THE LEGION CLOSES SHOP WITH NUMBER 50 IN YEAR 50:
Unfortunately, it's a familiar story to Legion fans: DC's long-lived, gay-fave franchise is canceled once more.

With an emphasis on diversity from its earliest days (though fifty years ago that diversity didn't look anything like it does today), a chosen family dynamic and strong iconic women (something still uncommon in superhero titles that don't get filed under 'X'), the Legion will probably always have a place in the hearts of gay superhero fans. Still, that hasn't stopped the franchise from seeing dwindling sales and enthusiasm.

A Legion pin-up by gay artist Phil Jiminez

There've been plenty of attempts made at failure analysis with the Legion: there's too much history for new readers to understand, fans are still divided over the abrupt change of the "five year gap" era, spin-off series like L.E.G.I.O.N. and Legionaries made things difficult for lapsed readers, weariness over having to emotionally connect with a new team every five years, etc.

The new Legion of Super-Heroes 1989 and 1994 revamps:

The franchise has also gone through various phases of gay inclusiveness. Paul Levitz set up the foundation for Lightning Lass and Shrinking Violet's relationship, which had a prominent role when the series moved focus onto the adult lives of the Legionnaires. The series had a minor gay relationship when Shvaugn Erin turned out to be Sean and longtime boyfriend Element Lad didn't blink.

When the series was restarted in the wake of Zero Hour, series creators revealed that one of the characters was conceived as gay from the beginning and eventually the title started dropping heavy hints about Lyle Norg, who appeared in a Secret Origins story that just overflowed with homoeroticsm. It turned out that Lyle was indeed meant to be gay, but when the series got a new editor attempts to out Lyle were stopped.

The new Legion of Super-Heroes 1999 and 2005 revamps:

The Legion currently is the focus of a Final Crisis tie-in miniseries, The Legion of 3 Worlds, which promises to end with just one incarnation of the team left standing. I'll certainly be interested in how that turns out and if any of the Legion's LGBT characters get another chance in the spotlight. It's a real shame that a franchise that connected so strongly with gay fans hasn't had any LGBT inclusiveness for over a decade.

The overwhelming hoyay of Secret Origins #47 inspired
the attempt to out Lyle Norg in Legionnaires #66

I'm curious ... the Legion was once one of DC's top titles but it's had a major fall in the past couple decades. What's the team's biggest issue in your mind? More importantly, what does DC need to do to get the team back at the top?

THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF DC FAILURE ANALYSIS:
I'm not sure if this bit of news will be much of a blip on the radar of AfterElton.com readers, but last week DC Comics announced that it would be shutting down its Minx imprint. The girl-focused line of graphic novels was partially aimed at the readers of shoujo manga titles like Fruits Basket and Nana which also have a following among gay readers, but apparently never succeeded well enough for DC's tastes in two years.

Minx's comics included works from creators with LGBT-inclusive histories
like Andi Watson and Mike Carey

While gay shoujo readers weren't the primary audience, I suspect we can diagnose Minx's problems just as well; did any of you ever sample any Minx graphic novels? I was always interested in the imprint, but every time I went to the bookstore I'd end up catching up on Beauty Pop or Absolute Boyfriend instead. Did any of you shoujo comic fans check out Minx titles, or was it even on your wish list?

WE WONT HAVE JACK THOMPSON TO KICK AROUND ANY MORE:
Late last week, it began to look like the light at the end of the end of the tunnel was in sight for gamers and the video game industry when longtime antagonist Jack Thompson was disbarred by the Florida Supreme Court.

Thompson is best known for his crusades against video games, a fight that took the place of his previous battles against rap acts like the 2 Live Crew and Ice T, but (unsurprising for a conservative activist) he had his anti-gay moments amidst it all. Since it's looking like we won't have Jack Thompson to kick around much longer, I figured it's worth taking a look back at Thompson's history.

After the break: The gay highlights of Thompson's career

COMIC-CON VERSUS THE SHARK:
It feels like every year the San Diego Comic-Con is followed with some kind of discussion of if the event has outgrown San Diego, gotten too big for its own good or just generally jumped the shark. (This year's Nerd Prom certainly has drawn some complaints.) Graeme McMillan compiles the gripes, including complaints from the mainstream press sent to cover it, celebrities unable to get to their parties due to the huge crowds, comics publisher IDW talking about puling back and more press complains about too little comics at the Comic-Con.

