WLGBT themes in comics are a relatively new concept, as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) themes and characters were historically omitted from the content of comic books and their comic strip predecessors due to anti-gay censorship. LGBT existence was included only via innuendo, subtext and inference. However the practice of hiding LGBT characters in the early part of the twentieth century evolved into open inclusion in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, and comics explored the challenges of coming-out, societal discrimination, and personal and romantic relationships between gay characters.
WAaron is a fictional character from the comic book series The Walking Dead and television series of the same name. He is portrayed by Ross Marquand in the television series.
WLife in Hell is a comic strip by Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, Futurama, and Disenchantment, which was published weekly from 1977 to 2012. The strip features anthropomorphic rabbits and a gay couple. The comic covers a wide range of subjects, such as love, sex, work, and death, and explores themes of angst, social alienation, self-loathing, and fear of inevitable doom.
WDoctor Chelli Lona Aphra is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. Created by writer Kieron Gillen and artist Salvador Larroca, she first appeared in Marvel Comics' 2015 Star Wars: Darth Vader comic book series. Aphra became a breakout character, and began appearing in her own comic series, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, in December 2016. She is a morally questionable, criminal archaeologist initially employed by Darth Vader, who later goes into hiding from him. Aphra is the first original Star Wars character not from the films to lead a Marvel comic series.
WCavalcade of Boys is a comic book miniseries by Tim Fish, featuring the lives and loves of several gay characters in America.
WCerebus is a comic book series created by Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim, which ran from December 1977 until March 2004. The title character of the 300-issue series is an anthropomorphic aardvark who takes on a number of roles throughout the series—barbarian, prime minister and Pope among them. The series stands out for its experimentation in form and content, and for the dexterity of its artwork, especially after background artist Gerhard joined with the 65th issue. As the series progressed, it increasingly became a platform for Sim's controversial beliefs.
WChatterer is a fictional character appearing in the Hellraiser film series. He is a Cenobite, an order of extradimensional sadomasochists who experiment in extreme forms of hedonism. His name comes from the constant clicking of his teeth, his only means of communication. He serves the Cenobites' leader Pinhead. Chatterer has become a fan favourite character in the Hellraiser franchise.
WCherry is an erotic comic book about a sexually adventurous 18-year-old woman and her friends, written and drawn by Larry Welz.
WHarry Chess is the central character of the first gay-themed ongoing comic strip, first appearing in the mid 1960s. He was created by Al Shapiro under the pseudonym "A. Jay". He is a parody of the secret agent trope popularized in the 1960s, as exemplified by The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and the James Bond franchise. Rather than the heterosexual romantic themes common to the source material, the adventures of Harry Chess were openly homosexual, intended to appeal to gay male readers.
WA Couple of Guys was a comic strip about the lives of a gay male couple, their friends and family in New York City. The strip was first published in September 1996 and was written and drawn by Dave Brousseau. The strip ended in February 2018 because of high production costs and Brousseu's wishes.
WCowboy Henk is a Belgian absurd humor/surreal humour gag-a-day comic strip series, drawn by Herr Seele and written by Kamagurka. It was originally published in the newspaper De Morgen, but later taken over by the magazine HUMO in which it is still published today and for whom Henk is now their mascot. The series was in continuous syndication from 1981 until 2011. After the brief interruption it was continued again in the spring of 2013.
WDorian Pavus is a fictional character in BioWare's Dragon Age franchise. The character made his debut in the 2014 video game Dragon Age: Inquisition, where he serves as a companion and party member. Within the series, he is a human mage from a proud noble bloodline of the Tevinter Imperium, a realm governed by a powerful magic-using oligarchy situated in the northern region of Thedas, the continent in which the Dragon Age series is set in. A self-assured man born with magical virtuosity, he is nonetheless considered a pariah as his morals and ideals do not line up with the rest of his family nor the rest of the general populace living in Tevinter. Though he rejects the decadence and corruption which is prevalent throughout Tevinter society, he loves his homeland and wants his vision of a Tevinter where prejudices don't run rampant realized. Seeking to halt what he perceives as the moral decay of his countrymen and the fundamentalist zealotry of his former mentor, he decides to join the Inquisition, believing he could not return without first eliminating the forces corrupting his homeland.
