I think it's important for people to be able to react to the whole story, not just a few pieces or headlines or concepts. I'm glad you're getting something out of it, and thank you for the kind words!
Retconning Alan's orientation makes no real sense. He's never been written as anything but straight since his creation, almost 80 years now. He's been married twice, he has two children, and he was clearly shown to have a loving and affectionate relationship with his wife, Molly, particularly during Alan's solo feature in Green Lantern Corps Quarterly. He even went to Hell to rescue her soul during Underworld Unleashed. Changing Alan to homosexual literally comes out of nowhere and counters everything we've seen in his entire published history. The only way I can possibly rationalize it is to say that Dr. Manhattan changed him during Doomsday Clock while manipulating his history. Otherwise it makes no sense at all. And now we have to live with the fact that his marriage to Molly is a sham, and he's been unfaithful to her with his "friends" over the years, which does not fit Alan's fearless and honest character. Whatever his orientation, the implication that he's lied and been unfaithful to his wife that way is just not something I can see Alan Scott doing. This is nothing but a cheap publicity stunt, which wrecks one of DC's oldest characters in the process.
Bringing a character's sexuality into the story is always a mistake, in my opinion. Now, he can't just be Alan Scott - Green Lantern, he's Alan Scott, the gay Green Lantern.
The sexuality of characters is on full display all the time. Whenever there's a romance subplot, a wedding, or even just an acknowledgment that someone is married or dating, that's telling you about their sexuality. Nobody gives it a second thought when it's a straight relationship, and (I would assume) the end goal of representation is normalization.
Well, I hope for the sake of your own enjoyment that you stop feeling that way someday, because non-straight relationships are a fact of life and they aren't going away.
What bothers me about Alan Scott being gay is the fact that making that, DC totally forgot Terry Berg, who should had be the first gay Green Lantern, and basically eliminated any chance to see him again. And that's sad, because he seemed to be an honest creation, not a marketing tool to give a good look to the company. Maybe I'm being too naive about that, but I never had the sensation that Terry's creation was something to gain the gay community sympathy. Although I have no reason to doubt about James Tynion's artistic integrity, I have the feeling that everything about Alan Scott being gay is nothing but a marketing movement. When I see the old Alan stories I think on him as "the classic Green Lantern", but when I see new stories with him, the first thing that comes to my mind now is "is fake gay Lantern". Call me cynical, but I believe this angle will be dropped again as they did before, because is not an honest creation, and was not a real part of the character. And I must say, is not that I don't like the idea of a gay superhero. I'm gay and I like the idea, but when is made honestly. This modern Alan gives me the sensation DC's marketing dept retooled the character, and packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic bag, and now they're trying to sell him as "the product for me".
The big problem is that their first attempt at this was an insincere publicity stunt, meaning anything good done this time has to work extra hard just to be taken seriously. I do wonder if James Tynion IV would've pushed for this if Alan Scott wasn't about to become such a high profile character in the comics and on tv...in that regard, I agree that marketing played a significant part, since it's an opportunity to do representation right and get it in front of the largest possible number of people. I don't think this will be like last time, though that could change, this could all fall apart at any time, but right now I personally don't think that's where we're headed.
There's a problem with perception as well. The reaction the fake gay lantern says it all really. And I'm gay and literally don't have a problem with being marketed. Everyone else is that's what equality end equity is both good and bad. Let gay people speak for themselves about how they feel regarding representation rather than stating it like its fact. Mind you I say thus in full acknowledgement that I am one gay man and I don't represent everyone. Not to mention any change like that is marketed to a certain degree. Happened with every dominant female hero in the last century . No different
Imo, I think instead of reconning Alan to be gay, they should have put more focus on his son, Obsidian, instead. In my opinion Obsidian is real gay representation or gone through with creating new characters that happen to be gay like this Terry Berg. I feel like Alan is being treated like a hand-me-down and might never truly be seen as authentic gay representation due to the fact he was canonically straight for 98% of his publications and was just reconned to be gay in the last year or two. Granted, I’m not gay so I most likely don’t have a right to say any of this and am willing to listen to counter arguments to my point. I just wanted to give my honest two cents.
@@AlecEburhard You have every right to argue that as a logical person, and a comic book fan familiar with the characters. People don't turn into bleeding morons incpable of forming opinions on different subjects because they don't happen to fall into one population vs another. Taken to it's logical conclusion, a male couldn't possibly know it is bad to beat up a female because they don't have the female persepective.