What, Paris Hilton's appearance only gets mentioned in a quote? I thought she and Kim Kardashian were supposed to represent the end of Comic-Con's geek cool?

It's been a couple years since I've been able to get myself to Comic-Con (I am going through such withdrawal, I could mug someone for a Cafe 222 waffle ... if people were in the habit of carrying a hot breakfast on them) but I've long said that there's so much going on that Comic-Con that Comic-Con is what you make of it. You can focus on the indie comics, the manga publishers, the capes and cowls or just be there for the TV/film coverage without getting to bogged down in other aspects. Has that changed in the past two years of growth?

However, I've said for a few years now that the TV and film studios are overlooking the potential of Comic-Con by focusing on male-skewing titles. After all, thanks to the rise of publishers like Viz and Oni, Comic-Con attendees includes the fans of Nana, The Wallflower and Hopeless Savages and I can see those fans getting excited over an Ugly Betty panel. I'm disappointed that, so far, that audience keeps getting overlooked.

OFF*PRINT:
This was the news I was expecting/dreading when the news of Tokyopop's financial troubles first came out. Jen Lee Quick recently revealed that her incredibly likable (and adorably quirky) boy-meets-boy title Off*Beat won't see an ending anytime soon:

"as some of you probably heard Tokyopop is doing a lot of restructuring in the company. many of the OEL projects got affected. Off*beat got put on "hiatus". what does that mean exactly? i'm not entirely certain myself. i apologize for not sharing the news earlier but i was hoping to learn more information about the future of the project. all i can say still at this moment is that i have expressed deep concern to my former editor that i wanted a means to finish the story and give my readers closure. i'm trying not to say too much because i want to keep my options and relations as good as possible. i was given a kind of vague response quite some time ago that things were still being re-organized on their end and they were looking in to options for allowing their creators to finish their stories.

in short, tokyopop put the freeze on off*beat and there's nothing i can do about it until i hear otherwise...which maybe never."

The quirky and endearing Off*Beat

I'm not surprised, as I noted earlier, since the series has been behind schedule for a while. Still, it's disappointing to hear that the story won't be completed anytime soon; Off*Beat was a charming story that I would have loved even if it were a traditional opposite-sex romance. Fingers crossed that something happens to let us see the how Christopher and Colin's courtship wraps up.

IT'S NEVER JUST ONE THING:
Well, sadly, it's never one thing. A week before I heard about Tokyopop's problems, YAOI publisher DramaQueen had also hit troubled waters and now the Boys Next Door Blog is reporting that DramaQueen's anthology Rush looks like it won't be putting out any more issues, another hint that the publisher might not make it survive these troubles. Rush was DramaQueen's attempt to put out new material with western creators and, it seems, those creators have found their efforts frustrated by business troubles.

"Night and Day"'s Adder (by Akira Atsushi, left) and "Roulette"'s Riley (by Tina Anderson, right):

Rush was one of many titles that I never got around to sampling, so I can't say much about it. Are there any Rush readers out there who will be missing the series?

YAOI may be one of the few genres of manga still seen as having plenty of growth potential but with Iris, DramaQueen and Tokyopop hitting hard times, that seems to leave YAOI Press as the last healthy publisher creating new male romance comics.

Treasure by Studio Kawaii

I'm wondering: do we have any followers of YAOI Press out there? At last year's YAOI-Con, I ended up picking up period pirate romance Treasure! and mostly found it to be a fun bit of escapism (plus I liked how the story set up the naval setting as a way for the protagonists to try to escape the homophobia of the era).

• What's gay at the NY Comic Con?
  Who's attending the New York Comic Con, this weekend? Queer comics advocates Prism Comics will be helping to bring some gay sensibility to the gathering. On Sunday, Ivan Velez, Jr. leads a "Gays in Comics" panel that asks, "Glorified, Gentrified or Ghetto-Sized?" to a group that includes Phil Jimenez, Tim Fish, Stephen Sadowski and Jose Villarrubia. And on Saturday, don't miss the acclaimed Ariel Schrag's appearance at Jim Hanley's Universe.
  