WEx Machina is an American creator-owned comic book series, created by Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris and published by DC Comics under the Wildstorm imprint.
WThe GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book is an annual award that honors comics writers for excellence in the depiction of LGBT characters and themes. It is one of several categories of the GLAAD Media Awards, which are presented by GLAAD—a U.S. non-governmental media monitoring organization founded in 1985, formerly called the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation—at ceremonies in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco between March and June.
WCassandra "Cassie" Hack is a fictional character that appears in the Hack/Slash comic books published by Devil's Due Publishing. The character first appears in Hack/Slash: Euthanized, and was created by writer and occasional penciller Tim Seeley.
WCaptain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. The character first appears in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child" and subsequently features in the remaining episodes of the first series (2005) as a companion to the series' protagonist, The Doctor. Subsequent to this, Jack became the central character in the adult-themed Torchwood, which aired from 2006 to 2011. Barrowman reprised the role for appearances in Doctor Who in its third, fourth, and twelfth series, as well as specials "The End of Time", and "Revolution of the Daleks".
WKake is a fictional character created by Tom of Finland, the pseudonym of Finnish artist Touko Laaksonen. The character is a gay leatherman distinguished by his hypermasculine physical characteristics and his frequent sexual encounters. Kake appears as the title character of a 26-issue erotic comic book series published by Laaksonen from 1968 to 1986. He is among Laaksonen's most popular creations, and is noted for his influence on gay leather subculture.
WKennedy is a fictional character in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Portrayed by Iyari Limon in the TV series, the character was introduced in the final season of the series and goes on to appear in the comic book series Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight which continues the story of the television series.
WThe King of Blaze, also known as Fire King, is a Taiwanese comic book series written and illustrated by the comic artist You Su-lan, serialized in Gong Juu Comics since 1991 and published in tankōbon format by Da Ran Culture from 1992 to 1998. The series is the 2nd installment of The Seven Mirrors' Stories collection, and is considered to be one of Taiwan's first danmei comics.
WCremisius "Krem" Aclassi is a fictional character in the 2014 video game Dragon Age: Inquisition. He is a former soldier in the Tevinter Imperium's military forces, and is currently a member of the Bull's Chargers, a mercenary company led by the Iron Bull. He was created and written by Patrick Weekes. Canadian-American voice actress Jennifer Hale voiced Krem in Inquisition.
WTara Maclay is a fictional character created for the action-horror/fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). She was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed by Amber Benson. Tara is a shy young woman with magical talents who falls in love with Willow Rosenberg, one of the core characters. Together, they help Buffy Summers, who has been given superhuman powers to defeat evil forces in the fictional town of Sunnydale.
WMagna is a fictional character in the comic book series The Walking Dead and the television series of the same name, where she is portrayed by Nadia Hilker. In both universes, Magna is the feisty leader of a small group of roaming survivors and, as in the comic books, she is an LGBT character like Yumiko.
WMarceline the Vampire Queen is a fictional character in the American animated Cartoon Network television series Adventure Time, created by Pendleton Ward. She is voiced by Olivia Olson in most appearances, by Ava Acres as a child, and by Cloris Leachman as an older woman. Marceline is a fun-loving 1,000-year-old vampire queen, as well as a musician who plays an electric bass that she made from her family's heirloom battle-ax. Ward created the artistic design for Marceline, with small changes and additions added by Phil Rynda, the former lead character and prop designer for Adventure Time.
WPaul "Jesus" Monroe is a fictional character from the comic book series The Walking Dead, as well as the television series of the same name, where he is portrayed by Tom Payne.
WNeon the Unknown is a fictional superhero from the Golden Age of Comic Books created by Jerry Iger for Quality Comics. Neon first appeared in a story penciled and inked by Lou Fine in Hit Comics #1 and was featured on the cover. His stories ran in issues 1–17.