I'm sorry, but it's still a ridiculous retcon and as good of a writer as James is it'll still be silly and I'll never buy it, I would've rather had Earth 2 Alan (which says a lot because I don't like that book) and keep main Alan separate
Change him to be gay isn’t tht big of a deal, how is it so ridiculous tht he could be gay???? Seems like there’s there’s an underlying problem on why u don’t want him gay
@@samthemanlee1508It's the fact that... He wasn't. He was straight, and this sudden change is a retcon WITHOUT hints or accuracy to the characters history, unlike Tim which EVERYONE saw his crush on Superboy, Alan never showed anything like it, and forcing the main prime Alan to be gay only because an AU version of him was, is unnecessary and it may sound preachy as well However, it's not inaccurate to real life, plenty of gay men had a whole life of loving and having sex with women, having kids as well like Alan, Beakman's actor is like that, the same thing happened to Iceman, so it's not impossible to happen, and it's a nice representation for men who feel that way, specially on Alan's age, and definitly it will be ignored when Iceman becomes canon in the MCU, he will likely be gay from the start, and not discovering that for himself But it's very nescessary to understand that it's a hard pill to swallow, at least Iceman had something from his history to make it sense, he was a womanizer, a man who can't accept he is gay that it develops a toxic relationship with women by what society expects from a straight man "like him", plus that X2 scene which it's perfect, for Alan that's not the case, you could fit it better by making him bi? Sure, but like I said, it would loose the representation for old gay men who discovers and accepts that after a long time Honestly I do think sexuality is a hard concept to understand, I do believe it's both impossible to change but it can change as well (ofc not by force), so a character like Alan changing from confirmed straight to openly gay is gonna make people confused and frustated, ofc theres prejudice but I would argue OP was more pissed due continuity issues than just bigotry, which I totally belivd and understand cuz god fucking dammit respect the canon, so yeah, not everyone is gonna like it, and if the reason is continuity, they should talk that it's kinda wrong, but at the same time, 9 crisis happened, continuity sucks, not like Marvel but it's definitely not perfect too, so why not? Let it loose a little if it's for a good cause and representation, and maybe in the future, he could change again and accept he is bi, just cuz he is gay doesn't mean his straight period does not have its value, he loved Thorn and had two kids, and if one day he ends up bi, the same applies to his discovering of homosexuality, superheroes will change according to times, and status quo as well
So they basically made him Gay, then change him to being Straight again when they remember Terry Berg, however, it's nice to see the inner trauma of Allan Scott also I may be straight but Scott was still my favorite character gay or not
Amazing video. I'm just now getting into Green Lantern comics and didn't even know about Alan. As a Bisexual man myself, I'll be sure to look forward to stories with the character from now on. Thanks!
While I feel for the Tynion's struggle and appreciate that he's being genuine with his portrayal of Alan's coming out, I can't help but feels this was done more for political brownie points than an actual effort to make a "gay icon" or whatever. Not to say Tynion was being disingenuous, but rather the only reason he was able to do this was because DC wanted to look good. That isn't to say I'd be on board for this if it weren't. If they want gay heroes they should create new ones rather than change the sexuality of established ones, it's disrespectful to the original creators to turn their creation into a political statement. I have no problem with gay people, but this is just wrong.
Staying true to the intent of the original creators becomes tricky when we're talking about a character that started in 1940 and is still going in 2022. Martin Nodell never thought his creation would still be around over 80 years later, and the fact that Alan's persisted that long has required him to change quite a few times. Some of the changes have stuck, others have been retconned away, and it's too soon to know which one this is. I'm also not very concerned about a political agenda ruining a character who's literally been punching Nazi's from WWII right up through 2011.
It's pandering making the original Golden aged Alan Scott gay. They should have focused on his son Obsidian. A original character with cool powers. So dumb.
Even tho this is old news but i still can't believe they make my favourite golden age superhero gay. I know his son Todd is gay but don't turn his father into a gay man to. This is some bullshit man.