  
• 8 Years, 100 Million, 35 titles:
  Electronic Arts bragged this week that The Sims franchise has sold over a hundred million units. There are a lot of reasons behind the game's popularity, I think one important factor is that you can't find a more gay inclusive video game (though it's probably just as important to note how gay friendly its fanbase is). I still remember the thrill of picking up the first Sims game on the release date and figuring out that, yes, you could have same-sex romances. That gets me thinking to how a gay couple in the first game could only move in together, while The Sims 2 let same-sex couples become unioned and enjoy the same wedding ceremonies... I wonder if any more equality will be seen by gay sims in the upcoming third game.
  
  
• Old Kingdom, New Screenplay:
  While I'm not sure if the devoted fanbase for Garth Nix' fantasy novel Sabriel includes a gay segment, I always figured that to be the case -- don't gay geeks have a weakness for brainy heroines from Nancy Drew to Barbara Gordon? Sabriel fans this week got some promising news this week as Nix announced that he's working on a Sabriel screenplay with gay ally Dan Futterman. Normally, I'd be worried about getting the tone right but considering the last time Futterman adapted a novel into a screenplay we got Capote, I think the project is starting out on solid ground. On and since I've got an excuse, here's the handsome Mister Futterman:

  

  Any Sabriel fans out there? (And who would you cast to play the young, hunky and easily befuddled Prince Touchstone?)
  
  
• Raise your hand if 'Huh?':
  Well, here's a very surprising bit of news, the next game in the Mortal Kombat series will be a Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe game. Honestly, I'm having a hard time imagining this working out to either brand's advantage -- Mortal Kombat wouldn't be the same without the fatalities (even the repetitive ones from Armageddon) while the idea of The Flash (sadly, Wonder Woman is now an inapt example -- thank you very much Infinite Crisis) punching off his enemies heads doesn't sound like the DC game I've been waiting to play. On the other hand the idea of Dick Greyson battling Johnny Cage does have its appeal (or how about Black Canary versus Mileena). What do you think?
  
  
• "Get out of the house and play (in someone else's house)!" :
  I only just saw this year-old ad for the pen & paper Dungeons & Dragons and I'm curious what people think:

  

  (In case the image is too small, the ad reads, "If you're going to sit in your basement pretending to be an elf, you should at least have some friends over to help. Get together. Roll some dice. Have fun.") It feels a bit full circle to see the P&P RPG calling another type of game anti-social. That gave me a chuckle, at least.
  
  

• I'm calling it a dress-me-up Logan:
  I've been a fan of out artist J Bone from the moment I first saw a Doom Patrol sketch he did during his Amateur Press Alliance* days (wow, that was almost a decade ago) and I'm loving the Wolverine paper doll he posted on his blog. He's promising more to come, including templates ready to be customized in your friendly neighborhood image editor.
  
  * Amateur Press Alliances, they were like blogs, except that you had to print out and mail a copy to each of your readers.
  
• Moore chat, more fun:
  Pride High creator Tommy Roddy had a chat with Hero author Perry Moore for Prism Comics. Roddy and Moore discuss Freedom Ring, the "Who cares about the death of a gay superhero?" list, the goals of Hero, the reaction of Moore's family along with the differences in how comics publishers and young adult lit publishers look at gay characters. I didn't realize Moore had a role in getting Hulkling and Wiccan written as a gay couple... or that that Moore was tuckerized into an issue of Young Avengers.
  
• From 'the news from unexpected sources' dept:
  I never would have expected to get this news from a toy manufacturer (who, apparently, also makes toys inspired by The Catherine Tate Show, how unusual), but it sounds like we stateside Doctor Who fans can expect to see the fourth season hit the Sci-Fi channel in April. It's a shorter wait time than previous seasons. I'm pretty excited about the upcoming season (and the Christmas special with Kylie Minogue) so the sooner the better.
  
  I'm most thrilled that I might be able to follow the discussion about the series -- I've spent that last couple seasons thinking things like, "Love and Monsters, I remember hearing about this episode... was that because people liked it or hated it?"
  
