For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

JESSICA DREW AKA SPIDER-WOMAN AKA BLACK WIDOW
First Appearance: Ultimate Spider-Man #98 (2006)
Created by Brian Michael Bendis & Mark Bagley
Sexuality: Lesbian
Gender: Woman (But it's complicated...)

One of my Pride Month projects for myself, in addition to these daily posts, was to read through every appearance of a character I've always liked but have never read more than a handful of issues: Ultimate Spider-Woman. Turns out, my affection was well placed because she's great!

In the original Ultimate Universe, the Clone Saga happens because evil mega corporation Roxxon decided to make their own supersoldiers by cloning Peter Parker. Each one involved them futzing around with the genetics to get different results, one was dying, one was very mutated, one was turned into a cyborg (that one is unaccounted for. There's a story there...), one rapidly aged, and one, the most stable of the batch, was denied a Y Chromosome, made as a woman.

For some reason, this cloning process left the clones with all of Peter's memories (how that works is anyone's guess) which Roxxon intended to erase but, before they could do that, a disaster allowed for the clones to escape. The female clone, who had been given the name "Jessica Drew", sought out Peter, informing him of what was going on and assisted in taking down the scientist responsible for their creation, Doctor Otto Octavius, in a fight that resulted in the deaths of all the clones except Jessica (and the cyborg Scorpion, who was in stasis at the Baxter Building at the time)

Jessica continued to operate as Spider-Woman, proving herself to be resourceful and crafty, having been forced to be due to her lack of real identity or family, which impressed the then director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Carol Danvers who offered to make her an agent and, later, a member of the Ultimates.

Throughout this, Jessica continued to work on figuring out who she was, a copy of a (now) dead hero with no past of her own. She struggled at first with accepting Miles Morales taking up her "brother's" role but eventually warmed to the kid, taking him under her wing in almost a Big Sister role, to an extent. She put much of her energy into taking down Roxxon and stopping their genetic testing of innocent subjects. This mission ultimately led to her, Miles, and fellow Roxxon test subjects Cloak, Dagger, and Bombshell, staging a massive raid of Roxxon and arresting the CEO.

After the fall of the Ultimates and S.H.I.E.L.D. during the Cataclysm event, Jess took the money she'd saved and her "generous" S.H.I.E.L.D. severance package to found a new team of Young Ultimates, consisting of her fellow Roxxon raiders plus mutant revolutionary Kitty Pryde, also former girlfriend of Peter Parker, who she shared an apartment with and quickly developed a massive crush on.

The topic of Jess' gender is an extremely interesting one. I, personally, consider her Trans based on my reading but I understand why others disagree (other trans readers. No offense, but I really don't care about cis opinions on this). Jessica has a fully "biologically female" body (a term I hate but feels necessary to use here). She could, for example, theoretically, become pregnant, just about the only thing a trans woman couldn't achieve through gender affirming care. But, due to the nature of her having Peter's memories, in Jess' mind, she was living as a boy for the first fifteen years of her life only to suddenly be in a "female" body, where she then started living as a woman (something she did intentionally, using female pronouns and dressing in women's clothes, calling herself Spider-"Woman", and considering herself a lesbian). I would consider that a quintessential trans experience.

If you count her as having been AFAB, despite her memories, there's definite times where she basically describes having gender dysphoria in the other direction, making the writing sometimes seem like she could be considered a trans man.

I don't necessarily believe that dysphoria is what it means to be trans so the fact that she has a naturally "female" body doesn't preclude her from the definition. Trans is a social identity as much as biological, if not more so. Just as much as HRT and surgery can be very needed to alleviate gender dysphoria, its often just as important, if not more important, for social acceptance of someone living as their preferred gender. Theoretically, in a world where transphobia and strict gender binaries don't exist, trans people wouldn't feel the need for as much physical transformation. Because of this, because Jess is so readily accepted as a woman because of her appearance, I think that makes more of an argument for her to be considered trans than not.

Whether or not she's a trans woman, trans man, or some kind of spicy cis, Jess definitely has some very interesting gender stuff going on!

I love Jessica and, imho, the fact that she was never brought over to the main 616 like Miles, Jimmy Hudson, Maker, and others is one of the biggest comic crimes in years. I think she, aged up of course, and Rachel Summers should meet up, trade stories about having been in love with their respective Kitty Prydes, and see what happens... (Jess does say she loves a natural redhead...)

She also needs a better name. Her original Bagley costume is perfect but both “Spider-Woman” and “Black Widow” are far too played out. I don’t have a better suggestion but that change needs to happen for her.

It's also a missed opportunity that we never got follow up on Johnny Storm having a huge crush on her, not knowing she was a genetic clone of his best friend, (even lying about having made out with her at one point) much to Peter's absolute horror. Johnny never found out and that's a shame because it'd have been really funny.

Link to Day #28

Recommended Reading:
- Ultimate Spider-Man #97-105, 129-133
- Ultimate Enemy (Miniseries)
- Ultimate Mystery (Miniseries)
- Ultimate Doom (Miniseries)
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #4-5, 16-28
- Ultimate Comics Ultimates #3-18
- Cataclysm: Ultimates' Last Stand (Miniseries)
- Cataclysm: Ultimate Spider-Man (Miniseries)
- Survive! (One-shot)
- Ultimate Spider-Man #200
- All-New Ultimates
- Amazing Spider-Man (2014) #9-15
- Scarlet Spiders (Miniseries)
- Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man #11-12

Only one more of these! And it’s going to be a big one (at least to me)!!

For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

XUÂN CAO MĄNH AKA KARMA!
First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up #100 (1980)
Created by Chris Claremont & Frank Miller
Sexuality: Lesbian

I love the New Mutants so much, y’all! Dani is my favorite but Karma is a very close second (but I love all of them). There’s about a hundred things I could talk about in regards to Xuân but I’m just going hit some highlights

Originally one of the Vietnamese boat people, she and her younger twin siblings were the only survivors of a vicious attack by pirates. Xuân (sometimes incorrectly spelled “Xi’an” or “Shan”) ended up in control of her crime boss uncle and her own twin Tran, who shared the same possession power as Xuân. She was able to free herself with some help from Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four and ate her twin (she absorbed Tran’s consciousness).