DC definitely botched the new 52 for the most part and in handling the announcement of making the new version of Alan gay. It was just for publicity as you’ve said since they never did anything with it really. A lot of people are upset still to this day with the new GL show being announced and them announcing Alan will be gay in it. I feel it’s resurfaced in the comic circles lately from that show being announced. The naysayers which kind of make a valid point is why him, instead of a new character? I get that criticism, but you can make a counter argument on if the writers doesn’t change the core personality and mannerisms of Alan, it’s still Alan the original GL and being gay will not change that in essence. Yes his history has changed in they’ve never brought it up but if he was hiding it the whole time then it’s a valid point in society. I like Alan Scott and while I think the retcon done to him was poorly handled and maybe they should have just done a new character, it doesn’t change me liking this character. Btw, new subscriber here and I really like your content. GL is my main DC hero and property I mostly read so expect to see more of me in your future content! Cheers ! ✌️
I think as long as Alan isn't different then it ultimately shouldn't matter. The fact that it's never been mentioned prior has both effects imo. It's reflective of the time he was created etc and the difference in standards today. Though I would argue that it being said and then *nothing done with it* is perfectly reasonable as it doesn't change the character. It just colours his past differently. Not to mention the argument that it has to mean something is a little absurd. Does it mean something that supermans straight. Not really. You don't have to give meaning to something that just is in this context. And I think it's dangerous operating from that viewpoint if you are incidently not gay as that person doesn't really have the perspective to summarise gay representation (not that they can't but most don't, the fact Alan's sexuality has had this effect is an example) The idea that straight people are still telling gay stories is incredibly condescending or more precisely can come off that way. I don't say that presuming you were saying that or coming off that way mind you but it starts to become a slippery slope if that's the centre of the criticism.
I think its interesting to have a character from the Golden Age coming out as Gay, certainly from the 30s and 40s and how difficult that must have been, having grown up around friends of my mom who are gay who even had trouble coming out in the 70s and 80s. I think its a nice retcon, id actually like to read more stories not necessarily even superhero comics about gay characters having to deal with the hardship of living a secret identity in the public identity during such a time period, from what I heard from family friends it was anxiety ridden even to even come out in 70's and 80's, its honestly an interesting topic to me.
Alan did briefly mention that he told a few of his closest friends in the JSA, but we don't know when, though I would assume it was pretty far back, so there's always potential to explore those moments.
@@MosaicComics I think that a comic even one like the upcoming out of continuity Jessica Cruz comic for Alan about dealing with such issues would be a great avenue to explore that.
@@sergioruiz733 Absolutely. There are a few places they could easily do something like this. He's going to be reunited with the rest of the JSA in the comics pretty soon, and the HBO series is going to have him back in the 1940s. All the opportunities are right there, they just have to pick one.
They did such a great job with this retcon. I always enjoyed Alan and the JSA and this story with Alan and his kids reflects reality and so many peoples lived experience so well. 💚
For me, Alan should (and is in my head canon) bi. While I like how much more depth this retcon has added to the character, making him gay since the beginning fundamentally changes his previous relationships so many fans followed and enjoyed. And I think you still get the same impact by making Alan bi but still respect the old fans. It’s the same thing with Iceman. It disrespects the fans who’ve been loyal to the characters for decades and shows how little care DC and Marvel have for their own history. Also, I’m not the biggest fan of how this retcon has pushed obsidian to the side. So much of the DC’s Pride marketing only includes Alan and/or Jo but obsidian is pretty much forgotten even though he has more history as a gay character.
Exactly. Obsidian is a great, complex character, but he is being ignored because he does not have name recognition. This whole situation is just a stunt to pander to gay readers, while disrespecting fans of Scott. Now I am not against gay characters or gay people in general. I am upset because it feels like they are turning an established straight character gay, Just for the sake of publicity. I hate it when companies use someone's sexuality or race to make money and get attention from the media.
Alan being gay doesn’t change his relationships really he’s had. You can argue sides in that but I think those relationships were still important and a part of him regardless if he was in the closet the whole time. Fans will feel undermined by the whole retcon, but you can’t please everyone especially when it comes to altering an old established character like Alan
@@AtomizedSound Um, I’m pretty sure there’s a pretty huge difference between alan being gay and him being straight/bi in straight relationships. At least if he was bi, he would still be attracted to molly and wouldn’t change as much as if he was just gay the entire time. Instead of retconning him to be gay this entire time and changing the context and meaning of his previous relationships, I would have had him be bi and after molly has passed, now explore a part of his sexuality (not his whole sexuality) that he had been neglecting. It would respect and keep the relationships of his past untouched while allowing him to move forward in diverse ways. If they wanted to, they could’ve easily had earth 2 Alan be gay and earth 0 Alan be straight/bi like colossus in the 616 and 1610 universe. Also, what happened to molly? Did she know? Was she his beard? Where is she now? Tyrion and DC hasn’t bothered to mention her once which really shows much they care about Alan’s actual comic history.