• Hm, I wonder how "Make it work!" would sound in simlish:
  EA continues the hype for the latest Sims 2 expansion, Free Time this time unveiling some details about arts and crafts in the expansion. Normally, this wouldn't be be a big deal but doesn't the sharp-dressed man in one of the screen shots look a bit familiar?

  

  It certainly helps that he's cheering her on as she sews. You know what would make Free Time rock? If there actually were a Tim Gunn NPC in the expansion and got him to record some simlish. I can just imagine "Boobasnotz" in his voice. If there's any game where a Tim Gunn cameo would be apt, it'd be The Sims.
  
• A withering Iris?:
  After attending YAOI-Con, I was disappointed that Iris Press wasn't there with their promised anthology magazine, BL Twist. Iris has started discussing its financial troubles. BL Twist may be canceled, but Iris is asking fans to help it get some of its unpublished titles on the market. I thought the Bay Area-based publisher had an interesting perspective that encompassed both straight female and gay male readers, so I'm interested in seeing how this one develops.
  
• More Cylons, more fun... uhm, more complicated discussions of nature vs. nurture:
  Oooh, Entertainment Weekly has a teaser image for the fourth season of Battlestar Galactica that inspired plenty of speculation about what we'll see. (So expect to find a few spoilers at the link.) I'm most excited about the thought of (spoiler redacted) taking on another character since I'm such a sucker for the philosophical discussions that the varying Cylon personalities can start (it's all very The Cloning of Joanna May). Meanwhile, the rumor mill says that the current Writers' Strike has improved the chances that we'll see proposed BSG prequel series, "Caprica".
  

• How can a show can go so long with a Pet Shop Boys theme song and no gays?
  This has me cautiously excited. A GayGamer.net reader spots a Craigslist post seeking gay geeks for a show that "will teach (gay geeks) how to have 'game' with other guys". The ad mentions Beauty and the Geek after promising a prize that just happens to be the same as what BatG offers. Hmmmm. I've wondered what a gay version of the show would be like, though considering how badly this past season's "girl geek" twist went, I don't have high expectations for a gay twist.
  

• We can add Street Fighter to the list of LGBT-inclusive games:
  Uhm, wow, I never heard any speculation about the gender of Final Fight baddie Poison, but now a Capcom producer has outed the pink-tressed street thug as transgender. Reading the character's entry on Wikipedia the character was first declared transgender because some people at Capcom were concerned that having a female foe in the game would mean depicting violence against women ... okay, so they decided hitting a transgender wasn't as bad? Poison will be a character in the upcoming Street Fighter IV. I have to admit I'm feeling mixed about this, as it's great to see a transgender character in a fighting game but the rationale leaves a bit to be desired.
  Additionally, I understand Poison isn't the only queer character in the Street Fighter universe, as a character from the original Street Fighter, Eagle, was visually inspired by Freddy Mercury and conceived as gay.
  

• It's not like I really need that vitamin D, anyway:
  The ever-addictive virtual dollhouse The Sims 2 has another expansion pack coming out. This one, Free Time, adds hobbies to the game, including athletics, arts and crafts, sewing and car restoration. Free Time comes out in February, just in time to keep me from getting some sun as the weather starts to warm up.

  

  One of the screenshots shows ballet classes. I can't wait to create my own Billy Elliot.
  

• Gratuitous nudity for everyone in the audience!
  In case Warren Ellis's gay fans need more reason to appreciate his work after creating (and sensitively writing) Apollo and Midnighter, here's a little more. As writer on an animated Castlevania film, he promises some nudity for the franchise's bishounen hero, Alucard. Ellis explains, "Girls and gay men need fan service too." While the animated nudity doesn't really mean much to me (though all the fan art one finds via Google says a whole lot of Castlevania fans would disagree), I do appreciate the sentiment about equal-opportunity fanservice.
  

• "I think he's awesomely gay":
  And while on the topic of comic creators, this is one of the many reasons I adore Gail Simone (who I've been mentioning a lot lately, as she just keeps being newsworthy). Recently, she's been making the case for why Spider-Man "represents repressed homosexuality". Hilarity ensues.
  

