Discover Top Posts Tagged with #wildstorm comics

third time I've reposted this thank you Tumblr for whacking me AGAIN

#the authority #apollo #midnighter #midpollo #wildstorm comics #my art

▋𝐒𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐬/𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑬𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝑪𝑶𝑫𝑬: 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂, 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦/𝐃𝐂 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐡𝐮𝐚, 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟐. 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐮𝐢 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐮𝐦; 𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐇𝐮𝐢 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐮𝐦.

“𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞?”

#alfred ashford #alexia ashford #ashford twins #claire redfield #resident evil #biohazard #resident evil code veronica #code veronica #resident evil comics #resident evil manhua #wildstorm comics #hui king sum #lee chung hing #{ 𝖘𝖊𝖛 𝖌𝖗𝖆𝖕𝖍𝖎𝖈𝖘 }

my (current) favorite DC women in honor of International Women's Day 🙂🙂🙂🙂

Happy Pride! Time to talk about how DC still hates Midnighter and Apollo despite occasionally holding them up as flashy tokens to say “Look, we do have queer superhero couples! We’re so progressive!”

Perhaps the most insulting thing about DC wanting credit for having such groundbreaking queer superheroes is that Midnighter and Apollo weren’t even DC characters during their most creative and successful years. They were created by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch in 1997 in Stormwatch, published by Wildstorm Comics, which was then an imprint of Image Comics before being purchased by DC a year later. DC didn’t create their success or foster their status as pioneering gay superheroes (that was all due to Wildstorm’s independent and edgy creative team)—if anything, DC fought against it. In 2000, DC vice-president Paul Levitz infamously censored a kiss between the couple because he felt they were “making fun of Superman and Batman.” (It was only a few years later, during Levitz’s presidency at DC, that he apparently didn’t have a problem with Brokeback Mountain jokes in Batman/Superman comics, but that’s another story). And that, really, is the crux of it. DC hates Midnighter and Apollo not because they’re gay, but because they’re gay pastiches of DC’s two most iconic heroes. Progressive as modern DC can be, it’s hard to believe they’ve truly gotten over their discomfort about Midnighter and Apollo’s unsubtle and satirical origins.

There’s also the fact that while the New 52 screwed over basically everybody, it began the DC tradition of absolutely destroying everything good and interesting about the former Wildstorm Universe. Yes, DC gave Midnighter a solo book and then a miniseries he shared with Apollo that centered their romantic relationship (one written by a gay man, no less) but those were still lackluster efforts when contextualized with the fact that the DC versions of these characters are heavily sanitized and depowered, barely a shadow of their former selves (especially Apollo). Wildstorm (in spite of DC rather than thanks to DC) made them the first gay couple to get married in comics and gave them an adopted daughter during an era when gay adoption rights were even more hotly debated than they are now. Post-Flashpoint, DC then broke them up, eventually let them get together again, and then basically stopped using them (and then when they did, like in Superman and the Authority, Apollo thinks Midnighter’s cheating and he’s doesn’t really deny it). A far cry from their glory days as devoted husbands and co-parents in the 2000s! Now they usually only appear in Pride specials, and even then it’s either “we’re using them for laughs and also Apollo’s the housewife teehee” (2025) or “Midnighter’s there but Apollo’s not despite them sharing a cover” (2021). They’re given no mainstream exposure, no meaningful character development, no creative endeavors.

Compare this to Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn being literally everywhere, Batwoman and John Constantine getting TV shows, and regular comic appearances (including solos) by characters like Alan Scott, Renee Montoya, Tim Drake, and Jon Kent. Many queer DC characters are both beloved and profitable. DC’s lack of real interest in Wildstorm’s legacy aside, their underutilization and sanitization of Midnighter and Apollo outside of using them as queer-friendly props when it’s convenient seems to indicate that the old resentment over “lol look we did Batman and Superman except they’re different and gay” really hasn’t died. Their legacy carries baggage that DC editorial isn’t willing to handle.

#dc meta #midnighter #apollo #midpollo #dc pride #superman #batman #superbat #dc #dcu #dc comics #wildstorm comics #dc pride 2025 #canary’s thoughts

Rest in peace, Sam Kieth (1963 – 2026)

The Maxx Volume 5 trade paperback (2004) promo ad comic book creator: Sam Kieth (writer and artist) publisher's imprint: Cliffhanger! publisher: WildStorm Productions [DC Comics]