Alan being full on gay doesn't really change the relationships he had, at least, in how he *cared* for the people he was with. Of course his experience of being in the closet, in the new retcon, would change how the relationships he had *affected* him in emotional or mental ways, but him having been with Molly doesn't randomly make what they had together, lesser. I'm not going to say that any other identity he could've had, would've been better. If they were to write him bi, or have any other mspec (multigender attraction) identity, that also would've also been valid, and *would* appease.. specific fans.. with him being in a straight passing relationship. But him being gay doesn't spontaneously make his ties with Molly empty. Hell, him in a relationship with *any* woman he was with, wouldn't be spontaneously empty with his care towards them! Being gay isn't as clear cut as lot's of people think. Yes, him being gay would mean he likes men, but he had a relationship with a woman, had kids, and there's gay men who have done that! There's gay men, whether or not they knew themself as gay the entire time, that had dated or married women, and may or may not have had kids with them, and they're still valid as gay men! There are lesbians that have done the same, but dated and/or married men! There's a lot more flavor when it comes to *any* queer identity, even to mspec ones! And hell, even to those who ID as straight! Now, I understand that he was most likely turned gay for money, and I *hate* that as anyone would (although, from the comics it looks like they handled him coming to terms with being gay and coming out, very well, so like-..). It's not that them changing him from being straight, that angers me, though. It's people using a gay identity to gain advantage when it comes to *moneyyyy* , that fucking concerns me. But at the end of the day, real people in real fucking life are complex on their own, and why wouldn't a comic book character be any different? Especially since real life experiences were written into Alan to make this personal story of his possible.
I have really enjoyed James’s writing however this is dumb I’m very disappointed in the choices he made for a character that this never should have happened too. More importantly if he is gay why did he ever sleep with Rose and Thorn who he was never married to
Tbh: I’m really excited that they did this change to Alan’s story and that they allowed him to have a happy relationship with his kids especially Todd.
Huh for once looking at Alan Scott green lantern being gay actually makes sense and thank god these writers actually care about Alan Scott green lantern and jade and obsidian.
Nah it doesn't make sense. It's just a lazy retcon. It's not representation it's tokenization. His son is gay, there was already a gay lantern before, do why does he have to be? He has had at least two wives, he has two kids, and if I recall he had a hard time accepting that Obsidian was gay.
I’ve never read books with Alan Scott so I don’t really have an attachment to the character, I started reading GL with Hal. I definitely understand why die hard fans are upset with the changes in his character, though most comments I read about it are just plain homophobic. I do kinda find him more interesting as a gay character. The only strong opinion I have about Alan Scott is that New 52 costume was kick ass and I loved it. I still miss it.
It is a good costume, and I still really like the original idea for what made his powers unique. We'll probably see New 52 Alan again at some point...DC writers love bringing back obscure super teams who haven't shown up in a long time.
I don't agree with it but hey different strokes for different folks. Gotta show respect to people from all walks of life regardless of views. Too much hate in the world it makes us forget that its okay to disagree.
I loved how Alan being gay came about. According to Robinson, DC wanted the JSA characters to be younger. If so, then Alan would no longer have adult children, one of which was a prominent gay character since the 80s - Obsidian. So, Robinson made Alan gay to carry that torch. So, do your research. As for "not doing anything," the point was just that. He just happened to be gay. As for classic Alan, this coming out was great and coming out to his gay son and straight daughter was handled well.
It means a lot to see you bring the sheer magnitude of context and care that you do for these stories. I’m so grateful 😃
I think it's important for people to be able to react to the whole story, not just a few pieces or headlines or concepts. I'm glad you're getting something out of it, and thank you for the kind words!
Tbh im gay and i dont need every character to be so, i can relate to straight characters
Retconning Alan's orientation makes no real sense. He's never been written as anything but straight since his creation, almost 80 years now. He's been married twice, he has two children, and he was clearly shown to have a loving and affectionate relationship with his wife, Molly, particularly during Alan's solo feature in Green Lantern Corps Quarterly. He even went to Hell to rescue her soul during Underworld Unleashed. Changing Alan to homosexual literally comes out of nowhere and counters everything we've seen in his entire published history.
The only way I can possibly rationalize it is to say that Dr. Manhattan changed him during Doomsday Clock while manipulating his history. Otherwise it makes no sense at all. And now we have to live with the fact that his marriage to Molly is a sham, and he's been unfaithful to her with his "friends" over the years, which does not fit Alan's fearless and honest character. Whatever his orientation, the implication that he's lied and been unfaithful to his wife that way is just not something I can see Alan Scott doing.