Xuân was given a place and a job as a teaching assistant at Xavier’s school for mutants where she helped found and join the New Mutants class/team, including meeting Dani Moonstar, establishing a lifelong friendship (maybe more?)

A lot happens in New Mutants but I’m going to skip it (the series is fantastic but the Karma stuff is not the best part tbh). Much of Xuân’s story from here on out is usually about taking care of, finding cures for, and/or rescuing her younger siblings (I did a read-through and wrote a whole post about the interesting and messy fates of the twins on my old account here. Arguably, some of my finest work if I do say so myself)

Appearing in Wolverine’s solo as one of the many players in the Madripoor noir drama, where she was working for her crime boss uncle to rescue her siblings while also secretly helping Wolverine.

Xuân almost gets her own solo-disguised-as-a-Beast solo mini where she finally finds and rescues the twins from Spiral’s control. After finding a doctor who can treat the genetic damage Spiral had inflicted, Xuân get a to finally cut loose, attending Burning Exploding Colossal Man festival with a pair of “girlfriends” (the first real hint of her not being straight though those Venus symbol earrings she’s wearing in the Beast series feel like a hint) where she reunited with Dani and the rest of the New Mutants.

Next story is the Mekanix miniseries where Xuân and Kitty Pryde find themselves attending University together in Chicago. This is the where she is firmly established to be a lesbian, and comes very close to being the key to unlocking Kitty’s closet but it gets too real for Kitty and she runs off to experiment with Rachel instead.

Xuân is invited to teach at the Xavier Institute, where she’s just about the only member of the staff not to be a human disaster. She moves to San Francisco after M-Day with all the other X-Men. Is finally shown in bed with a woman. Loses a leg fighting Cameron Hodge alongside the other New Mutants. Moves back to NYC where she’s recruited by her old Madripoor pal Wolverine to a new X-Men team where she maybe hooks up with their bird alien teammate.

Once on Krakoa, Karma really makes the most of her time, finding a way to bring back her twin she ate, going on missions with Dani, helping establish Krakoa’s entire schooling system, and getting a great girlfriend in the winged Filipino Galura. This was an era she really seemed to be living her best life and I really loved that for her!

Xuân is a fantastic character who, despite her massive amounts of trauma (even more than your average X-Man), she’s maybe one of the most stable, emotionally mature characters in Marvel. I understand how that doesn’t always make her the most fun to write but I still adore her.

Link to Day #27

Recommended Reading (far from a complete reading guide):
- Marvel Team-Up #100
- Marvel Graphic Novel #4 (The New Mutants)
- New Mutants #1-6, 29-54
- Wolverine #4-8, 27-30
- Beast (Miniseries)
- X-Force #75
- Mekanix (Miniseries)
- New Mutants (2003)
- New Mutants (2009)
- Astonishing X-Men (2004) #48-68
- New Mutants (2019) (especially #14-24)
- Marvel’s Voices: Pride 2021
- Love Unlimited Infinity Comic #31-36
- Doom’s Division (Miniseries)

For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

MUZZLE HACKETT
First Appearance: Marvel’s Voices: Pride 2023
Created by H.E. Edgmon & Lorenzo Susi
Sexuality: Unrevealed
Gender: Trans Man

(I missed yesterday due to some life stuff keeping me busy so I’m going to do two today plus a bonus!)

Born from an experiment to combine symbiote DNA with a human fetus, Muzzle was born a hybrid with a symbiote mouth and the power to temporarily transfer, absorb, and “exchange” powers he’s hit with, such as gaining the ability to spit webbing after Spider-Man tried to web him, absorb the electricity from Spidey’s suit, and even take other’s wounds onto himself.

Muzzle grew up an outcast in his Oklahoma town due to his appearance and queerness but later found a place among the Commune, a queer anarchist gang that uses hacking and other skills to rob large pharmaceutical companies of medical supplies to distribute to those who can’t afford them.

Muzzle only has the one appearance but I’m pretty fond of this strange hybrid vigilante (and, usually, my eyes glaze over at even the hint of a Symbiote story)

BONUS CHARACTER:

TAFRARA!
First Appearance: Marvel’s Voices: Pride 2023
Created by Shadi Petosky & Roberto Ingranata
Sexuality: Unrevealed
Gender: Trans Women

Okay, considering a character who appears for one page in the same comic a “bonus” might be a stretch but I think she’s neat so…

Tafrara was the Sorcerer Supreme in ancient Morocco, some time before 400 CE.

Because of her own experiences, having used magic to transition, Tafrara was sympathetic to those who wished to appear differently and would try to use her magic to make said changes when asked. Though this failed when she attempted to change the indestructible Gallae Lacius who had sought her out when all other conventional means of physical transition had failed (Lacius/Lacie Lorraine could be an entire post herself)

We have never seen any more of Tafrara than this incident but the fact that there’s this gorgeous trans Sorcerer Supreme in the history makes me want to know so much more!

Link to Day #26

Recommended Reading:
- Marvel’s Voices: Pride 2023

For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

JUSTINE (surname unknown) AKA BRILLIANCE!
First Appearance: Unstoppable Wasp (2018) #3
Created by Jeremy Whitely & Gurihiru
Sexuality: Unrevealed
Gender: Trans Woman

Brilliance was an extremely stylish A.I.M. scientist who specialized in, what I can only think of as, “Goosebumps Science”, doing crazy things like creating capsules containing giant, ravenous slime monsters (“Gooey Gary”) or remote controlled mini-volcanos.

Originally joining A.I.M. in order to pay off her student loans and medical debt from transitioning, Justine was recruited to an internal team of “super villains” by Monica Rappaccini, created to stop the return of Ultron, or so they were told.

After attacking Pym Labs and getting defeated by Nadia Van Dyne aka The Wasp (featured here) and her science group G.I.R.L., Justine realized she’d been deceived and sided with G.I.R.L. to survive Rappaccini’s betrayal. Because of this, rather than facing jail time, she was allowed to join G.I.R.L. instead.

