The LGBT agenda is conquering every sectors of western culture. The comic book world is no exception. We already have a gay Green Lantern, a gay Iceman, a bisexual Catwoman and we have at least two gay superhero teams (The Pride and Spandex) but are you ready for what comes next? Maybe some of you will be a bit shocked. Independent comic book creator Brian Andersen (So Super Duper) is on a mission to make history with Stripling Warrior,the world’s first comic book series featuring a gay Mormon superhero. Ansersen hopes to fund the comic through Kickstarter, and has already raised almost half of the $5,000 target. According to the page, the creator has worked on Kickstarter before, and has delivered all rewards to those who paid for them. [1] The series tells the tale of Sam Shepard, a happily out and newly married gay man whose life is changed forever after he is visited by an angel from heaven on his wedding night and is summoned to be the Hand of God on Earth. Why was he chosen? How does his sexuality impact his role as a servant of the divine? And how does the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints react when it hears a gay man has been sent on a mission from the heavens? [3] The Mormon Church has a reputation for not being accepting of homosexuality, making this a comic that directly addresses some quite powerful taboos within the religion. During an interview with NewsRama, the author explains how he got this idea of a mormon gay superhero: “Being gay and Mormon myself, and a colossal comic book-loving and reading geek, I thought a gay Mormon superhero would make for an interesting story.” [2] He confesses that he was nervous about releasing this comic book:
Perhaps I held onto creating Stripling Warrior for as long as I did out of fear. I honestly was a bit fearful of releasing the comic. I didn’t want to offend my Mormon friends and family. But I realized that doing something that frightens you is a good thing. I knew that the risks were (hopefully) worth the reward of writing and creating my story. [4]
As you might expect, the main character’s romantic life will be prominently featured along with plenty of fisticuffs, humor, an exploration into the mythology of the Latter Day Saints Church, and of course, heroic banter and anti-gay super villains. [1] After all, what a gay comic book is good for if it doesn’t teach your kids a bit about homosexuality and gay sex… right? This is the main storyline according to the author:
Sam Shepard is just your average guy. An average guy who likes other guys. He’s recently married to a man, he loves his life and has no hang ups about his sexuality. Suddenly, on his honeymoon, he has epic power and responsibility thrust upon him. By an angel from Heaven no less.
The book also features a character from the Book of Mormon, the Angel Abish. This is a bit odd because named women are rare in the Book of Mormon. The author says that Stripling Warrior he wanted to flip the spiritual switch and give the power role to a woman. Instead of a man who normally delivers the message and bestows the heavenly gifts. [7] He added that he choose Abish, not only because she’s a rare named woman in the Book of Mormon, but also because she was not a person in power in her scripture story. She was a servant woman to a King. She wasn’t nobility. She was just your average person who changed her world and the world of those around here by helping to convert her entire Kingdom. [7] As most gay artists, the man obviously loves “victims” and powerless people and he have a lot of fun picturing them turning the world around. You can expect a lot of victimization and effeminate stuff from this comic, as the author admits that he like to display his own “gayness” for everyone to see:
I don’t have to tell people I’m gay because I’m one of those homos who wears my gayness on every facet of my being. One look and one utterance and people clock me. I guess I’m kind of a stereotype.
So this comic is kind of personal for him, he is obviously self-aggrandizing himself through his art and if we forget all the nacissism involved, the man also seems to be on a quest for self-redemption… and apparently he want you to pay for it… via Kickstarter.
I thought it’d be cool to create a something to explore my feelings […] I want to take a homosexual character who is deeply immersed in the mythology of a religion, in this case the Mormon religion, and make him powerful. I want to show that he is completely and totally worthy of God and is even given a holy charge to be his hand on Earth. [4]
