HOLY BI-ROBIN ...exploring modern sexuality in comics

Holy (Bi)Robin! Tim Drake Comes Out
_“Why change Robin? It was a no brainer. It happens to a lot of bisexual people, it seemed like natural character development.”

Since it's Pride Month and we're taking a week off to paint ourselves in rainbows, we figured we'd feature a super easy conversation about sexual identity in mainstream comics (from Raman's OTHER podcast Modern Minorities). Recently, Batman's partner, Robin discovered his own queer identity on my other podcast, modern minorities. We feature minority voices for all of our majority years. So we decided to have a conversation about Robin's queer identity over the years in pop culture, with a little help from our friends.

Lately all the news has been about Superman’s son Jonathan Kent coming out recently as bi-sexual in the comics - and the not so_-nice reception it’s has gotten in the real world (WTF...Louis Lane?!?). But just weeks before that, ROBIN - one of the most recognizable (Queer?) icons ALSO came out as Bi-sexual. This matters. It represents as big a pop culture moment as when Miles Morales & Kamala Khan were introduced to the world. And while Robin (aka Tim Drake) is not the FIRST comic book hero to come out as Queer, he represents the most important hero to do so. Because Robin has been all of us all along. From kids envisioning themselves as him, to Queer’s taking ownership (#representation), to the “Seduction of the Innocent” (+those other 1950s fear-mongering hearings) — Robin has always had us envisioning, and questioning things. There has been celebration and pushback, and we wanted to talk about what it all means. So we brought together past guests Karl Preissner (Equity / Inclusion Ally & Advocate) and Steven Wakabayashi (Yellow Glitter Podcast host ), along with Ainsley Waller (Bisexual designer AND fellow comics geek) to unpack this moment and challenge our assumptions about the evolution of some of our most beloved characters...

LEARN ABOUT
Tim Drake’s big news: https://n.pr/3DCFzAh
Ainsley Waller: behance.net/AinsleyRiversWaller
Steven Wakabayashi: stevenwakabayashi.com
Karl Preissner: modmypod.com/episodes/11-karl-preissner-on-pampgs-insider-diversity-1

MENTIONS
COMIC: Batman Urban Legends #6: dccomics.com/comics/batman-urban-legends-2021/batman-urban-legends-6
NEWS: Robin Writer Chuck Dixon’s problematic take: https://bit.ly/2YKbIr7
BOOK: Seduction of the Innocent (1954): wikipedia.org/wiki/Seduction_of_the_Innocent
PERSON: Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie): wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_Ziggy_Stardust_and_the_Spiders_from_Mars
TV: Queer as Folk (1999): imdb.com/title/tt0262985/
FILM: Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994): imdb.com/title/tt0109045/
TV: Xena Warrior Princess: imdb.com/title/tt0112230/
BOOK: On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous (Ocean Vuong): goodreads.com/book/show/41880609-on-earth-we-re-briefly-gorgeous
COMIC: Flamer (Mike Curato): goodreads.com/book/show/52751434-flamer
COMIC: Displacement (Kiku Hughes): goodreads.com/book/show/46223303-displacement
FILM: Moonlight (2016): imdb.com/title/tt4975722/
CHARACTER: Elizabeth Bennet (Pride & Prejudice): wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Bennet
CHARACTER: Master Splinter (TMNT): wikipedia.org/wiki/Splinter_(Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles)
CHARACTER: Dumbledore (Harry Potter): wikipedia.org/wiki/Albus_Dumbledore