Miss Jimmy Olsen!

[cyberghostface]

 

From Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #44.

Comments

[leahandillyana]

Why are crossdressing plots nonexistent in modern comics?

[owlbrigade1]

Either an awareness that handling it wrong will result in insulting Trans readers if they go the old" laugh at a bloke in a frock" route[The Mrs Browns Boys approach, if you will]; which tends to be the default. Or perhaps the publisher is fears there is a certain degree of insecurity in the male readership towards gender presentation. Hopefully the latter is changing now though. Plus, I think this might be the biggie too, it is hard to fit them into an angst filled multi comic "EVENT" where everyone is miserable, brooding, and being consumed by their dark counterpart.

I'd like to see more exploration of gender diversity in comics, been a card carry member of the Transwoman-Jimmy fandom for years, but I just don't see it happening. Not in any upbeat and fun way anyway.

[zachbeacon]

I can think of a fair amount to female characters who have passed as male characters (Dallas Riordan as Citizen V, Mattie Franklin as Spider-Man, Maguire Beck as Mad Jack, Maya Lopez as Ronin) but the only example I can think of the opposite involves Jimmy (in a throwaway gag in All Star Superman clearly meant as a nod to this kind of Silver Age story)

[bravest_spinja]

Off the top of my head, two examples I can think of where J'onn J'onzz took on a more feminine form to infiltrate some Amazons, and this other time where Captain America was on a boat full of female supervillains, and disguised himself in one's outfit. (Which may be an arguable case. The outfit was vaguely, but not overtly feminine, and while he didn't add of a lot of accouterments, the idea was that there women of all body types, so he wouldn't look too out of place.)

[zachbeacon]

I didn't even think of Martian Manhunter. Some of his various human cover identities are female too (including one that only exists so Mark Millar could make a Sailor Moon reference). Gender presentation as it relates to shapeshifters would make this a much longer list...that I don't want to touch because discussions of some character's "real" and/or default gender can get ugly.

I was not aware of the Cap story but I'm sure there's a mountain of fanart (probably with Chris Evans' likeness).

[obsidianwolf]

The Cap Story is not the best at avoiding issues and shall we say iffy plot lines. It's one of the story lines involving Superia the straw feminist who wanted to invert the power structure of the world by sterilizing all women but her followers and then leveraging the fact they alone could ensure the continuation of the human race in exchange for absolute power.

She was a scientist who saw glimpses of Thundra's original female dominated future and became convinced she was the one who made it happen.

It was one of the biggest cases where Gruenwald tried and fell very short and probably shouldn't have tried at all but being it was a different time in comics no one stepped in to stop it.

[zachbeacon]

Honestly in that context I can almost give Superia the benefit of the doubt. Thundra was the second best* 70s straw feminist character Marvel had. Of course your average lady villain is going to look up to her.

*Valkyrie is obviously the best.

[silicondream]

I mean, this is a 40-year-old's definition of "modern", but Vertigo had a ton of stories with sympathetic characters crossing gender boundaries. Doom Patrol, Flex Mentallo, The Invisibles, Sandman, Shade the Changing Man, etc. And then there's Garth Ennis, who--well, he's written about trans characters a lot. Not so much with the sympathy though. I don't usually subscribe to "If you hate X, you must be X," but Jesus, Garth, let us know when you can stop writing about transwomen who are comically unable to pass and just be one.


In the more mainstream titles, there was Nigel Orpington-Smythe getting magically cursed into the Vixen's body in Excalibur, and the explicitly non-binary Indigo in Sovereign Seven. I recall an issue of Warlock & the Infinity Watch (or one of the spinoff titles, can't remember) during Infinity Crusade which dealt with Adam merging with and experiencing the past lives of the Goddess. There was metaphorical rape by the Magus and...yeah. Jungian shit. Oh yes, and there was Mantra from the Ultraverse.


And highest honors to the '80s-90s Legion of Super-Heroes and L.E.G.I.ON., which followed up on the trail blazed when Lightning Lass first impersonated her brother back in the Silver Age. Between Shvaughn/Sean Erin (Element Lad's Science Police trans girlfriend (who got forcibly detransitioned at some point but he DIDN'T CARE *sobbing fistpump*), Roxxas (sexily genderqueer even after he was apprehended for every kind of somebody-cide and rehabilitated!) , and Strata ("Congratulations! I'm a girl!), it kind of seemed like the future was cool about these things. And Winath was nudist! And Bart Allen was his own sweet self! It was a good time to be young.

[leahandillyana]

I was not talking about transgender characters. I was talking about cis characters crossdressing for plot-related reasons, like in Sailor Moon where Zoisite frequently presented himself as a woman and Haruka, Seiya, Taiki and Yaten spent almost whole time dressed and drawn as boys - heck, even Usagi and Minako crossdressed once or twice and there's an official art of the whole female cast cosplaying as Tuxedo Mask!

[bradygirl_12]

DC could be quite subversive in the Silver Age despite the Comics Code. Jimmy's cross-dressing accustomed readers to a 'normal guy' doing it, and even Lois, despite her scheming to get Superman to marry her, was still a star reporter and not relegated to reporting in the society pages.

[shadowpsykie]

Lois: Why won't superman marry me?! *Weep.... Picks up submachine gun to laydown cover fire while trying to get away from a Mob hide out she infiltrated *

Superman: Oh i don't know lois... maybe because you amasses such a large list of enemies that our wedding would be the next St Valentine's day Massacre?

[zachbeacon]

Remember the time he ended up engaged to Lana AND Lois so he had the Superman Blue Wedding and the Superman Red Wedding?

[bradygirl_12]

I love the Silver Age. :)

[zachbeacon]

Though IIRC it's the same wedding ... but that didn't fit with the Game of Thrones reference I was trying to make.

Also Jimmy marries Lucy Lane and I wouldn't wish that fate on my worst enemy.

[thanekos]

Miss Jimmy Olsen? But he's right there.

[kurenai_tenka]

What a babe.

Glad to see in his latest limited series he kept up the fine tradition of devastatingly good Olsen drag.

[bruinsfan]

If only during those "Moments after..." Jimmy had the presence of mind for a snappy comeback along the lines of "you can't blame a girl for keeping some secrets to herself this early in the courtship!" we might have ended up with a Victor/Victoria situation instead of Dora having to save the day with the customary violent chimpanzee freakout.

[donnblake]

"I'll blow out the cord with Super-Breath! It's a good thing I came along, Jimmy, because without my Super-Breath, there'd be no way for you to unplug that fan and find the jewels. Once again I, and my powers, such as Super-Breath, are vital to the conclusion of this story."