristic. Point is, it's not a big deal, shouldn't have been a big deal and probably passed largely unnoticed by all if DC had not turned it into a big deal so they can thump their chest about how "progressive" they are.

Going to shut up before this rant really gets going.

[Twisted Two-Face]

See, i wouldn't care just as you said, but it's the point that this is THE Alan Scott now; there is no "normal Earth Justice Society" and for all we know Alan Scott doesn't exist on 52 Earth; even if he does, he's not a hero and is likely in a retirement home at this point. He's not who we're reading and supposed to about. That really irritates me. We don't have an "option" to read another, straight, Scott. This is THE Alan Scott.

Edited June 2, 2012 by Twisted Two-Face

[Punisher]

EDIT: didn't read the earlier posts about Alan's back-story, which pretty much negated my arguement, so never mind.

Edited June 2, 2012 by Punisher

[undeadpool]

wiccan is definitely identified as jewish, whether or not he believes in religion may be up for grabs but he has talked about practicing the religion before and his "parents" are practicing Jews. Wiccan is also not technically a wiccan since his powers i believe work the same way as scarlet witches powers, though there is some lore behind them.

[TM2 Dinobot]

*puts on college degree glasses*

Judaism is more than just faith. It is the one religion in the world that translated over into race as well. If you are "Jewish", you can be a Jew (ethnic) or you may practice Judaism (the faith) either by conversion of through your linage, or both at the same time. The faith is practiced by a relatively small number of people, and they do not openly seek converts, unlike Islam and Christianity.

The bloodline is passed through the mother. If your mother was a Jew, so are you. If she was not yet your father was, but he does not practice his faith, you are not considered a Jew. The Faith is the linchpin to the Race. There are currently more Jews (race) living in America than in all of Israel. The highest concentration is along the eastern seaboard.

So, unless Pietro and Wanda's mother was a Jewess, they are not Jews, because their father does not practice his faith.

And yes, that's partly what the inside of my head looks like.

[undeadpool]

pretty sure magda was jewish...wasnt she put in a detention camp for a while?

[battlecat]

I think she was Roma, but the matrilineal thing is more for old school Orthodox/conservative Judaism anyway -- it's quite a bit more complicated in modern times because of many people outside those limits who have other connections to Jewish culture and ethnicity, along with various reform movements on the religious end of things broadening inclusion. But anyone interested should probably just go google this stuff, given that we're not really supposed to talk about religion or politics here.

Oh and by the by, the term "Jewess" is pretty archaic and usually considered derogatory Dino, though I'm sure it wasn't intended to offend.

[Nessex]

M in X-Factor is Muslim, and has mentioned it on more than one occasion. In fact, X-Factor is a reasonably diverse bunch. a Muslim, at least 2 catholics, 2 gay guys, an italian, an alien & a troll. LOL.

This news is a disappointment because it seems like attention seeking & while i don't read DC, many think it feels inorganic. But - they are starting from 'scratch'. So - each character is essentially up for total re-writing.

What i take offence to is the way this is served up as an offering and made a big deal of. If they (DC) were genuinely interested in making a statement, they'd have someone a little more front and centre as a gay character. The amount of noise they made led me to believe that Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, or AquaMan was going to be gay in this new universe.

You know what DC: I'm super happy for you to have gay characters in your universe. Thrilled even. I volunteer with at-risk youth & i know that it is incredibly important for young people to have positive role models to look up to that they can identify with, whether that identifier is a gender, ethnicity, faith, sexuality, hair colour . . . whatever. But making a fan-fare over such a minor announcement is making a spectacle of it & expecting to be patted on the back for it.

'Some of my best friends are black/gay/jewish/etc. . . . ' is lame. You make it 'cool' by making it mainstream & a non-issue. Not by creating a fanfare over something that should already be common-place.

[Mirymate]

Magda was Jewish, she and Max/Eric/Magnus met in the camps. (though the Roma were sent to the camps as well) Which would mean Wiccan and Speed are Jewish by blood. But again Kitty Pryde is the only one actually in the Faith, in fact I'm sure Speed would be surprised if told he was Jewish. Like I said earlier, Wanda and Pietro identify themselves more with the beliefs and traditions of their adoptive parents: the Roma or Gypsies of eastern/central Europe. (for anyone who didn't know what "Roma" meant) As little as they know about their father, I doubt they know much if anything of his/their heritage. That Billy was raised Jewish is an example of cosmic irony.

[battlecat]

Magda was Jewish, she and Max/Eric/Magnus met in the camps. (though the Roma were sent to the camps as well)

I feel like it was a plot point in that Testament mini a few years back that she was in the gypsy camp, but maybe I'm remembering it wrong. And along with Kitty I think they've occasionally shown Ben Grimm as practicing in recent years.

[Mirymate]

You're right, cat. Ben did just have his Bar... bar... Ben just recently got back in touch with his faith very recently. Maybe dying, spending some time in heaven, then being sent home had somehing to do with it.

You're remembering her Roma, I remember her Jewish, but then I could be remembering it wrong too. I don't have a copy of Testiment handy so if someone that does could check, at least two of us would be relieved to know.

And yeah, we've hijacked the "guess who just became gay?" thread into a "which heroes are jewish?" discussion.

[The_Donster]

Meh. The only thing about it that bothers me is that it needs the fanfare. It will be nice when a fictional universe being diverse and well-rounded isn't newsworthy.

Guess we're alone on this one Turtle.

[TM2 Dinobot]

No, I agree, I just didn't say anything.

[Kostisfire]

alan proposes to his boyfriend Keep on copying DC.

[MisterPL]

I'm sorry but the setting of the choo-choo in the tunnel made me snicker. Seriously, DC outs Alan with a flaming image of the original GL, whose weakness has always been wood. Then they follow it up with this illustration? What's next, showing them en route to a honeymoon in Hershey, PA? Something tells me the guys at DC are giggling a little about all this.

[TM2 Dinobot]

[Twisted Two-Face]

Well...thanks for spoiling that. Wasn't going to read it until i could actually BUY the book.

The timing is interesting but considering how long ago it must have been written it's more coincidental. Still annoying, but at least they're doing SOMETHING with this gay thing. Engaged is more compelling than "I have a gay boyfriend!!!"