Brilliance’s whole wacky science gimmick is incredibly fun and she has a great style. I really hope to see more of her in the future. Honestly, I kind of want her to stay on the villain side. I’d just love to see what crazy creations she could sic on heroes

Link to Day #25

Recommended Reading:
- Unstoppable Wasp (2018)

For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

IAN SOO AKA… ugh… TELEKINIAN!
First Appearance: Patsy Walker, AKA Hellcat #1 (2015)
Created by Kate Leth & Brittney Williams
Sexuality: Bisexual
Gender: Experimental

Ian Soo was a put-upon New York 20-something with an overbearing girlfriend, a cranky landlord, and no job until the day the Terrigen Mist rolled through and he discovered he was an Inhuman with the power over telekinesis and a truly impressive lack of skill at coming up with codenames… as well as now no girlfriend, still a cranky landlord, and still no job.

Feeling lost, Ian, in a low moment decided to try his hand at crime, using his powers to “lift” money from an armored truck. He was almost immediately kicked in the face by superhero Hellcat. Before the fight could escalate, the two instead get wrapped up in a conversation about musicals and become friends instead, with Patsy helping Ian return the money.

Ian gets a job at Patsy’s old friend Tom’s bookshop, where Ian’s powers make moving stock much easier. Ian and Tom quickly develop crushes on eachother.

Ian, for the most part, has no real interest in being a super-anything. Happy to use his powers just to make a living but, when Tom, alongside others, is captured and mind controlled by magic, Ian steps up to fight back.

One of the most interesting things about the character to me is that Ian is subject to maybe the most frank discussion of bi erasure I’ve seen in fiction during interactions with his ex girlfriend. It’s good to see the topic discussed! Even if it’s surprising to see in a mostly-humor book.

Ian, as well as the whole Patsy Walker, AKA Hellcat series, is a lot of fun!

Link to Day #24

Recommended Reading, as I’m sure you’ve already guessed:
- Patsy Walker, AKA Hellcat

For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

Today, I’m covering the tragic story of JACK CASEY!
First Appearance: Human Torch Comics #4 (1941)
Created by Ray Gill & Sid Greene
Sexuality: Gay

TW: Suicide

One of the most memorable heroes of the 1940s Timely comics was the swashbuckling vigilante The Patriot aka Jeff Mace. Clark Kent Mace, dedicated reporter, alongside his trusty companions, girl reporter Lois Lane Mary Morgan and photojournalist Jimmy Olsen Jack Casey, secretly fights crime as the blue, red, and gold clad hero Superman The Patriot (though Mace had no powers).

Casey, a tough, boisterous New Yorker, photographer, was the only one of trio to not eventually becoming a superhero (Mary later became Miss Patriot and the Cloaked Clairvoyant), instead being drafted into the Navy for World War II. It's after the war that Casey's story turns tragic.

In the mean time, Mace, as Patriot, responded to a summons of Captain America for heroes to help fight an army of robots that were attempting to assassinate a senator in Boston (JFK). The summons sent out just before Captain America sacrifices himself to get the warning out. Mace, having been the only witness to this, put on the Captain America costume and shield and finished the mission in his name.

The public was completely unaware that Captain America (really William Nasland, the second CA, after Steve had gone missing, presumed dead, also a secret from the public) had actually died. The government took Mace in and explained the situation, letting him keep the identity going. Though they weren't thrilled about it. Steve had been, well, Steve and Nasland had been a good soldier, but Mace was a liberal reporter who'd never even been in the armed forces. It's clear that, had they been given the choice, the government would have never considered the headstrong and principled Mace for the part.

During this time, Casey was discharged from the Navy due to the exposure of his sexuality. He struggled to adjust back to civilian life and find work. Having lost hope, Casey ended up committing suicide.

This news hit Mace extremely hard, unable to believe things had gotten that bad for his friend. Mace was ordered not to attend Casey's funeral as Captain America, as it would tarnish the Captain America legacy to show up for a gay man who committed suicide (shitty but it was the 40s). Determined to honor his friend anyway, Mace showed up to the funeral in his old identity of Patriot instead. This ruined the public image of Patriot, just as his government handlers had worried it would for Captain America, but Mace couldn't care less, happy to sacrifice the Patriot in order to show Casey the honor and respect he deserved.

Mace even punched out Namor when the King of Atlantis called the gesture pointless (remember, Mace doesn't have powers).

I wanted to include Casey because, while Pride is a celebration, and sometimes a fight, it is also about remembering and honoring those we've lost. Jack Casey is a fictional character but his story is reflective of far too many.

If you're ever struggling with thoughts of hopelessness or self harm, please, please, please reach out to someone you trust or, at the very least, call or text the Suicide Hotline (988)

Also, on a lighter note, read Captain America: Patriot. Its one of my all time favorite miniseries. Everything I described above happens in only the first two issues! There's so much to get out of it! That scene of Mace showing up as Patriot for Jack's funeral never fails to make me tear up.

I also find it interesting the parallels between Jack Casey and Arnie Roth, both being closeted gay, street tough New Yorkers, best friends of a patriotic hero (Jeff Mace and Steve Rogers, respectively) who served in the Navy during World War II only to be blue ticketed due to their sexualities. I’m glad Roth’s story ended significantly happier more than Casey’s did.

Link to Day #23

Recommended Reading:
- Human Torch Comics #4-5a & 5b (Due to a publishing issue, HTC actual has two #5's, Casey appears in stories in both)
- Captain America: Patriot (miniseries) (Casey's only relevant to the first two issues but the whole thing is worth reading!)

For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

RAMONE WATTS AKA ALLOY!
First Appearance: Hawkeye (2016) #1
Created by Kelly Thompson & Leonardo Romero
Sexuality: Lesbian

After having featured her brother Johnny (way back for Day #3), I, of course, had to feature Ramone Watts!

A surf champion and owner of a surf shop, Ramone met Kate Bishop (AKA Hawkeye) when Kate moved to LA to start her own private detective agency. Ramone got drawn into Kate's cases, forming a genuine friendship, supporting Kate and Johnny when they started dating and, later, even refounding the West Coast Avengers. It was during this period that Ramone met and started dating Kate's best friend America Chavez.

While Ramone doesn't have any inherent powers like Johnny does, she does have a strange link to a vibranium ring she found in her late mother's possessions. The first time she tried to try it one, the ring lashed out and painfully scarred Ramone.

When America, Johnny, and many of her other friends get kidnapped by vampires, Ramone resolves to help save them, donning the ring again. The ring bonded to her permanently, becoming a living suit of armor that Ramone can mentally control. After a successful rescue, Ramone officially joined the WCA. Only for the book to be canceled.

