• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > Culture

US Comic Book to Feature Transgender Superhero

  • A man holding a rainbow flag.

    A man holding a rainbow flag. | Photo: Reuters

Published 29 July 2016
Opinion

A transgender superhero is hitting the shelves this year in a new comic book series. 

The U.S. comic-book series "Alters" will add a transgender superhero to its list of characters, Reuters reported on Thursday. 

The September edition of the new comic book series is expected to feature Chalice, a transgender superhero who posses the ability to control quantum mechanics.

RELATED: 
Uruguay Hosts Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference

Alters, which is written by artist Paul Jenkins, will include characters that have special abilities along with physical, chemical or mental challenges, such as quadriplegic man and a character suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

As part of the narritive, Chalices is beginning to transition to female by taking hormone therapy throughout the comic.

"Her transition is an important part of the story," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "But the fact is, why is she great? Because she kicks ass."

Jenkins has written for the comic titles Spider-Man, Wolverine and Inhumans, published by comic-book powerhouse Marvel. His Alters idea was adopted by a small, young company called AfterShock.

Chalice is not the first transgender comic-book character, but she is the first to play a central role, said Tamra Bonvillain, part of the Chalice creative team and a transgender woman.

Previous transgender characters include Alysia Yeoh, who came out as transgender in a 2013 Batgirl comic and Shvaughn Erin, who in a 1992 Legion of Super-Heroes story was revealed to have been born male.

The first book in the Alter comic series will be available Sept. 7.

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.