Comics Corner – The Historic Importance of ‘Gay Comix’, Part 4 - Bear World Magaze

Contents:

• ABOUT THE CENTERSCE 1983 THE CENTER HAS BEEN SUPPORTG, FOSTERG AND CELEBRATG THE LGBT MUNY OF NEW YORK CY. FD MORE RMATN ON AND OUR WORK ABOUT THE CENTER. VIS ABOUT THE CENTEROUR MISSNCYBER CENTERCENTER HISTORYRACE EQUYMEDIA CENTERLEARSHIP & STAFFEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNICORPORATE PARTNERSHIPSANNUAL REPORTS & FANCIAL INFORMATNCONTACT USHOURS & LOTNSEMAPSUPPORT THE CENTER
• GAY COMIX HISTORY WH ANDY MANGELS
• GAY IC BOOKS
• GAY COMIX » 14 ISSU
• COMICS CORNER – THE HISTORIC IMPORTANCE OF ‘GAY COMIX’, PART 4
• GAY COMICS
• JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

ABOUT THE CENTERSCE 1983 THE CENTER HAS BEEN SUPPORTG, FOSTERG AND CELEBRATG THE LGBT MUNY OF NEW YORK CY. FD MORE RMATN ON AND OUR WORK ABOUT THE CENTER. VIS ABOUT THE CENTEROUR MISSNCYBER CENTERCENTER HISTORYRACE EQUYMEDIA CENTERLEARSHIP & STAFFEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNICORPORATE PARTNERSHIPSANNUAL REPORTS & FANCIAL INFORMATNCONTACT USHOURS & LOTNSEMAPSUPPORT THE CENTER

Web-Weaver – the very first gay, male Spir-Man – was troduced to fans back early July through Steve Foxe,. Marvel has jt buted their very first gay Spir-Man named Web-Weaver — a fashn signer that isn’t aaid to take.

This week, we return to the archiv for another examatn of the historilly important Gay Comix. Here’s somethg that’ll have homophobic ic fans othg at the mouth but the rt of jumpg for joy: Superman.

GAY COMIX HISTORY WH ANDY MANGELS

Japane ics, or manga, are replete wh same-sex pairgs – but are they actually as gay as wtern rears might. In s 18-year n om 1980 to 1998, Gay Comix went through two publishers and three edors, and each brought their own flavor to the seri.

The fal edor, Andy Mangels, met wh to discs the progrsn of Gay Comix and how changed over the years. When discsg the history of queer ics, perhaps one of the most important thg to note is that beg openly gay 1980 was a potentially reer-endg move, particularly the cis male-domated world of ics. At the same time, gay magaz were begng to n queer-centric ic strips.

GAY IC BOOKS

The momentum around gay ic creators ntued to build, and by 1980, the need for an anthology was apparent.

Gay Comix was strongly nnected to that rebell legacy of Wimmen's Comix, but tablishg self as s own dividual anthology wh a wholly different purpose. In the words of edor Andy Mangels, "Gay Comix was not a llective.

Bee of urse all gays and lbians know each other! Mangels ntued, "They sent a letter out that said if you are… at that pot, was gay or lbian, there was no LGBTQ. "Origally Gay Comix was schled whenever an issue was done.

GAY COMIX » 14 ISSU

On a recent panel about Gay Comix, Triptow noted that he was of ill health and more than ready to leave by the time he eded his fal issue. I n sell when people are murred, limbs are torn off… but I n't sell this bee there's an ad for gay characters.

COMICS CORNER – THE HISTORIC IMPORTANCE OF ‘GAY COMIX’, PART 4

"First, he lled me, and he said, 'So I did this on fah… but I never read Gay Comix, is this a porn book? The name Gay Comix was changed to Gay Comics to brg to the mastream. To all great thgs an end, though, and by 1998, Gay Comix saw the publitn of s fal issue.

It is not exaggerative to say that Gay Comix changed ics history, not jt for queer people and not jt ics. It's easy to feel like there was nothg happeng the terim, but fact, Gay Comix was happeng all along. The first five issu were published by Kchen SkNumberg ntu to Gay Comics #15.

GAY COMICS

Belas is an Amerin artist famo for his gay ics, the tradn of Tom of Fland. He has self-published his sexually explic stori, that maly foc on black gay sex life, his own erotic ze Belas. No wonr, then, that the then-latt issue of Gay Comix, the semal unrground ic that provid a voice and outlet for LGBTQ+ creators and rears alike, was perhaps the darkt yet, wh a plethora of stori rooted fears of social ostracisatn, nmnatn, and isolatn.

This is the latt a seri of retrospectiv lookg at the pivotal unrground publitn Gay Comix. Gay Comix #4, 1984 (Art by Vghn.

If there’s a unifyg theme to Gay Comix #4, ’s The Closet – that notor metaphor for the shame and imprisonment queer people often feel, and om which we rive the term “g out”.

JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

While the growg visibily of openly gay people, particularly major ci, was makg -roads the wir public nscns, fosterg acceptance by showg the sential humany of the muny, queer people were also beg met by a wave of hatred and nmnatn, largely by those g the still-largely unknown vis to attack that same muny. After all, was only a year earlier, September 1982, when the Amerin Center for Disease Control had adopted the term AIDS to refer to the disease, havg prevly ed GRID – Gay Related Immune Deficiency. To be out of The Closet meant to be intifiable as gay; to be intifiable as gay meant to be make a target of yourself to those who feared the so-lled “gay plague”.

Instead, Cse is mostly vociferoly cryg the Evangelil bigots who ed the crisis of a disease that n be sexually transmted to lambast the entire gay muny. In one particularly savage panel, Cse imag how the self-profsed savurs of souls would act if the illns were transmted by Bibl, askg if the lik of prits would “reevaluate [their] whole liftyle” as gay men were beg asked to. Cse turns the tabl on those attackg the gay muny over AIDS back 1983 (© Howard Cse, as published Gay Comix #4).