Fantasy and science fiction have always been fertile ground for queer imagination, but now comic book publishers are introducing more explicitly genderqueer superheroes than ever.
DC Comics’ latest groundbreaking superhero is Jess Chambers, or Kid Quick, who will make their debut next month in DC’s Very Merry Multiverse, a holiday-themed comic book anthology available on December 8. The speedy superhero will then assume the adult role of The Flash in Future State: Justice League, a miniseries set in a possible future that starts rolling out in January.
Ivan Cohen, the writer and creator of Kid Quick, told them. in an email that the idea behind the new superhero came when he started thinking about the inherent queerness of the comic’s setting: Earth-11, an alternate world where DC’s traditionally male characters become female and traditionally female characters present male.
“If someone has a non-gendered superhero name, like Kid Flash in the main DC Universe, or Kid Quick here, why not try something more modern?” Cohen asked. “Not every superhero has to be male or female, or white, just because DC characters created in the golden and silver ages of comics pretty much all were.”