After Ramone and America broke up, amicably, because American needed to move back to New York to figure out her identity, we haven't seen much of Ramone who is presumably still running her surf shop and using her new powers to keep Venice Beach safe.

She’s very cool!

Link to Day #22

Recommended Reading:
- Hawkeye (2016)
- West Coast Avengers (2018)

For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

CHARLI RAMSEY AKA HAWKEYE!
First Appearance: Ultimates (2024) #5
Created by Deniz Camp & Juan Frigeri
Sexuality: Unrevealed
Gender: Nonbinary
Identity: Two-Spirit

An orphaned teenager and member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, Charli Ramsey found the high tech archery gear intended for, and abandoned by, Clint Barton. Taking the gear for themselves, Charli became the new Ultimate universe's Hawkeye, using it to wage war on the oil giant Roxxon.

This brought him to the attention of Tony Stark, who had created the gear Charli was now using. His projections showed Charli becoming a villain, he sent Captain America to recover the gear, as Tony didn't want to be responsible for any innocent deaths that might occur.

Charli correctly anticipated Cap's mission and fought back, laying out their beliefs, mission, and skill. Impressed, Steve revealed that he was never actually going to take Charli's stuff as he agreed with their mission and guerrilla tactics and wanted to recruit them instead. After that, Charli and Steve became inseparable partners.

Charli second only to Natsu as my favorite characters in the new Ultimate universe. They're just so cool! I'm still disappointed the solicited Stephan Graham Jones one-shot never happened. What we got instead was good but I’m just a big fan of Jones’ writing and would have loved to see his take on Charli.

Charli is also Two-Spirit, an intersectional identity used by many (but not all) Native and First Nations tribes to cover non-hetero/cis roles not exactly reflected in non-indigenous identities (I am not indigenous so I only know what I read. If you are and want to correct me about any of this, feel free!) As far as I could find, Charli may be Marvel’s only Two-Spirit character, if not the only one in the big two publishers!

Link to Day #21

Recommended Reading:
- Ultimates (2024) (Charli doesn’t show up until #5 but it’s all worth reading)
- Ultimate Hawkeye (2025) (one-shot. Takes place around Ultimates #16-17)

For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

JEAN-PAUL BEAUBIER AKA NORTHSTAR!
First Appearance: X-Men #120 (1979)
Created by Chris Claremont & John Byrne
Sexuality: Gay

Happy Father’s Day to everyone’s favorite (former) radical Quebec separatist, Marvel’s first out gay character who came out in the way we all aspire: yelling, while punching a cop in the frozen food aisle of a Loblaws!

First off, I want to say that, as much as Pride is about celebration, it’s also a fight, and, in that spirit, I want to say: Fuck John Byrne. A great artist, a decent writer, and a vile transphobic cunt. This will not be a full history of Northstar, I will be skipping Byrne’s Alpha Flight and will be focusing strictly on Jean-Paul’s journey of coming out and fatherhood, in honor of the day.

Jean-Paul, mutant speedster, former terrorist, former Olympic skier (the second on my list for the month. Huh), and Alpha Flight member, came out in Alpha Flight #106 written by Scott Lobdell (fuck Lobdell as well but for a different reason) and drawn by Mark Pacella unfortunately doing his best Liefeld.

Despite the rough art and the sex pest writer, AF #106 is a a surprisingly poignant discussion of who’s struggles get valued in society. During an Alpha Flight mission, JP finds an abandoned baby girl and rushes her to the hospital. Turns out the girl, named Joanne, was born to a HIV positive mom who has since passed and is dying of AIDS.

The comic covers a few month period where JP becomes very attached to the child and officially adopts her. This becomes a headline news story as all of Canada follows this dying girl’s plight with sympathy. Except one…

Major Mapleleaf had been a hero who’d represented Canada in the fight against the Axis in WWII. Since then, his son, Michael, who was gay, had caught and died of AIDS as well, despite the Major’s best efforts to find help for his son. Because Michael was gay, he had been treated as though he had deserved the disease.

Seeing this girl get treated like a tragic victim while his son had been treated so awfully, broke the Major (Louis) and he attacked the hospital, starting a fight with Northstar that ended up moving to a supermarket where Northstar declares his long implied homosexuality on panel for the first time. He is eventually able to knock some sense into Louis, who is there to comfort JP as Joanne finally passes away

After that, Northstar becomes more of a loner, starting a successful sporting equipment company and retiring from hero work. That is until Xavier comes and asks him to join the X-Men and the Xavier institute as a teacher. Initially reluctant, JP agrees, at the very least, to assist the X-Men in a mission of helping a mutant boy (Peter) with the uncontrollable power to explode. JP attempts to fly Peter to a place his power can be contained but is unable to get there fast enough. Peter ends up dying but not before he and JP have a heart-to-heart about love, family, sexuality, and feelings. The experience inspires JP to take the teaching job after all

JP eventually is introduced to a successful PR manager and friend of his sister Kyle, the two fall in love and date for a while. Eventually having the first gay wedding in Marvel in the pages of the excellent Marjorie Liu run of Astonishing X-Men. I’m not going to say much more about it. I like Kyle but I know a lot of people find him and JP’s relationship boring. To each their own.

Which brings up to Krakoa! JP and Kyle move to the island and end up starting an investigation agency X-Factor to help determine if missing mutants are alive and need rescue or dead and need resurrection. The team includes a number of younger characters including Eye-Boy and Prodigy. Northstar grows progressively more protective of the teens, and, as Kyle points out, a lot more fatherly.

This cumulates in the end of the Trial of Magneto mini where Scarlet Witch creates the Waiting Room, a magical pocket dimension where the spirits of mutants can enter from the afterlife and choose to be resurrected. One spirit that ends up there is the baby Joanne who apparently would have grown to be a mutant, and is now in the resurrection queue, meaning Jean-Paul will be reunited with his adopted daughter after all that time.

We haven’t seen the family reunited yet but I genuinely feel that the growth Northstar has gone through over the years would make him an excellent dad, maybe the only gay father in Marvel comics

Link to Day #20

Recommended Reading (not a complete reading guide, just what’s relevant to what I talked about above):
- Alpha Flight #106
- Uncanny X-Men #414
- Uncanny X-Men #508
- Alpha Flight (2011)
- Astonishing X-Men (2004) #48-68
- X-Factor (2020)
- Trial of Magneto (miniseries)

Claremont confirmed on the Jay & Miles podcast that President Pryde’s kids were fathered by Rachel. Happy Father’s Day Ray!

