Pinky, the gay Howling Commando!

[ashtoreth.insanejournal.com]

No, not THAT guy. Ever since I heard Stan Lee claim that he made a soldier gay way back in the day, I've been curious to see Percival "Pinky" Pinkerton.

From Sgt Fury and the Howling Commandos #8

Comments

[foxhack.insanejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't see it. The whole "he's gay" thing, I mean.

[(Anonymous)]

He says right there: "And I associate ONLY with gentlemen!"

[psychop_rex.insanejournal.com]

It's entirely possible that Lee was TRYING to write him as gay, but had not in point of fact ever met any gay guys at that point, and didn't know how to write them. (Hey, it WAS the early '60's, remember, and Lee's writing can come off as obnoxiously macho every now and then.)

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

Most likely this was a twist on an old gag Stan used to pull in the Westerns. A fancy dude who spoke proper English was picked up by bullies and he turned out to be heavyweight boxing champ or something. Or the helpless old man with the white beard was a former Texas Ranger. The gimmick works by reversal.

[psychop_rex.insanejournal.com]

Right - the guy looks like a pansy, but he's really a tough guy. Only in this case he IS a pansy (in the old usage of the word - you know what I mean), he's just a TOUGH pansy.

[ashtoreth.insanejournal.com]

I'd agree. While many Americans do have a notion of British = gay, Stan really played it up enough to emphasize it more than is normal--then he deemphasized it by connecting Pinky with a womanizing past and the tough guy-ness and the Playboy club eventually..enough that people who were uncomfortable with the implications could pretend Pinky was just 'British'. That kind of thing was common in movies for years.

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

It's a stereotype, but then the comic might as well have been SGT FURY AND HIS ASSORTED STEREOTYPES. I imagine Lee and Kirby got this from those post-WW II movies with the squads that always had a Jew, an Italian, an Irishman, all interacting with just enough conflict. I don't recall those movies going so far as to put a black soldier in a combat unit, but in the Civil Rights era of 1963 it would feel right.

[sinisterlink.insanejournal.com]

The umbrella thing totally reminds me of those self-defense classes where they teach older people how to beat the crap out of someone with their cane.

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

A well-made umbrella is a useful weapon, with a hook on one end and a metal point on the other. There used to be clips on YouTube of oldtime Hong Kong star Kwang Tak-Hing dealing with thugs with his umbrella.

[seriousfic.insanejournal.com]

The Howling Commandoes! Nick Fury, bravest soldier in the war! Dum-Dum Dugan, the most loyal soldier you'll ever see! And Pinky! He's FIERCE.

[skitty_kat.insanejournal.com]

...Alfred?

And let's be honest - he's not gay, he's British. We're all like that, don'cha know.

[jlroberson.insanejournal.com]

Actually, Stan Lee, I think, is on record as saying Pinkerton was gay...

[suzene.insanejournal.com]

How recently did Stan Lee say so? Like, mid-90's or did he let this drop, say, after he became involved with 'Hero'?

[trueredorion.insanejournal.com]

2002 while defending the Rawhide Kid mini.

[jlroberson.insanejournal.com]

Pretty recently. It's most probably an after-the-fact bit of opportunism, which is to say Stan Lee. But I think he did say it.

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

Yeah, to be honest, I doubt if Stan was trying to sneak a gay hero past the Comics Code in 1964 or so. But looking back forty years later, he might reinterpret things that way in his own mind.

I think Pinky was supposed to be based on David Niven. That's how I've always heard his dialogue. And Ian Fleming thought Niven would be a good choice to play James Bond.

[ar_feiniel_.insanejournal.com]

Gays in the military FTW

[halloweenjack.insanejournal.com]

I wonder what Garth Ennis thinks of this fellow?

[salamangkiero.insanejournal.com]

Being a gay man, I think this guy is not butch enough. I'd expect a gay military guy to be all muscles and hardcore.

[salamangkiero.insanejournal.com]

If I may add further, I'd expect them to be buff and hardcore since if you're going to be a soldier, you gotta do it with style!

[ashtoreth.insanejournal.com]

I don't think people (ie. Stan the writer) realized back then that hypermasculinity was a trait of gay men. I remember how shocked people were to find out Judas Priest wore leather and spikes all along cuz of teh ghey.