“Last week, DC Comics released to press a splash image promoting Rebirth, its purported new and optimistic creative force for its main continuity comic line-up. In an interview with Newsarama, DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns said ‘Rebirth is the compass, here’s where we’re going.’ The splash image, according to its accompanying press copy, is ‘a visual Who’s Who of the DCU.’ If you want to know who matters in the DC Rebirth, well, here’s your guidemap.
In the preceding image (illustrated by Ivan Reis, Joe Prado and Hi-Fi) you will find the Trinity, Raven sans avian attire, Captain Boomerang, and two Wally Wests—one white, one black.
What you won’t find in this image, this veritable directory of DC’s plans over the next weeks, months, years, is much queer representation. I’ve edited the image to highlight the company-acknowledged-as-LGBTQ characters present.
What’s not pictured: transgender characters, non-binary characters, gay men, queer people of color, any of the several queer characters created since the New 52. No Bunker, Black Orchid, Virtue, Operator, Porcelain, Ya’Wara, or Starling. Even some of DC’s most noteworthy or headline-nabbing queer characters failed to make the cut.” — LGBTQ Hide Month: DC’s Rebirth Demotes Queer Characters