This is nothing but a cheap publicity stunt, which wrecks one of DC's oldest characters in the process.
DC has become the “sham” in it’s obscenities against it’s long established characters.
It makes no sense for him to retcon Alan scott,
What can be written
can also be re-written.
They should have kept that different version gay and the original straight he has kids for gods sake
I know right. This is some bullshit.
Bringing a character's sexuality into the story is always a mistake, in my opinion. Now, he can't just be Alan Scott - Green Lantern, he's Alan Scott, the gay Green Lantern.
The sexuality of characters is on full display all the time. Whenever there's a romance subplot, a wedding, or even just an acknowledgment that someone is married or dating, that's telling you about their sexuality. Nobody gives it a second thought when it's a straight relationship, and (I would assume) the end goal of representation is normalization.
@MosaicComics I feel it overshadows everything when the relationship is not heterosexual and for that reason I prefer it be left out of it.
Well, I hope for the sake of your own enjoyment that you stop feeling that way someday, because non-straight relationships are a fact of life and they aren't going away.
What bothers me about Alan Scott being gay is the fact that making that, DC totally forgot Terry Berg, who should had be the first gay Green Lantern, and basically eliminated any chance to see him again. And that's sad, because he seemed to be an honest creation, not a marketing tool to give a good look to the company. Maybe I'm being too naive about that, but I never had the sensation that Terry's creation was something to gain the gay community sympathy. Although I have no reason to doubt about James Tynion's artistic integrity, I have the feeling that everything about Alan Scott being gay is nothing but a marketing movement. When I see the old Alan stories I think on him as "the classic Green Lantern", but when I see new stories with him, the first thing that comes to my mind now is "is fake gay Lantern". Call me cynical, but I believe this angle will be dropped again as they did before, because is not an honest creation, and was not a real part of the character. And I must say, is not that I don't like the idea of a gay superhero. I'm gay and I like the idea, but when is made honestly. This modern Alan gives me the sensation DC's marketing dept retooled the character, and packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic bag, and now they're trying to sell him as "the product for me".
The big problem is that their first attempt at this was an insincere publicity stunt, meaning anything good done this time has to work extra hard just to be taken seriously. I do wonder if James Tynion IV would've pushed for this if Alan Scott wasn't about to become such a high profile character in the comics and on tv...in that regard, I agree that marketing played a significant part, since it's an opportunity to do representation right and get it in front of the largest possible number of people. I don't think this will be like last time, though that could change, this could all fall apart at any time, but right now I personally don't think that's where we're headed.
There's a problem with perception as well. The reaction the fake gay lantern says it all really.
And I'm gay and literally don't have a problem with being marketed. Everyone else is that's what equality end equity is both good and bad. Let gay people speak for themselves about how they feel regarding representation rather than stating it like its fact. Mind you I say thus in full acknowledgement that I am one gay man and I don't represent everyone.
Not to mention any change like that is marketed to a certain degree. Happened with every dominant female hero in the last century . No different
Imo, I think instead of reconning Alan to be gay, they should have put more focus on his son, Obsidian, instead. In my opinion Obsidian is real gay representation or gone through with creating new characters that happen to be gay like this Terry Berg. I feel like Alan is being treated like a hand-me-down and might never truly be seen as authentic gay representation due to the fact he was canonically straight for 98% of his publications and was just reconned to be gay in the last year or two. Granted, I’m not gay so I most likely don’t have a right to say any of this and am willing to listen to counter arguments to my point. I just wanted to give my honest two cents.
@@AlecEburhard You have every right to argue that as a logical person, and a comic book fan familiar with the characters. People don't turn into bleeding morons incpable of forming opinions on different subjects because they don't happen to fall into one population vs another. Taken to it's logical conclusion, a male couldn't possibly know it is bad to beat up a female because they don't have the female persepective.
Instead of actually creating new characters for
The message™ they do bs retcons like this.
Look at how they did my boy
Great video and channel, just subscribed, keep up the good work :)
Thank you!
