For years, LBGTQIA+ representation in media was pretty non-existent except in negative ways. It was always a dark secret or something that had to be overcome or, most terribly, the queer serial killer trope. In recent years, as society has finally become more accepting, more and more healthy portrayals of these kinds of relationships have come into the mainstream.
Comics, though, was a bit ahead of the curve on this one, as LGBTQIA+ characters were acknowledged parts of many comics for years. However, even then, many publishers were reticent to show relationships between characters in the community, something that has changed in recent years. Comics are full of healthy LGBTQIA+ relationships now, doing their part to de-stigmatize a community that was marginalized for too long.
10 Generation X (Vol. 2) Showcased Morph And Hindsight, Two New Gay Mutants
The X-Men books have always been a bastion of progress and representation, and 2017's Generation X was no different. Rebranding the seminal '90s teen mutant team, writer Christina Strain and artist Amilcar Pinna introduced a batch of new young mutants, including two new gay ones, Morph and Hindsight. The two would engage in a relationship, one that Quentin Quire would meddle with.
It was a rather typical teen romance in an atypical setting- just two young people trying to find someone to love in the unconventional environment of the Xavier School. The series would be canceled due to low sales but these two characters' relationship was one of its highlights.
9 Death: The Time Of Your Life Was All About A Lesbian Couple Trying To Get Out Of A Deal With Death
The Sandman is one of the greatest horror comics of its generation and was very good with the LGBTQIA+ representation in a time when that sort of thing wasn't done (well, at Marvel, at least). The book introduced lesbian couple Hazel and Foxglove, who would go on to star in Death: The Time Of Your Life, by writer Neil Gaiman and artists Chris Bachalo and Mark Buckingham.
Not only did the comic show a lesbian couple who were deeply in love, even if they did have their problems. But they also had a child, whose death and resurrection was the crux of the story. It's a beautiful story about the power of love and holds up all these years later.
8 Batwoman Was One Of The First Book To Star An Out Lesbian In A Relationship
Batwoman is one of the toughest women in Gotham and readers learned this in her titular series. When she was first introduced, she was paired with Renee Montoya, who had become the Question, but in her own book, she would start dating Maggie Sawyer. The two's relationship would become key to the book.
However, DC's editorial staff made a crucial misstep with the two, one that caused writer/artist JH Willaims III and artist Haden Blackman to leave the book- they wouldn't let Batwoman and Maggie get married. It was a huge mistake but that doesn't change how great their relationship was.
7 Harley Quinn Has Her Relationship Evolve With Poison Ivy Into Something Both Of Them Needed
Harley Quinn is one of the most popular DC characters around, one who has often been defined by her relationships. She and Poison Ivy have always been close, even before her debut on Batman: The Animated Series. In recent years, creators have finally allowed the two to take the plunge and made them into what they always should have been- lovers.
It's pretty much the healthiest relationship that either woman had ever been in, one that is good for both of them. They have a sweet, sappy sort of love, the kind that everyone wants. Putting the two together was the best thing for both of them.
6 The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen's Mine Murray and Alain Quartermain Explores Their Bisexuality With Orlando Later In The Series
Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen starred literary characters put into new situations. Mina Murray and Alain Quartermain would enter into a relationship and eventually be joined by Orlando, a person who is literally genderfluid- they can change from male to female and vice versa. The three would engage in a bisexual relationship throughout the series.
Alain would eventually be killed battling not-Harry Potter and Orlando and Mina would stay together as women. In the last LoEG series, The Tempest, Mina would get with Captain Nemo's grandson, Jack. No word on whether Orlando joined in.
5 X-Factor Vol. 3 Laid The Groundwork For A Relationship Between Rictor And Shatterstar
X-Factor Vol. 3 was mostly written by Peter David, a writer responsible for many great X-Factor stories, and he started a very intriguing relationship in the book- one between Rictor and Shatterstar. The two had been close friends since their X-Force days, but David expanded upon it, adding in a catch- Shatterstar was asexual.
He wasn't, however, aromantic, so the two had a fulfilling relationship, one that would easily be the most important in either of their lives. To this day, they are still madly in love and just waiting to be reunited.
4 Any Comic Where Mystique And Destiny Appear Together Is Showing A Married Couple
Back in the early '80s, Chris Claremont was breaking ground with Uncanny X-Men, but he had to do it in a subtle way. Mystique and Destiny were the leaders of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and in a committed, married relationship but because of the restrictions of the time, Claremont had to do it all with subtext.
The two women raised Rogue together and doted on each other. As times changed, it was finally revealed they were a couple at the time and that's just one of many interesting facts about Mystique. Even now, Mystique still misses her dear, departed wife.
3 Midnighter And Apollo Shows Comics' Most Groundbreaking Gay Couple
Midnighter and Apollo are easily one of the most iconic gay couples in comics. In fact, as far as mainstream comics go, they're groundbreakers- they were married in Mark Millar's last issue of The Authority way back in the early 2000s, years before Marvel would trumpet Northstar and his boyfriend's wedding as the first.
Midnighter And Apollo, by writer Joe Orlando and artist Fernando Blanco, showed DC's power couple doing what they do best- fighting bad guys and being just the best couple around. Their relationship has always been one of the most loving and they're an example for anyone to follow.
2 X-Factor Vol. 4 Stars Marvel's First Married Gay Couple, Northstar And Kyle
The newest iteration of X-Factor is full of LGBTQIA+ representation but the book's star is team leader Northstar. Northstar was the first Marvel character to ever come out as gay and also the publisher's first married gay character, along with his human husband Kyle. Their relationships is just one of many great ones in the book.
Kyle and Northstar are a normal couple, well, normal if one was a perfect mutant ex-Olympian who can move at the speed of light and lives on a living, sentient mutant island. However, through all the X-Men shenanigans, their love is strong.
1 The Wicked + The Divine Is Full Of Loving LGBTQIA+ Relationships
Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie's The Wicked + The Divine was one of the most diverse books on the market, its cast running the gamut of nationalities and sexualities. Just about every character in the book was bisexual and it had several major relationships, including the one between Inanna and Baal, which would end in tragedy, and one that readers would find out about in the last issue- the marriage of main character Laura and trans woman Cassandra.
Laura and Cassandra's relationship would develop throughout the book, as they went from strangers to something more and would eventually end in their marriage. Wic+Div presented a world just like the one everyone lived in- full of diverse people in loving relationships.