For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

Tong!
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #575 (2010)
Created by Jonathan Hickman & Dale Eaglesham
Sexuality: Unclear
Gender: Trans Woman

There was a brief, fantastic period of the 2010s where we had so many super schools! It was a great time! The most eccentric of them easily being the Fantastic Four's Future Foundation, a collection of young geniuses with the goal of creating a brighter tomorrow, of which Tong was a founding member.

Introduced during Hickman's acclaimed Fantastic Four run, Tong was one of a group of Moloids, an underground race that mostly acted as the Mole Man's foot soldiers, from a hidden city that hyper-evolved those who resided there. Tong and the other now super-intelligent moloid children were imprisoned under the city by the other residents and left to die. One super smart moloid, Turg, managed to escape (though was reduced to just a head by an accident) and reached Mole Man for help who, in turn, contacted the Fantastic Four.

Learning of the imprisoned children, Ben Grimm, the Thing, smashed his way into the city and rescued the only survivors of the evolved moloids, Tong, Mik, and Korr, taking the three, as well as Turg's head, in as wards of the Future Foundation.

The quartet of moloids quickly adjusted to their new lives, proving to be highly intelligent, mischievous, and extremely loyal to "The Ben", who they viewed as their savior.

Early on, the comic didn't seem to know which moloid was which, often labeling them at random but, by the Matt Fraction/Michael Allred run of FF, it's eventually settled on Mik as the tallest, Korr as the baby, Tong as the oldest, and Turg as the head in a floating jar.

That run also gave us the reason for Tong to be included in my posts: her coming out as a girl! We get a very sweet scene of her introducing herself anew to her brothers and being met with acceptance and love.

Originally, I was going to avoid non-human characters for the sake of representation but, as far as I can recall, Tong is the only trans marvel character to have had a coming out happen on panel. Because of that, the fact that the scene is so well done, and the fact that I just love Tong, I decided I had to include her.

Tong and her brothers continue to appear as part of the Future Foundation, later traveling into the multiverse to help fix the damage that Secret Wars did to it. During the five years the Future Foundation spends traveling, Tong grows to stand out even more, becoming one of the FF to be seen as both mature, reliable, and one of the smartest of the group. She and her brothers are still inseparable though.

I don't know how moloid sexuality works but the closest we've ever gotten to any clues to Tong's is a brief plot where she and her brothers express a crush on She-Hulk ("The Jen!")

Link to Day #19

Recommended Reading:
- Fantastic Four #575, 580-588
- FF (2011) #1-5, 11-23
- FF (2012) (all of it)
- Avenging Spider-Man #17
- Future Foundation (miniseries)

For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

NYLA SKIN!
First Appearance: Daredevil #285 (1990)
Created by Ann Nocenti & Lee Weeks
Sexuality: Bisexual

The Ann Nocenti run of Daredevil is one of my favorite, if not my favorite, run of the Man without Fear’s comic. Millar and Waid and Bendis and others are all great but Nocenti’s run just scratches a storytelling itch for me.

Nyla Skin comes from one of Nocenti’s plots. Wandering the streets of New York City, having become amnesiac for reasons, Matt Murdock (going by Jack Murdock, his dad’s name, because it’s all he can remember) is found by Nyla Skin, an artist and amateur thief. Nyla takes a liking to “Jack” and takes him in, letting him crash in the ruined apartment building she’s currently squatting in.

Nyla takes “Jack” on a caper to see if he might have been a thief since he seems particularly skilled in a way a thief might. She explains that she only steals from the rich and gives away whatever she doesn’t need, a modern day Robin Hood. “Jack”’s unusual senses make quick work of the job but he states that it feels wrong and says he’s definitely not a thief, refusing to let Nyla take the loot. (I’m with Nyla here, frankly)

“Jack” instead finds work as a boxer, adopting the title as the Blind Boxer, fighting blindfolded as a gimmick. Nyla remains supportive and the two end up starting a relationship.

Of course, this doesn’t last. Kingpin figures out who the “Blind Boxer” is and kidnaps Nyla to make him throw a fight, in a poetic reflection of the original Jack Murdock’s fate. Matt wins the flight, recovers his memory, and then dumps Nyla because he feels his life is too dangerous.

Had Matt, god love him, seen what Nyla would go on to become, he might have realized what a doofus he was being.

Nyla reappears years later in Las Vegas, no longer an amateur at thieving, equipped with a high tech baton (not unlike Daredevil’s) and clear having undergone a pretty extensive amount of fight training. She recruits, of all people, a time displaced Conan the Cimmerian as her partner on the job, impressing the Barbarian with her grit and skill.

The unlikely pair end up wrapped up in a caper that has them chasing the Black Cat, venturing into Wakanda and Atlantis, and even facing off against Mephisto, still managing to come out the other side alive and with some money in their pockets, which they then use to celebrate with a fancy meal and picking up girls.

Nyla later reconnects with Matt, now with all his memories. It’s good for a while, them even facing down an evil billionaire mushroom man together, but eventually, Nyla becomes sick of all Matt’s secrets and breaks up with him this time.

I’ll be honest here, part of why I love Nyla is that she’s exactly my type. Badass, artistic, emotionally mature, caring, and soooooo pretty 😍 Be still my lesbian heart 💕💕

I really hope to see Nyla again. It’s too bad that Marvel lost the rights to Conan (again) because he and Nyla were a really fun duo!

Link to Day #18

Recommended Reading:
- Daredevil #285-289
- Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown (Miniseries)
- Daredevil (2023) #20-24

For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

RENATA DA LIMA AKA BOUNCER
First Appearance: Muties #4 (2002)
Created by Karl Bollers & Trent Kaniuga
Sexuality: Lesbian

Muties was an interesting 2002 miniseries where each issue focused on a different mutant from around the world, ones that were unlikely to every find themselves in an X-Men uniform. Each one also made use of the allegory by being about a different real world issue including school shootings in the United States, child soldiers in Uganda, domestic violence, and drug addiction.