I'm sorry, but it's still a ridiculous retcon and as good of a writer as James is it'll still be silly and I'll never buy it, I would've rather had Earth 2 Alan (which says a lot because I don't like that book) and keep main Alan separate
Change him to be gay isn’t tht big of a deal, how is it so ridiculous tht he could be gay???? Seems like there’s there’s an underlying problem on why u don’t want him gay
@@samthemanlee1508It's the fact that... He wasn't. He was straight, and this sudden change is a retcon WITHOUT hints or accuracy to the characters history, unlike Tim which EVERYONE saw his crush on Superboy, Alan never showed anything like it, and forcing the main prime Alan to be gay only because an AU version of him was, is unnecessary and it may sound preachy as well
However, it's not inaccurate to real life, plenty of gay men had a whole life of loving and having sex with women, having kids as well like Alan, Beakman's actor is like that, the same thing happened to Iceman, so it's not impossible to happen, and it's a nice representation for men who feel that way, specially on Alan's age, and definitly it will be ignored when Iceman becomes canon in the MCU, he will likely be gay from the start, and not discovering that for himself
But it's very nescessary to understand that it's a hard pill to swallow, at least Iceman had something from his history to make it sense, he was a womanizer, a man who can't accept he is gay that it develops a toxic relationship with women by what society expects from a straight man "like him", plus that X2 scene which it's perfect, for Alan that's not the case, you could fit it better by making him bi? Sure, but like I said, it would loose the representation for old gay men who discovers and accepts that after a long time
Honestly I do think sexuality is a hard concept to understand, I do believe it's both impossible to change but it can change as well (ofc not by force), so a character like Alan changing from confirmed straight to openly gay is gonna make people confused and frustated, ofc theres prejudice but I would argue OP was more pissed due continuity issues than just bigotry, which I totally belivd and understand cuz god fucking dammit respect the canon, so yeah, not everyone is gonna like it, and if the reason is continuity, they should talk that it's kinda wrong, but at the same time, 9 crisis happened, continuity sucks, not like Marvel but it's definitely not perfect too, so why not? Let it loose a little if it's for a good cause and representation, and maybe in the future, he could change again and accept he is bi, just cuz he is gay doesn't mean his straight period does not have its value, he loved Thorn and had two kids, and if one day he ends up bi, the same applies to his discovering of homosexuality, superheroes will change according to times, and status quo as well
So they basically made him Gay, then change him to being Straight again when they remember Terry Berg, however, it's nice to see the inner trauma of Allan Scott also I may be straight but Scott was still my favorite character gay or not
More like they forced it just to blend in with this generation despite the fact that he's been straight for decades🤬.
Amazing video. I'm just now getting into Green Lantern comics and didn't even know about Alan. As a Bisexual man myself, I'll be sure to look forward to stories with the character from now on. Thanks!
While I feel for the Tynion's struggle and appreciate that he's being genuine with his portrayal of Alan's coming out, I can't help but feels this was done more for political brownie points than an actual effort to make a "gay icon" or whatever. Not to say Tynion was being disingenuous, but rather the only reason he was able to do this was because DC wanted to look good.
That isn't to say I'd be on board for this if it weren't. If they want gay heroes they should create new ones rather than change the sexuality of established ones, it's disrespectful to the original creators to turn their creation into a political statement.
I have no problem with gay people, but this is just wrong.
Staying true to the intent of the original creators becomes tricky when we're talking about a character that started in 1940 and is still going in 2022. Martin Nodell never thought his creation would still be around over 80 years later, and the fact that Alan's persisted that long has required him to change quite a few times. Some of the changes have stuck, others have been retconned away, and it's too soon to know which one this is. I'm also not very concerned about a political agenda ruining a character who's literally been punching Nazi's from WWII right up through 2011.
You do know you're homophobic, right? You're blaming it on LGBT rather than reading the comics. They had another flashpoint.
It's pandering making the original Golden aged Alan Scott gay. They should have focused on his son Obsidian. A original character with cool powers. So dumb.
Even tho this is old news but i still can't believe they make my favourite golden age superhero gay. I know his son Todd is gay but don't turn his father into a gay man to. This is some bullshit man.
Thank you someone said it
... Isn't... Isn't all experience... Lived experience?
I just don't get why he got someone pregnant and then remarried a woman and they still haven't explained that satisfactorily
DC definitely botched the new 52 for the most part and in handling the announcement of making the new version of Alan gay. It was just for publicity as you’ve said since they never did anything with it really.
A lot of people are upset still to this day with the new GL show being announced and them announcing Alan will be gay in it. I feel it’s resurfaced in the comic circles lately from that show being announced. The naysayers which kind of make a valid point is why him, instead of a new character? I get that criticism, but you can make a counter argument on if the writers doesn’t change the core personality and mannerisms of Alan, it’s still Alan the original GL and being gay will not change that in essence. Yes his history has changed in they’ve never brought it up but if he was hiding it the whole time then it’s a valid point in society. I like Alan Scott and while I think the retcon done to him was poorly handled and maybe they should have just done a new character, it doesn’t change me liking this character.
