As far as queer representation in Western comics goes, Marvel is one of the best. The company's X-Men comics have long been allegories for the struggles of queer people; in 2015 they finally made the character of Iceman gay. But Marvel's long run of inclusive characters will finally be celebrated in their own series – Marvel's Voices: Pride.
Marvel's Voices: Pride celebrates representation
The new comic series is a queer-centered story that will celebrate the vast history of LGBTQ+ heroes. Marvel revealed the colourful main cover a while back, but the new variant cover is aiming to celebrate harder.
In the new variant cover, every LGBTQ+ Marvel character joins together to make a colourful frame around the comic. In the cover, 42 characters from Marvel's history all share the spotlight to highlight the universe's current lineup of characters. Of course, there's still loads of space on the cover for future characters, too.
We're by no means Marvel experts, but on the cover we can spot a few recognisable characters. There's Mystique, Vivian, Black Cat, Valkyrie, Iceman, Wiccan and the new Captain America: Aaron Fischer.
Marvel's Voices: Pride #1's variant cover conveniently has a wide open space right in the middle. Marvel has been hyping up the reveal of an all-new hero in their upcoming comic that will likely take centre stage. Who could it be?
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LGBTQ+ in the MCU
Despite Marvel's long-running inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters in comics, no matter how small, their movies have faltered. The MCU has been criticised for straightwashing characters that are openly queer in the comic. For example, Valkyrie, Okoye, Loki and Korg are all queer characters that haven't been translated properly on screen.
The MCU does appear to be making steps forward, baby steps. Tessa Thompson has revealed that Valkyrie will be openly queer in Thor: Love and Thunder; The Eternals' Ikaris will also be an openly gay man with a family.
While things are looking up, there's still a lot of ground for the MCU to catch up on. While Marvel's Voices: Pride has the opportunity to celebrate its cast, the MCU is far behind.
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