Issue #4 is features Renata "Nata" de Lima, a girl from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro who was kicked out of her home at thirteen when her mutation activated. She survived by putting her mutation, enhanced durability from steel-hard bones and rubber-dense skin, to use as a street brawler, enforcer, and bouncer, keeping the peace in the favelas by breaking up gang fights.

Doing this, she meets Jisa, a teenager who had been kicked out of her home after falling pregnant from her gang leader boyfriend. Jisa, having all but been abandoned by her boyfriend, is taken in by Nata who cares for her, ensuring she has the food, medical care, and safe home. The two girls grow close and Nata starts to fall for Jisa.

The boyfriend, though, does not like this and has his gang jump Nata in the street. The issue ends with Nata furiously fighting for her life against the mob while and unaware Jisa waxes poetic about how thankful she is that Nata came into her life, ending with a cliffhanger of us not learning Nata's fate.

The story bares a passing similarity to one of my favorite books/movies, Fried Green Tomatoes (with Nata in the Idgie role and Jisa in Ruth's), which certainly doesn't hurt in my affection for Nata.

I also really like the idea of her powers. They obviously wouldn't do much good against more impressive powers (or, presumably, bullets) but, with some many characters of hard material like metal or rock, a rubber character (but hard rubber, not stretchy rubber) is novel. I like to imagine she could bounce like a rubber ball if thrown. Seems like a missed opportunity to not have a character named "Bouncer" be bouncy.

Nata does briefly show up once more, in Marauders Annual 2022, on Krakoa, where she is shown breaking up with another of my favorite lesbian mutants Tempo. Its great to see her again but I'm sad to see that she's not still with Jisa, raising their child.

Link to Day #17

Recommended Reading:
- Muties #4

For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

Today, I'm featuring a whole team/series! AVENGERS ACADEMY!
First Appearances:
- Moon Girl (Lunella Lafayette) - Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #1 (2015) by Brandon Monclare, Amy Reeder, & Natacha Bustos
- Devil Dinosaur - Devil Dinosaur #1 (1978) by Jack Kirby
- Captain America of the Railways (Aaron Fischer) - United States of Captain America #1 (2021) by Josh Trujillo & Jan Bazaldúa
- Bloodline (Brielle Brooks) - Free Comic Book Day 2022: Avengers/X-Men by Danny Lore & Karen S. Darboe
- Escapade (Shela Sexton) - Marvel's Voices: Pride (2022) by Charlie Jane Anders & Ro Stein
- Normie Osborn - Amazing Spider-Man #263 (1985) by Tom DeFalco & Ron Frenz
- Rascal - Free Comic Book Day 2022: Spider-Man/Venom by Ram V & Stefano Raffaele
- Kid Juggernaut (Justin Jin) - Marvel's Voices Infinity Comic #100 (2024) by Anthony Oliveira & Minkyu Jung
Sexuality: All of Them

(This post has been fraught. I meant to post it yesterday as an extra big post for 616 day but forgot and then, today, my app crashed and I lost an even longer draft than the one I've written here but, hey, better late than never! 😅)

The second iteration of the Avengers Academy, series written by Anthony Oliveira, was probably the single gayest comic ever published by Marvel and I adored every panel of it.

Full to the brim with heart, humor, superhero thrills, classic teen romance, mysteries, horror, and more continuity deep cuts than even the most dedicated Marvel Zombie could catch on a single read through. I am devastated anew every time I remember it was cancelled. It ran for sixty issues and it still felt like it had so many more stories to tell when it ended!

The series has Carol Danvers decide to reopen the Avengers Academy, with reluctant support from former AA student Hazmat, collecting stray super kids from all over the Marvel Universe, including:

Aaron Fischer, a gay young man, runaway, and drifter who acts as a super hero protector to homeless communities as the "Captain America of the Railways"

Lunella Lafayette aka Moon Girl, a super smart preteen from Manhattan who shares a psychic link with the extradimensional T-Rex, Devil Dinosaur

Brielle Brooks aka Bloodline, the daughter of Blade and a fellow Daywalker and vampire hunter, from Atlanta. She discovers she's Bi over the course of the series.

Shela Sexton aka Escapade, a high tech cat burglar and mutant with the power to swap positions, physically/narratively/psychologically, with others, a power she only has the vaguest understanding of. She's a trans lesbian.

Normie Osborn, preteen heir to both the Alchemex and Oscorp fortunes, grandson of Norman Osborn aka the Green Goblin. Normie is bonded to Rascal, a juvenile symbiote and spawn of the murderous Carnage. Normie and Rascal join the Avengers Academy in hopes of finding a way to break free from their villainous family legacies.

And, finally, Oliveira's own creation, Justin Jin aka Kid Juggernaut, a Korean-Canadian baker from Vancouver who inherited his grandfather's shard of the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak. His grandfather had been Jin Moon-Ho, the Juggernaut before Cain Marko took the title for himself, killing Jin, years before Justin was born. Justin, despite his "Rage Father" provided powers, is a sweet, good natured kid, though a little dim, who spend the entire series crushing of Aaron Fischer.

More characters, both new and old, appear, join, and fight the students, many of them queer themselves and all of them delightful! Because of it's Infinity Comic format, the series was able to really delve into areas a regular book would have had to skip for page time. As such, we get some truly incredible dives into the backgrounds of characters such as Emplate (in an arc gorgeously drawn by Karen S. Darboe and colored by K.J. Diaz), Blackheart (almost a direct sequel to the beautiful origin story Ann Nocenti wrote him in his first appearance, so much so that I'm including it in the Recommended Reading), and even Arnie Roth, Steve Rogers' first best friend!

I cannot say enough about how much I love this series! Reading it each week was basically the only reason I had Marvel Unlimited for the longest time!

Link to Day #16

Recommended Reading:
- Daredevil #270 (1989)
- Marvel's Voices Infinity Comic #5-10
- Marvel's Voices Infinity Comic #95-100
- Kid Juggernaut: Marvel's Voices Infinity Comic (6 issues)
- Avengers Academy: Marvel's Voices Infinity Comic

For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

Today, featuring my problematic fave KATRINA VAN HORN AKA MAN-KILLER!
First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up #8 (1973)
Created by Gerry Conway & Jim Mooney
Sexuality: DYKE
Gender: WOMAN

Man-Killer was created to be every possible negative stereotype of a feminist and lesbian you could possibly imagine… and I’m madly in love with her

Or I would be if she didn’t occasionally put the “Nazi” in “Feminazi” (don’t work for Hydra, kids)

Katrina was a German Olympic skier who’s career was cut short by a male competitor who, in cutting her off on the slope, caused them both to go over a cliff, killing him and leaving Katrina broken and scarred, both mentally and physically.

