Akihiro's Character Shift- From Counterculturally Queer to Marketable and Normative
Akihiro is one of the few bisexual, men of color characters in cape comics. He has a relatively lengthy history as an antagonistic character who has shown various dimensions of complexity and inner conflict over the years. Fans have historically been drawn to the nuances of the character and his queer identity has always been an important rarity the character brought to comics.
Part of recognizing those nuances is also acknowledging that historically, Akihiro’s bisexuality and attraction to men has not always been portrayed perfectly. The other part is also recognizing the cultural context during his inception and what that has meant for queer fans.
Yes, Akihiro was an antagonist, yes, he fit some unfortunate tropes. That said, there were aspects of his original characterization that resonated with queer fans and still matter today, aspects that have unfortunately been lost as his character has transitioned more into a “good” guy.
Over the past 5 years; Akihiro has been characterized more as a hero. Alongside this moral shift in the character…his queerness has also conveniently been sanded off. This post is meant to analyze Akihiro’s history and significance as a queer male character and how that has been lost since his “redemption” that started off in X-Factor (2021) and defines much of how he’s portrayed to this day.
With his redemption, Akihiro has become a consistent player in the x-books, constantly having a book appearance since X-Factor, unlike any other queer character at Marvel. Seriously, he hasn’t had a break. After X-Factor, he appeared in Marauders, Alpha Flight, Hellverine (a mini and then an ongoing), Spirits of Vengeance and as of writing, Inglorious X-Force. That’s a lot of push the character is getting, more than he ever has gotten before, across several different titles and creators.
He has consistently appeared monthly more often than any other queer character at Marvel right now, since his character shift. And yet…it’s with this same push that his queer identity has been stripped and he’s been modified into something more digestible and marketable to cishet male readers. This is a far cry from the essence of the character that defined his impact.
To demonstrate this, let's start by looking at who Akihiro was before his “redemption” era and how queerness was an active ingredient in framing him.
Akihiro was introduced as the “Anti-Logan” in many ways. A queer, antagonistic man with dark nail polish, tattoos and a penchant for power and hedonism, the perfect villain and foil for the broody, masculine and heteronormative protagonist that is Wolverine. It’s important to remember the cultural context here, much of his core characterization discussed here had occurred during 2007-2009.
During much of this characterization; explicit queer representation barely existed in comics. Upon Akihiro’s creation, there hadn’t even been a gay kiss in comics. Let that sink in.
Rictor and Shatterstar didn’t get to have their kiss until 2009 in X-Factor #45, this marked the first gay kiss in a mainstream superhero comic. Wiccan and Hulkling, arguably the most popular and impactful gay couple in comics, didn’t get to have their first kiss until Children’s Crusade #9 in 2010.
This timeframe is incredibly important when looking at Akihiro’s flawed but impactful writing as a queer man. We didn’t have much of anything, and yet here is this queer, mysterious, attractive and fae man, who is related to Logan. His writing at the time cultivated some negative stereotypes, but it was juxtaposed with subversive characterization that stuck with the character and his queer fans.
Not only was he one of the only openly queer characters in comics at this time, his overt, in-your-face and tantalizing approach to same sex desire, alongside his brazen and elegant aesthetic was refreshing, and all of this was deeply intentional.
Matt Fraction described him as “erudite, cultured and flamboyant” and as "the metrosexual Wolverine.” Marjorie Liu, a fan favorite writer of the character, described him as “elegant”, preferring to use his brain over his brawns, and that his sexuality is ultimately about control.
These traits are immediately divergent from the gritty, heteronormative and masculine ideals of Logan’s archetype. Logan would hardly be described as “metrosexual” and “elegant”, and his sexuality was always relatable and palpable to straight men. The loving man to the foreign and beautiful Mariko, or the brooding, misunderstood man to the gorgeous and ambiguously available Jean Grey, etc.
This divergent characterization “othered” Akihiro, and put him in a distinct category. This is essentially what made him resonate with queer fans. This symbolized a countercultural approach to male sexuality, especially pertaining to same sex desire. His willingness to unapologetically flaunt, seduce, and tease men in a narrative context where we were barely allowed to be shown two men kissing was refreshing.
