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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

That damned Reaction

What's Mallard raving about today?

Green Lantern

Is Mallard Fillmore actually saying that announcements that someone is gay are no longer worthy of note since homosexuality is know of normal?

Because I'm pretty sure that'll get you branded as a heretic in the GOP.

12 comments:

Rootbeer said...

No, DaveyK, what Bruce Tinsley is saying is that:

- only exaggerated caricatures of rugged masculinity and ephebia ("The Rawhide Kid") may acceptably be gay;

- everyone, including gray-black people, lose respect for anybody who comes out as gay, being thereafter barely able to sarcastically feign interest;

- homosexuality, like owning a hybrid vehicle, is effeminate and unnatural.

I'm thankful that Tinsley is pretty much the only one who seems to still care about this inconsequential change to Green Lantern canon three weeks after it was news.

dlauthor said...

It must be killing Tinshley that even his lackadaisical editors won't let him (attempt to) draw the green-suited, limp-wristed, mincing, lisping caricature he wants. The yearning must be sooooooo hard to bear, only kept at bay (like most things in his life) by bourbon and tears.

Frank Stone said...

Since this is "Mallard Fillmore", a more appropriate precedent to cite than Rawhide Kid would have been Northstar, since his "outing" took place in an issue of Alpha Flight that was really badly written and drawn.

Tog said...

Fun fact: Northstar's orientation was actually "revealed" all the way back in Alpha Flight #7 (I think), in which the villain Deadly Ernest murders Northstar's mentor (and first lover). However writer/artist/creator John Byrne had to couch the revelation in beating-around-the-bush dialog and narration in order to get around his editor.

Anyway, Rootbeer nails it: Tinsley couldn't get away with a panel of a lynch mob screaming "kill the f****t" (even if he were capable of drawing one), so he has to settle for assorted disdainful responses.

Because Tinsley has never had the intestinal fortitude to have his duck be the one to say "it's just not natural!!" Why, people might think he's the bigot!

Tins forgot Batwoman, who is considerably more popular than Rawhide Kid and Northstar put together. Oh, and Homosexual Robot Cop.

Steve-O said...

And now Glenn Beck is SHOCKED! SHOCKED I say! By Glee!

Jesus Christ these people are idiots.

Bill the Splut said...

Isn't he the Earth 2 Green Lantern? In an alternate universe? Maybe Earth 2's Bruce Tinny has the slightest shred of talent or human decency!

NAH. That's just too unbelievable! It'd be like "Jeffrey Dahmer: Vegan."

Kip W said...

Get these gay superheroes off my lawn!

Frank Stone said...

Bill: Quite correct. I wouldn't expect Mallard/Brucie to know this, since actual knowledge is like kryptonite to him (see what I did there?), but it's a misstatement for him to say that "Green Lantern is now gay", since it's not the traditional GL (Hal Jordan) who's gay, but rather a newly "re-imagined" version of the 1940s GL, Alan Scott, who lives on a parallel Earth. (And it's not even a matter of him "coming out", since in the context of DC's current publishing milieu, the character has not been seen before.)

Maybe next, Mallard can report how "Spider-Man is now black".

Tog: The strip you linked to reminded me of what is probably Brucie's secret fantasy self, "Robohomophobe" -- an item Frank Miller wrote and drew back when he was capable of producing biting satire instead of just foamy-mouthed right-wing ravings. (FYI, the little face at the bottom of the last page is Margaret Thatcher; see this item on Britain's "Section 28" for context.)

Bill the Splut said...

Part of me wants this to go on for a week, like Tinny's "Hulk in a tutu" obsession.

I'll bet if it was Wonder Woman, Power Girl and Laura Mars in a three-way, he'd say "How DISGUSTING!" while running to Rite Aid to stock up on Kleenex.

rewinn said...

For a long time, the Guardians of the Universe (who ruled the Green Lantern Corps from OA) were all male. I guess now they've become both male and female, but for the longest time, it was the gayest planet in the galaxy....so the discovery that one of the 7200 members of the Green Lantern Corps is gay should surprise nobody (and if it's actually an alternate universe GL, well la-de-da!)

I am kinda amused by the implication that since the Rawhide Kid is gay, there's no need for another gay character. Obviously the free market is calling for more gay characters, and who is Mallard Fillmore to question the market?

Tog said...

Then Wednesday's strip went up, and we all saw that (a) Tinsley doesn't know a damn thing about his subject matter and (b) he still thinks HA HA U R GAY is a brilliant punch line.

rewinn said...

@Tog's right. Wednesday's "comic" suggests that there's a homosexual subtext to Robin, which is as original as noting that Superman wears his underwear on the outside of his pants!

For actual comedy about modern sexual politics, Gynostar is both better drawing and better written. Of course, it's not subsized by reichwing hackery so it has to get by on quality.