COMING OUT OF THE PHONE BOOTH:

After dropping hints last week that one of their iconic characters would come out of the closet, DC Comics officially announced today that the character in question is Alan Scott, the other Green Lantern.

This is the only image I could find of the dude
but it's like they're inviting you to make 'flaming' jokes.

Now I'm gonna just say that in my opinion this is kind of less than the event it was built up to be, whether that build up was intentional or not. While I applaud DC for trying to introduce diverse characters into the mix, as I mentioned in the first sentence, they said it'd be an 'iconic' character. Hardly the case. Alan Scott is not the one your average fan thinks of when the name Green Lantern is mentioned. Our minds usually envision test pilot — and all-around ladies man — Hal Jordan in those instances. And thanks to the GL movie that sucked on screens all across America last summer, dozens of non-comic fans also think of Jordan as the one true Emerald Knight. Plus there's the animated series currently doing quite well on Cartoon Network at chronicling the further adventures of Hal and his amazing power ring.

All I'm saying is — again — in my opinion Alan Scott is not what I would call iconic. An icon is a thing that represents, an image your brain flips to in regard to a subject. Plus, when they teased the subject, DC only used the word 'character', never said it would be a super hero that was coming out. I for one had guessed that it would be the Riddler. Skintight green body suit covered in question marks, just screamed CURIOUS! Seemed like a no-brainer. 

And Jim Carrey's performance did affect my opinion.
I mean… jazz hands.

This is not to say that I'm belittling the initiative, far from it. Diversity in comics is always a good thing. And at least gay characters don't get saddled with offensive identifying monikers the way black heroes used to back in the 70s. (Black Panther, Black Lightning, Black Vulcan, Black Goliath. Black Racer, black etc.) Imagine how horrific it would be if they called Scott the Gay Lantern. Although that does have a certain ring to it. 

No pun intended

But by my count Scott makes the fifth gay hero in DC's roster since the reboot of the line a year ago and none of them are exactly A-listers. Take a look at the other four. 

I triple dog dare you to name all of these characters!

Speculation ran high that the reintroduction of the Atom or Hawkgirl might see a shift in their respective sexual orientation and put a gay character on DC's top shelf, but alas, no. Speculation also ran high among those who know and like to tease me, that my boy Aquaman would be the one. But I knew that wasn't possible because the Sea King is all about the ladies. Kinda.

Awww yeah… those fishy, fishy ladies.

Whatever. Mazel Tov other Green Lantern Alan Scott!