Provided an exoskeleton that allowed her to move again as well as granting her increased strength, Katrina started a crusade against all men. Later, she also took jobs from Hydra, Justin Hammer, and the Cowl’s Masters of Evil, usually acting as the field leader for a villain team.

She had a weird, and really long, subplot throughout Thunderbolts where she was lying low under the assumed name Wilma at a Colorado sports bar frequented by the Thunderbolts member Atlas. Both recognized each other but didn’t acknowledge it, almost forming a genuine friendship. Once exposed, Katrina hurled insults at Atlas and left him to die, claiming it was all fake (which isn’t true as we saw her have thought balloons about how she was starting to value his friendship)

She later joined a different iteration of the Thunderbolts under Hawkeye’s command as Amazon but later left and was part of the Masters of Evil as Man-Killer again before long.

Then Katrina was killed off pretty unceremoniously by a tantruming Kobik (the cosmic cube as a little girl). Because of Whiplash, one of Iron Man’s suckiest villains. R.I.P. Katrina. You maybe deserved better.

Man-Killer is unquestionably awful and, were she a real person, definitely doesn’t deserve to be in a Pride lineup. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a blast everytime she showed up in a comic! Just look at that original costume! A Venus symbol on the crotch!? Incredible!

She’s also subject probably my favorite way a comic character has been established as gay in the pins Mark Bagley draws her wearing in Thunderbolts (a late edition to the design probably because they realized they let that Atlas subplot go on so long it was starting to seem like they were setting up a romantic pairing). I desperately want that “Indigo Grrrls” pin for myself!

Probably best Katrina is currently dead because I’m sure I’d hate to hear her opinions on, say, trans women in womens sports.

Link to Day #15

Recommended Reading:
- Marvel Team-Up #8
- Daredevil #123
- Marvel Team-Up #107
- Thunderbolts (1997) (I was going to brake down specific issues but she basically appears on and off for the entire run)
- Amazing X-Men (2014) #16-17

For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

NATSU TSUKISHIMA!
First Appearance: Ultimate X-Men (2024) #3
Created by Peach Momoko
Sexuality: Unrevealed
Gender: Gender Non-Conforming, possibly trans masculine

Spoiler: one of two new Ultimate characters I will be featuring, both requiring some research on my part. If I get anything wrong and a Japanese reader would like to correct me, feel free!

Natsu Tsukishima is introduced as a reserved, sad mutant teen with an optic blast out one eye and a tragic past. Natsu had been taken in by the sinister Maester and his Children of the Atom cult, who messes with mutant powers to try and make them more useful to the cult.

After a tragic accident resulting in them killing their mom, Natsu ends up escaping from the cult and joining Maystorm’s X-Men in disguise. Natsu gradually grows more confident and, in the end, is all in on their friend’s mission to save Armor.

Nastu uses the pronoun “Jibun" (自分) which is, from what I understand, frequently used as a gender neutral pronoun in Japanese. Also, when pulled into Armor’s mindscape, where the characters are dressed how she sees them (Kanon in a street tough look, Nico like a fancy witch, Mei as a Super Sentai-style tokusatsu
hero), Natsu is notably wearing gakuran, a boys school uniform.

I have been very attached to this character since they first appeared (I love a sad Summers kid), and they have continued to be one of my favorite characters in the Ultimate line!

Link to Day #14

Recommended Reading:
- Ultimate X-Men (2024), of course

For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

MADIN!
First Appearance: Iceman (2018) #1
Created by Sina Grace & Nathan Stockman
Sexuality: Unrevealed
Gender: Nonbinary

(Been a really busy Sunday so this one going up late)

All set to be the “first purple student at Sarah Lawrence”, where they were going to study Early Music, Madin instead had to drop out and their brother Ash was kicked out of their aunt’s home. In addition to Ash, Madin ended up responsible for a group of Morlocks as well, a task they took very seriously.

When Morlocks start going missing, Madin reluctantly accepts help from the X-Men, Iceman and Bishop. Discovering Mr. Sinister behind the plot, Madin, Bobby, and Bishop lead the Morlocks into battle to save their people.

Madin only really ever appears in the second Sina Grace Iceman series which doesn’t get brought up often, but the dressing down they give Bobby about privilege does seem to have left a lasting impact as it very much seems to have influenced Bobby’s characterization on Krakoa.

I find Madin really cool and would love to see them again. Maybe working with Callisto and the classic Morlocks? That’d also be an excuse for them to meet my favorite guy Maggott, who’s been hanging around with Callisto’s Morlocks on and off lately. I think Madin and Maggott would hit it off, both having sibling issues, artistic leanings, painful powers, and technicolor skin.

Link to Day #13

Recommended Reading:
- Iceman (2018) (miniseries)
- Uncanny X-Men: Winter’s End (one-shot finale to the Iceman series)

For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

For unlucky day #13, I’m doing CLAIRE VOYANT AKA THE BLACK WIDOW!
First Appearance: Mystic Comics #4 (1940)
Created by George Kapitan & Harry Sahle
Sexuality: Omnivore

The oldest character on my list, beating Chili Storm by six years, Claire Voyant (yes, her name is “Clairvoyant”) was a spiritualist in the 1920s whose sister was murdered by a mobster she was dating. Claire was offered a deal by a demon (Satan, himself, in the original 1940s stories) to give her the power to get revenge in exchange for her duty to collect evil souls on his behalf as the Black Widow (no relation to the Red Room)

Claire continued this duty, eventually finding herself in Nazi Germany (plenty of souls to collect). In the fantastic series The Twelve, she was part of a group of, you guessed it, twelve heroes and antiheroes who were trapped by Nazis in a bunker, knocked out with gas, and put in suspended animation.

The Nazis who knew about this died and the group remained asleep in underground Berlin for decades before a construction crew found them and they were woken up in the custody of the U.S. Government. This leads to a murder mystery when one of their own is killed and, again, I really recommend The Twelve.