He was even drawn in ways that emphasized his attractive, and lean body. All with a dash of feminine elegance; his eyes were often drawn pretty, his nails were painted dark and his Mohawk flew around like a regal but daunting mane.
Again, it cannot be emphasized enough that queer characters weren’t even allowed to kiss during this period, let alone showcase much overt same sex desire. This context reinforced a culture of shame.
Akihiro stood out because he was anything but ashamed when it came to his desires and sexuality. This unabashedly queer point of view allowed for extremely memorable character interactions that challenged expectations around what interactions between men could be like.
Specifically, Akihiro’s overt and unashamed queer sexuality gave him the vantage point to deconstruct expectations amongst canonically cishet men like Johnny Storm and Bullseye. The former had been read as queer for years, and his interactions with Akihiro was the closest the character has gotten to explicitly express same sex desire.
Bullseye presented a unique interaction; Akihiro using his sexuality to get under the skin of a male character, causing sexual frustration and tension, leading to fun character interactions and conflicts.
These types of dynamics are usually reserved for femme fatale women like Catwoman, Black Cat or Emma Frost, but Akihiro being a man allows for a queer subversion of these expectations. The impact was massive, and both Johnny/Akihiro and Bullseye/Akihiro are popular dynamics that still receive fan content to this very day.
Akihiro was able to make straight men uncomfortable even, treating them the way they often treat women. While some may view this as offensive, it gives Akihiro a sense of power in relation to his sexuality and how he expresses it with different men, in different contexts.
In some ways, these interactions represented a bit of a power fantasy that many queer men never get to live due to the aforementioned culture of shame. A badass, sexy man, who was able to get under the skin of straight men, frustrate them, tease them, but still be the power player in control. He didn’t have to conform, or hide, or blend in. He tantalized the other men in the room, using his charm, confidence and presentation as “other.”
This added depth to the queer literature base in comics; Akihiro represented a countercultural intrigue that was distinct from his contemporaries, adding to the diverse pool of queer perspectives that existed in Marvel Comics. Other queer characters were less sexually charged, imposing or as open about their desires for the same sex. Those characters still matter just as much, but a diverse literature base is when different vantage points can co-exist. Akihiro truly was the “Anti-Logan”, and there was still so much potential with his character, especially with his meaningful connection with his sisters.
Fans got excited again when he appeared in Iceman’s solo ongoing in 2017, written by Sina Grace. The previews oozed sexual tension, and conflict. Male/Male dynamics that feature an anti hero/antagonist and a superhero like Bobby still do not really exist in comics.
Most of the standard gay couples in comics are idealized and lacked palpable tension, conflict or sexual energy. Akihiro and Bobby could represent something different and again; countercultural. Fanart and fanfiction began pouring in, similar to what had happened with Bullseye and Johnny Storm. Sadly, the two men didn’t end up together as the Iceman run ended too soon, but fans still create fan content of them to this day, imagining a chaotic, tense but fun and exhilarating dynamic between two openly queer men.
And then came the Krakoa era. Leah Williams is a writer with a…messy history of handling queer themes and non white characters. She received some backlash on her X-Tremists run for focusing on Betsy and Blob as a romantic pairing, despite advertising her book as queer. The book itself did explore some queer aspects near the end but “Blobsy” remained the main, multi issue romantic push. Due to this, and her questionable handling of an Asian character in the same book, some Akihiro fans were a bit worried when she mentioned she would be including the character in her X-Factor run.
For many of us, those worries quickly came to fruition. Like X-Tremists, Williams markets this book as queer but the romantic content predominantly focuses on a budding relationship between Akihiro and Aurora, completely changing Akihiro’s character in the process; from a complicated, countercultural antagonist/anti-hero, into a very buff, masculine, “himbo” who has random and shoehorned feelings for Aurora, a character he has never interacted with before and knows nothing about.
