Marvel Comics is releasing the first comic book to ever feature an openly homosexual lead character this February. The Rawhide Kid, a gun-toting cowboy first debuted in the 1950s, was not originally intended to be gay, but the new version will indirectly reveal his sexuality through double entendres and euphemisms.
Joanne Marrow, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at California State University at Sacramento, notes that the comic book reflects a larger acceptance of the gay culture by comic readers. In the future, Marrow hopes that there might also be room for lesbian superheroes. As for now, she is impressed with Marvel's move.
The Rawhide Kid series' first edition, "Rawhide Kid: Slap Leather," will run about 22 pages in length and have a suggested retail value of $2.95. It will be written by the strip's original author, John Severin, in collaboration with Ron Zimmerman, a writer for the Howard Stern Show.