Claire, for her part, discovers her deal with the demon is still active and continues her nightly hunts. Though she also discovers the modern queer goth/punk scene which she finds herself very much at home in, lurking in clubs and hooking up with girls. She also falls in love with fellow Twelve member, Phantom Reporter. The two eventually enter a (open) relationship.

The Twelve storyline and its surviving characters have not really reappeared since the series ended, unfortunately, but it left Black Widow and Phantom Reporter in a really interesting place. I really need to know more!

Link to Day #12

Recommended Reading:
- Mystic Comics #4-5, 7 (1940)
- USA Comics #5 (1941)
- All Select Comics #1 (1943)
- The Twelve (2008)
- The Twelve: The Spearhead (2010) (One-Shot, read between #8 & 9 of the main series)
- Marvel (2020) #3

For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

Two for one today with TAKU & HORATIO WALTERS AKA VENOMM!
First Appearance:
Taku - Avengers #68 (1969)
Venomm - Jungle Action #6 (1973)
Created by:
Taku - Roy Thomas & John Buscema
Venomm - Dan McGregor & Rich Buckler
Sexuality: Never outright stated but definitely both MLM

After a childhood attack left his face burned off with acid, Horatio Walters retreated to solitude where he studied science and zoology, with a specific interest in snakes, who he developed a sense of kinship torwards due to their misunderstood nature. Horatio grew to be able to control snakes as well as immunity to their venoms, taking the name Venomm (doing the 90s double letter thing years before it was cool) when he was recruited as a lieutenant In Killmonger’s coup of Wakanda.

Taku was the soft-spoken, poetic, introspective communications and computer expert for the Wakandan royal family and close friend and confidant of T’Challa, assisting in many of the Black Panther’s early adventures.

After Venomm was defeated and imprisoned by T’Challa, Taku took interest in the faceless snake charmer, noting in particular the kindness which he handled his reptile subjects. Over his years long imprisonment, the two became close, with Taku frequently visiting Horatio and caring for his pets.

When Killmonger managed to break Venomm out of jail, Venomm nearly managed to kill T’Challa before Taku put himself in harms way. Unable to bring himself to harm his friend, Venomm abandoned the fight. Venomm later returned during the final battle with Killmonger, killing Killmonger’s telepathic minion King Kadaver, saving Taku’s life.

After that, the two became inseparable “companions”, despite Taku’s friends, T’Challa and W’Kabi’s distrust of, respectively, snakes and non-Wakandans. When it’s revealed that there’s a spy in the palace, Venomm is suspected by all but Taku, W’Kabi even pointing out that Venomm has free access to Taku’s palace quarters. Venomm is eventually cleared, pointing out that he “may have anti-social tendencies” but he’d never do anything to hurt Taku.

After that, Taku & Venomm have continued to fight for Wakanda, usually appearing in group cameos.

Don McGregor has stated that he always intended for the two to be a couple but was never allowed to say it on page. He would even referred to them as “married” in interviews. Thankfully, in a 2022 Pride special, Danny Lore wrote a story that establishes once and for all that Taku & Venomm are happily married!

Don McGregor’s run on Black Panther books (Jungle Action) is seriously great. Especially once Billy Graham takes over on art. Sadly the run gets cut pretty short, right in the middle of a storyline. While it lasts, though, McGregor has a back for really filling out the characters he writes (I miss Monica Lynne, my favorite Black Panther love interest). Taku and Venomm are a definite high point as well.

Link to Day #11

Recommended Reading:
- Jungle Action (1972) #6-18
- Black Panther: Panther’s Prey (Miniseries)
- Marvel’s Voices: Pride (2022) (One Shot)

For the month of June, I’m going to make daily posts about canonically queer characters I love.

CHILI STORM AKA THE LYNX
First Appearance: Millie the Model Comics #3 (1946)
Created by Ken Bald
Sexuality: Lesbian on the Prowl

I’m am so excited about this one! I love all these characters I’ve been posting about but getting to talk about an old romance comic character I love is another level!

For anyone unfamiliar, before Marvel was even Marvel and almost exclusively printed superhero comics, they had a thriving romance/humor line, dozens of books like Patsy Walker, Venus, Linda Carter Student Nurse, Tessie the Typist, Lana, etc. but one of the most popular was Millie the Model, which, itself, had about a dozen spinoffs (A Date with Millie, Life with Millie, Modeling with Millie, Mad About Millie, etc. And you thought the X-Men were bad).

From near the beginning, we’re introduced to Millie’s snooty, wisecracking rival, the Veronica to her Betty, Chili Seven (later renamed Chili Storm)! Most Millie the Model stories are about Millie and Chili competing for a modeling gig, usually with Chili’s conniving being her downfall, with plenty of sniping and jokes in the process. They’re a lot of fun! Chili was popular enough that she even got to star in her own spinoff book.

Of course, over time and hundreds of issues, it becomes clear that Millie and Chili really are each other’s best friends (though they’d never admit it) and tend to consider their rivalry and arguing to be fun and fulfilling, the the exhaustion of everyone else.

After Marvel started focusing on superhero comics, romance/humor comic characters started falling by the wayside, mostly reduced to occasional cameos and one-offs. Chili appears in a Dazzler issue, cameos at Hank & Jan’s wedding, and gets a few flashback story appearances, until the 2009 miniseries Models, Inc. which brings back Chili, Millie, and their supporting cast, as well as Patsy Walker, to solve a murder mystery.

In this series, Chili is established to be a lesbian always on the search for the next pretty face to flirt with (but no blondes!). Considering, in the old comics, Chili really only ever seemed interested in men if they could advance her career, I think this retcon works. Chili also becomes aware that what she really wants is to become a superhero, spending the series designing herself a costume (the Lynx) and browbeating Patsy Walker (who’d become the superhero Hellcat) into training her.

The Lynx plot has only really been followed up on in a few backup stories (drawn, adorably, by Colleen Coover) and a Marvel Adventures story where she has a teamup with Spider-Man.

I miss Chili and really hope to see her (and her Lynx identity) again soon! I’m so obsessed with her

Link to Day #10

Recommended reading:
- pick up literally any old Millie the Model comic and my girl’ll be there!
- Chili (1969)
- Dazzler (1980) #34
- Models, Inc. (miniseries)
- Fearless #1