This is the beginning of the rebranding of Akihiro as a likeable hero, as his countercultural, queer qualities begin to strip away as he becomes more of a traditional, male hero, not too different from his father. Some art even has him looking exactly like him, a far cry from the “anti Wolverine” he originally started off as.
To Williams’ credit, she still references Akihiro’s bisexuality, but she has changed every other aspect of who he is in order to fit a rather gendered relationship with a straight, white woman. His appearance, framing and mannerisms are completely different from before. His lean, feminine features are gone away with and he is suddenly quite broad and muscular.
His antagonistic qualities such as his selfishness, need for power and control, and his hedonism are gone away with, and his new, quirky and likable qualities are only shown in the context of Aurora, as if he just needed to find the right girl this whole time.
After Williams’ book is unceremoniously cancelled, Steve Orlando’s era with the character begins and is overall much, much better. He sadly retains Williams’ Aurora relationship but he introduces a male lover into Akihiro’s past, though the whole thing is still ultimately a flashback relationship that won’t really be referenced again. Additionally, Orlando actually references and builds a bit on Akihiro’s antagonistic past. His stint with the character was short lived however. Unfortunately, he still continued with the baggage of Williams’ run as opposed to doing away with it, which leads into the next storyline.
After some hijinx involving death and rebirth, Akihiro becomes the Hellverine and Benjamin Percy first writes a mini series and then a 10 issue ongoing featuring the character. This was Akihiro’s first solo feature since Marjorie Liu’s run with the character in 2009. None of this resonated with readers in comparison, as it was cancelled very quickly. Thankfully, the Aurora relationship seems to have ended but the damage has been done.
Continuing from Williams’ sanitization of the character, Akihiro becomes even more of a Logan lite. All of the things that made him countercultural are completely filtered out.
He is inelegant, broody, and masculine, through and through. His interest in men is not referenced even once throughout the run. His nail polish is now completely gone, and as are the flashy and eye catching looks. In essence, he has regressed full circle from the “anti-Logan” to “Logan-lite”, with no more distinct voice or characterization. He’s the broody, cool man with claws.
This was convenient for Marvel, as “Hellverine” is a brand that can market to the same cishet male audience that enjoys Logan, a demographic that is not particularly accepting of countercultural, queer narratives. Look at this:
This is who Akihiro appeals to now, and this transition began in 2021 with Williams’ X-Factor.
Continuing the trend, Tim Seeley included the character in his current run of Inglorious X-Force, and right away, from the first issue, he is clearly setting up a relationship of some kind for Akihiro with the one, available woman in the team: Boom Boom, a character who he has never had any interest or interaction with before.
But hey, she’s hot and available and that’s all it takes to show a man/woman relationship right? As of writing, his attraction to men has not been referenced in roughly 2-3 years. It also should be noted that Tim Seeley is known for creating erotic works such as Moneyshots, and the choice for him to write books that target cishet men at the expense of everyone else, such as Rogue: Savage Land and Psylocke: Ninja is no mere coincidence.
It’s overtly marketing to the same audience that Akihiro once was countercultural against, in a very queer way. Him getting with Boom Boom was about as predictable as paint drying on the wall.
It’s obvious to say that none of this is coincidental. Akihiro’s same sex desire, his flamboyance, his theatrics, his self confidence in his sexuality and autonomy over his countercultural desires are all fundamentally linked. If one of those qualities get stripped away, they all do, and we are left with a character with no distinct voice or perspective, but is easily marketable to Logan’s straight male fans.
And that’s where we are at. As previously mentioned, it’s his countercultural traits that make Akihiro a distinct and important piece of the queer literature base of comics. Without that, his writing would have much less impact. Look at the fan content that existed and still gets produced that features his pre 2021 characterization. We all know whatever modern relationship or character tick he received won’t have the same impact as the countercultural icon from the past. That’s my Akihiro. And I grieve what he once was and could have been.
I hope we get to see that Akihiro again, and even if we won’t, well it’s clear which one is living on amongst the fandom and which one isn’t.
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