WSebastian O is a comic book series written by Grant Morrison, drawn by Steve Yeowell and published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics in 1993.
WPercival "Pinky" Pinkerton is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character's first appearance was in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos vol. 1 #8, in which he replaced Jonathan Junior Juniper who was killed in issue #4. He was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby.
WSatsu is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, a comic book continuation of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Introduced as one of the strongest Slayers, she has a close relationship with her mentor Buffy Summers. Satsu develops romantic feelings for Buffy, and the two have a brief sexual relationship. She becomes the leader of her own Slayer squadron in Tokyo, and forms a friendship with fellow Slayer Kennedy during her performance review. She also makes a minor appearance in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Ten.
WThe Seven Mirrors' Stories (Chinese: 古鏡奇譚; pinyin: Gǔ jìng qí tán; Wade–Giles: Ku3-ching4 Chi2-tan2; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄍㄨˇ ㄐㄧㄥˋ ㄑㄧˊ ㄊㄢˊ; lit. 'Legendary Tales of the Ancient Mirrors') is the title of a collection of two Taiwanese comic book series and one comic strip, written and illustrated by the comic artist You Su-lan. The story centers on the fate of seven ancient gods who are reincarnated in the human world at different epochs, each one of them has a mirror to represent their own powers, therefore "The Seven Mirrors".
WIsabelle "Izzy" Sinclair, is a fictional character who appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She was a companion of the Eighth Doctor.
WMark Sheldon Slackmeyer is a character in the comic strip Doonesbury.
WJack Francis Morrison, known by his code name Soldier: 76, is a playable character in Blizzard Entertainment's Overwatch, a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter. In the game, Jack is an American soldier-turned-vigilante and a founding member of the game's titular organization. Designed to appeal to newcomer players, Soldier: 76 wears a visor on top of his facemask and carries an experimental rifle. Soldier: 76 originated as a comic book concept conceived by former Blizzard employee Chris Metzen in the early 2000s, and is later modified and repurposed for inclusion in Overwatch. A short story published by Blizzard in January 2019 details his past relationship with his same-sex domestic partner.
WThe Spire is an American weird fantasy / mystery comics series written by Simon Spurrier and drawn by Jeff Stokely. The eight-issue limited series has been published since 2015 by Boom! Studios. The series was nominated for an Eisner Award in 2016 for “Best Limited Series”.
WLena Oxton is a fictional playable character who appears in the 2016 video game Overwatch—a first-person shooter developed by Blizzard Entertainment—and related animations and literary media. Tracer was first seen in the 2014 Overwatch Cinematic Trailer short. She was introduced as a playable character in an April 2016 update for the crossover multiplayer online battle arena game Heroes of the Storm, nearly a month prior to the release of Overwatch.
WFey Truscott-Sade, also known as Fey or Feyde, is a fictional character who appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She was a companion of the Eighth Doctor.
WVampirella is a fictional vampire superheroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and comic book artist Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine Vampirella #1, a sister publication of Creepy and Eerie.
WAndrew Wells is a fictional character in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, played by Tom Lenk. The character also appears in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, the canonical continuation of the series.
WYumiko, later revealed as Yumiko Okumura in the television series, is a fictional character in the comic book series The Walking Dead and the television series of the same name, where she is portrayed by Eleanor Matsuura. In both universes, Yumiko is part of a small group of roaming survivors which is led by her girlfriend Magna and, as in the comic books, she is an LGBT character like Tara Chambler, Aaron and Jesus.
WZsazsa Zaturnnah is a fictional comic book superheroine created by Filipino illustrator and graphic designer Carlo Vergara. The character first appeared in the Filipino graphic novel, Ang Kagila-gilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Zsazsa Zaturnnah, originally a self-published work in December 2002 consisting of two parts. It was later distributed and merged in a single volume by Visprint Inc.. The graphic novel won a National Book Award in 2003 given by the Manila Critics Circle. It was the 12th bestselling fiction book among Philippine publications in 2005 based on the records of National Book Store.