Btw, new subscriber here and I really like your content. GL is my main DC hero and property I mostly read so expect to see more of me in your future content! Cheers ! ✌️
Glad to have you around! This retcon is absolutely a hard one to get right, but so far so good, in my opinion.
I think as long as Alan isn't different then it ultimately shouldn't matter. The fact that it's never been mentioned prior has both effects imo. It's reflective of the time he was created etc and the difference in standards today. Though I would argue that it being said and then *nothing done with it* is perfectly reasonable as it doesn't change the character. It just colours his past differently. Not to mention the argument that it has to mean something is a little absurd. Does it mean something that supermans straight. Not really. You don't have to give meaning to something that just is in this context. And I think it's dangerous operating from that viewpoint if you are incidently not gay as that person doesn't really have the perspective to summarise gay representation (not that they can't but most don't, the fact Alan's sexuality has had this effect is an example) The idea that straight people are still telling gay stories is incredibly condescending or more precisely can come off that way. I don't say that presuming you were saying that or coming off that way mind you but it starts to become a slippery slope if that's the centre of the criticism.
Wouldn't Alan Scotts story be to similar to Negative man from doom patrol.
What about that JLA /JSA crossover were Alan Scott went crazy and was a villian.
I think its interesting to have a character from the Golden Age coming out as Gay, certainly from the 30s and 40s and how difficult that must have been, having grown up around friends of my mom who are gay who even had trouble coming out in the 70s and 80s. I think its a nice retcon, id actually like to read more stories not necessarily even superhero comics about gay characters having to deal with the hardship of living a secret identity in the public identity during such a time period, from what I heard from family friends it was anxiety ridden even to even come out in 70's and 80's, its honestly an interesting topic to me.
Alan did briefly mention that he told a few of his closest friends in the JSA, but we don't know when, though I would assume it was pretty far back, so there's always potential to explore those moments.
@@MosaicComics I think that a comic even one like the upcoming out of continuity Jessica Cruz comic for Alan about dealing with such issues would be a great avenue to explore that.
@@sergioruiz733 Absolutely. There are a few places they could easily do something like this. He's going to be reunited with the rest of the JSA in the comics pretty soon, and the HBO series is going to have him back in the 1940s. All the opportunities are right there, they just have to pick one.
They did such a great job with this retcon. I always enjoyed Alan and the JSA and this story with Alan and his kids reflects reality and so many peoples lived experience so well. 💚
It's a stupid retcon that shouldn't of happened.
Alan Scott literally has KIDS
Yeah and
For me, Alan should (and is in my head canon) bi. While I like how much more depth this retcon has added to the character, making him gay since the beginning fundamentally changes his previous relationships so many fans followed and enjoyed. And I think you still get the same impact by making Alan bi but still respect the old fans. It’s the same thing with Iceman. It disrespects the fans who’ve been loyal to the characters for decades and shows how little care DC and Marvel have for their own history. Also, I’m not the biggest fan of how this retcon has pushed obsidian to the side. So much of the DC’s Pride marketing only includes Alan and/or Jo but obsidian is pretty much forgotten even though he has more history as a gay character.
Exactly. Obsidian is a great, complex character, but he is being ignored because he does not have name recognition. This whole situation is just a stunt to pander to gay readers, while disrespecting fans of Scott. Now I am not against gay characters or gay people in general. I am upset because it feels like they are turning an established straight character gay, Just for the sake of publicity. I hate it when companies use someone's sexuality or race to make money and get attention from the media.
Alan being gay doesn’t change his relationships really he’s had. You can argue sides in that but I think those relationships were still important and a part of him regardless if he was in the closet the whole time. Fans will feel undermined by the whole retcon, but you can’t please everyone especially when it comes to altering an old established character like Alan
@@AtomizedSound could have pleased them by not doing it in the first place and just bring back Alan with Molly
@@AtomizedSound Um, I’m pretty sure there’s a pretty huge difference between alan being gay and him being straight/bi in straight relationships. At least if he was bi, he would still be attracted to molly and wouldn’t change as much as if he was just gay the entire time. Instead of retconning him to be gay this entire time and changing the context and meaning of his previous relationships, I would have had him be bi and after molly has passed, now explore a part of his sexuality (not his whole sexuality) that he had been neglecting. It would respect and keep the relationships of his past untouched while allowing him to move forward in diverse ways. If they wanted to, they could’ve easily had earth 2 Alan be gay and earth 0 Alan be straight/bi like colossus in the 616 and 1610 universe. Also, what happened to molly? Did she know? Was she his beard? Where is she now? Tyrion and DC hasn’t bothered to mention her once which really shows much they care about Alan’s actual comic history.