• Eternity's approximate release date:
  Eternity's Child, a platform game with nifty backgrounds and a gay character, finally has a release date. Sorta. The game comes out via WiiWare sometime in Q2 2008. I do love the art style in the screenshots we've seen so far:
  

• A weekend with girls who like boys who like boys:
  I spent the last weekend checking out YAOI-Con, which Publishers Weekly says showed that the genre is more than a niche. I had fun, though the two-plus hour commute from the East Bay to the convention hotel in San Mateo limited the time I spent there. There was plenty of cosplay (I can't remember when I last saw so many wigs at a single gathering) including one guy who dressed as a 300 Spartan. (And, yes, he should be seen in public dressed like that.) Unfortunately, it turns out that BL Twist, the anthology magazine from a San Francisco publisher won't be happening after all. Still, I left with a pile of Yamada Yugi books, which should make for some nice escapist reading.
  
  
• I'd love to be a fly on the wall for that Fruits Baskets pitch meeting:
  Variety asks if it's Tokyopop's turn to be licensing properties to movie studios and includes a list of the publishers top properties. Too bad none of Toykopop's gay-themed properties, like the quirky romance Off*beat, isn't on the list.

• Free to be virtual me:
  Overall, the Sims video games have been praised for allowing players a lot of freedom to create a character that's whatever the player wants them to be. Now, the Wii version, My Sims allows even greater freedom by dropping gender restrictions on a character's appearance.
  
  
• Harken back to the days when Wonder Woman wanted to be Emma Peel:
  DC announced that a collection of Diana Prince: Wonder Woman comics, the run from the relevant era when Diana gave up her powers and the Amazons left for another dimension. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed this sells well enough to justify a second volume that, hopefully, includes Samuel R. Delany's contribution to the era.
  
  
• Link of the week:
  Want to show off your Dumbledore Pride? Someone's already selling t-shirts for the occasion.
  

Ask and you shall receive! While you can find plenty of talk about sexy video game women, you don't often find discussions about the guys, who are frequently easy on the eyes, too (though, not as frequently as with female characters). There are plenty of sexy video game guys and I could probably compose several different lists, each limited to just games from a few certain genres or a few companies' output. Of course, I'm sure I missed some of your favorites (since there are so many) so feel free to make your additions in the comments.

Don Lothario
From: The Sims 2

The Sims games have an incredibly loyal following, an audience that has a large gay segment. That loyalty is driven by the ability to create reality as you want it to be. You can determine your characters' sexual orientations and an active modding community means that the sims' world is only limited by other players' limitations. The Sims 2 also comes with a few storylines out-of-the-box, like that of Don Lothario, the new arrival to Pleasantville who's been romancing both Calliente sisters and heiress Cassandra Goth. Of course, in my version of Pleasantville, it turned out that Don was also having an affair with Cassandra's other suitor, Darren Dreamer...

El Blaze
From: Virtua Fighter 5

Sega's groundbreaking 3-D fighting game has long had stunning graphics (though it feels odd to look back at the first edition and try to remember when that was once innovative) but the latest editions have been stunning in the level of realism achieved. The third Virtua Fighter introduced detailed body motion and clothing that flowed realistically. (Watching Aoi's kimono sleeves move with her jabs was always a treat to watch and there was something titillating about seeing an underwear waistband exposed every time the shirtless Wolf reached forward.) The newest edition introduces a masked wrestler, El Blaze, who helps make sure there's no gender imbalance of sexiness in the Virtua Fighter series.

Samanosuke
From: The Onimusha series

As a young samurai fighting the evil of legendary historical villain Nobunaga Oda (who, in this case, gained much of his power from demonic help), Samanosuke has a steady resolve and strength that makes it possible to battle on as he discovers more and more of the horrors behind Oda's rise to power.

Darius
From: Mortal Kombat

So. I was getting nostalgic the old Mortal Kombat games (remember when that FMV was so impressive?), looking at the characters for the latest Armageddon game and then I found this guy with the sexy devil-may-care, calm demeanor of a young Samuel Jackson. Now I've really got to get a copy, as I'm curious to see this guy in motion. (The MK franchise certainly added plenty of characters since I last played it -- I don't recognize most of these fighters! Am I the only one unsurprised to see that Johnny Cage hasn't aged well, even with digital graphics on his side?)