Gay Superhero Kicks Butt and Gets Hot Boys

The first collection of bisexual comics writer Steve Orlando’s GLAAD Media Award-nominated take on DC Comics’ super-powered vigilante Midnighter has arrived, with all the blood and bruises you’d expect from this brutal gay character. Midnighter Vol. 1: Out, released February 23, finds the hero dealing with the proliferation of some highly dangerous weapons tech in the wake of a mysterious raid on his former homebase.

Originally conceived by Warren Ellis as a Batman stand-in, Midnighter relishes both violence and hot dudes. In Orlando’s reboot, he’s unapologetically flirty with hero-turned-superspy Dick Grayson while juggling a few civilian love interests in an attempt to get over his break-up with superhuman ex Apollo.

This is a superhero comic, of course, so don’t expect Midnighter to examine the human cost and collateral damage resulting from so much violence. And Orlando’s efforts to write a demonstrably gay character can feel a little forced with so many dates shoehorned into the action. But like so many superheroes before him, Midnighter’s romances complicate his adventures, and Orlando gets points for his depiction of a mainstream gay superhero who’s very sexually active.