Alan being full on gay doesn't really change the relationships he had, at least, in how he *cared* for the people he was with. Of course his experience of being in the closet, in the new retcon, would change how the relationships he had *affected* him in emotional or mental ways, but him having been with Molly doesn't randomly make what they had together, lesser. I'm not going to say that any other identity he could've had, would've been better. If they were to write him bi, or have any other mspec (multigender attraction) identity, that also would've also been valid, and *would* appease.. specific fans.. with him being in a straight passing relationship. But him being gay doesn't spontaneously make his ties with Molly empty. Hell, him in a relationship with *any* woman he was with, wouldn't be spontaneously empty with his care towards them! Being gay isn't as clear cut as lot's of people think. Yes, him being gay would mean he likes men, but he had a relationship with a woman, had kids, and there's gay men who have done that! There's gay men, whether or not they knew themself as gay the entire time, that had dated or married women, and may or may not have had kids with them, and they're still valid as gay men! There are lesbians that have done the same, but dated and/or married men! There's a lot more flavor when it comes to *any* queer identity, even to mspec ones! And hell, even to those who ID as straight! Now, I understand that he was most likely turned gay for money, and I *hate* that as anyone would (although, from the comics it looks like they handled him coming to terms with being gay and coming out, very well, so like-..). It's not that them changing him from being straight, that angers me, though. It's people using a gay identity to gain advantage when it comes to *moneyyyy* , that fucking concerns me. But at the end of the day, real people in real fucking life are complex on their own, and why wouldn't a comic book character be any different? Especially since real life experiences were written into Alan to make this personal story of his possible.
I don’t acknowledge the 2011 reboot Alan.
I have really enjoyed James’s writing however this is dumb I’m very disappointed in the choices he made for a character that this never should have happened too. More importantly if he is gay why did he ever sleep with Rose and Thorn who he was never married to
Just found the video! I loved seeing Alan Scott come out. As someone who came out later in life it was good see.
Marty Nodell and Bill Finger would be shiting in their graves if they knew this. I met Marty several times. Great guy.
Tbh: I’m really excited that they did this change to Alan’s story and that they allowed him to have a happy relationship with his kids especially Todd.
Huh for once looking at Alan Scott green lantern being gay actually makes sense and thank god these writers actually care about Alan Scott green lantern and jade and obsidian.
Nah it doesn't make sense. It's just a lazy retcon. It's not representation it's tokenization. His son is gay, there was already a gay lantern before, do why does he have to be? He has had at least two wives, he has two kids, and if I recall he had a hard time accepting that Obsidian was gay.
@@dakotatrue12 fair enough and unfortunately it happened again with my favorite robin Tim drake robin being turned bi sexual for lazy reasons.
@@TevyaSmolka what?! I did not know this. Do you know which comic this was revealed?
@@dakotatrue12 it was revealed in Batman urban legends #6 which did do my own review/rant on and I am not happy about it
@@TevyaSmolka thanks, I'll check it out.
This is an insult to the creators, which the current writers and DC don’t care about and disrespect.
I’ve never read books with Alan Scott so I don’t really have an attachment to the character, I started reading GL with Hal. I definitely understand why die hard fans are upset with the changes in his character, though most comments I read about it are just plain homophobic. I do kinda find him more interesting as a gay character.
The only strong opinion I have about Alan Scott is that New 52 costume was kick ass and I loved it. I still miss it.
It is a good costume, and I still really like the original idea for what made his powers unique. We'll probably see New 52 Alan again at some point...DC writers love bringing back obscure super teams who haven't shown up in a long time.
Alan Scott was never gay
I don't agree with it but hey different strokes for different folks. Gotta show respect to people from all walks of life regardless of views. Too much hate in the world it makes us forget that its okay to disagree.
I loved how Alan being gay came about. According to Robinson, DC wanted the JSA characters to be younger. If so, then Alan would no longer have adult children, one of which was a prominent gay character since the 80s - Obsidian. So, Robinson made Alan gay to carry that torch. So, do your research. As for "not doing anything," the point was just that. He just happened to be gay. As for classic Alan, this coming out was great and coming out to his gay son and straight daughter was handled well.