A couple weeks ago I bought my first game bundle on Itch: Solo But Not Alone, a collection of single-player tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs). It's still on sale for the next ~month, and it comes with a whopping 87 (!) downloadable pen-and-paper games of varying lengths and complexities. I've tried a ton of them, and dearly love many of them.

But one has been an immediate runaway favorite: Escape from Demon Castle Dracula by Rob Hebert (nerdypapergames.itch.io). Unofficially based on, as he puts it, "the greatest vampire-themed horror-adventure video game franchise of all time," Rob's game is moody and atmospheric and creepy. It has a genius mechanic, too – it uses a standard deck of cards to build out Dracula's sprawling, shifting castle as you try to escape it.

It was such fun, inventive, accessible approach and it was truly a blast to experience. Immediately after finishing my first playthrough my mind was swirling –  as a huge fan of the entire sweeping multimedia Resident Evil franchise, I knew there was only one thing that could make this game more fun for me!

And so The Mansion Incident was born – a hack of Hebert's wonderful game, unofficially based on the greatest zombie-themed survival-horror video game franchise of all time.

The Mansion Incident has a few additional twists and turns thrown into the mechanics, a brand new narrative and codex of card meanings, and a whole lot of love for building lore, characters, and found-family dynamics.

In The Mansion Incident you take on the role of one of four playable members of the Investigation and Rescue Implementation Service (I.R.I.S.) – an elite group of detectives tasked with finding, and in some cases liberating, missing persons in the sprawling mountains of the Midwestern United States – as you recover your team from a sinister, labyrinthian mansion that hides secrets and danger behind every door.

You aren’t sure what’s really going on in the Stepford Mansion. There are bizarre puzzles, booby-trapped rooms, hidden passages, and no end of ruthless, hungry monsters. But as part of I.R.I.S., you’ve bumped up against the inexplicable and the occult before. Mountain country is full of chthonic rituals, strange locations, and stranger beasts. There may not be anyone left alive from the helicopter, but you have to hold onto hope that your team survived. You care for each one of them. Among them are your best friend and your beloved. You won’t be leaving without them.

To escape, you’ll need to trek through the mansion, endure its horrors, recover your six missing teammates, and find some means of transport out of the mountains.

This is a game about survival and terror, but it’s also about relationships, community, and the strength that those bonds give us to endure.

Hebert's game has another really wonderful feature: as you progress through the castle you begin to recover memories of yourself and your life before you were taken as a thrall and left as a blank slate. The castle even holds some beneficent denizens that will trade you boons for some of those sweet, cherished memories.

In The Mansion Incident, memories are explored to flesh out your relationships to your missing teammates as you desperately seek to save them. And as you find them, you leverage their unique personalities, histories, and perspectives to gain advantages as you continue to move through the mansion together.

I.R.I.S. is as much a chosen family as a search-and-rescue operation. Building those bonds as you play provides the emotional heart of the game, the hopeful grace that cuts through the terror and violence.

And I won't lie – The Mansion Incident is also a vehicle for orchestrating an encounter with an analog of the internet's favorite Tall Vampire Lady, Countess Alcina Dimitrescu, to tide me over until Resident Evil Village drops. I mean, just... look at her:

I hope you'll check The Mansion Incident out, and show some love to Rob's game as well! It's free or pay-what-you-want on the Big Gay Universe Itch store.

If there is enough interest in The Mansion Incident, I'd love to pour donations into commissioning some beautiful original art for the game and delivering an even more visually dynamic product in future releases. I already have an incredible artist in mind that I know would knock it out of the park! Perhaps there might even be some expansions looming in the future with more characters, a new setting (did someone say Schmacoon Schity? – I kid, there would be a better in-game name), new baddies, and all kinds of new memories to make.

If you end up playing, have feedback or questions, or just want to say hi – please feel free to drop a comment on the Itch storefront, or reach out to me on Twitter @BigGayUniverse!

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Interested in queer fiction and want to support the blog? You can read our first Big Gay Universe exclusive romance novel Night Rides for free!

If you enjoy it, go ahead and tell all your friends 🤗

Get Night Rides

That was the start of the night rides.

When I started the Big Gay Universe blog this past summer, I wanted to spend some of my spare time chronicling the queer stories that stepped across my path. Those moments in TV, film, music, video games, and beyond that were made for us, by us, or with us. Queer romance, queer life, queer fun. Those moments that capture, in whatever small way, the sublime.

I also wanted to make my own contributions to the big, beautiful tapestry of queer art that exists throughout the world. There are so, so many stories to tell. Night Rides is one of them.

Night Rides is my first book. Well, a novella, really – about two boys at the end of high school finding themselves and each other at just the right time.

It’s a story about learning, and sharing, and the way that queer stories can act as a lifeline and a codex. It’s about language, and how art can sometimes communicate with such urgency and meaning that it makes words feel flat in comparison.

He wondered if Charlie’s mind would race at the unspoken whispers between the lines like his had.

I didn’t set out to write Night Rides initially. I’d been working on another story with some similar elements, at least on the surface: Doom Drive – a story about two boys on a road trip at the end of the world, searching for the last few beautiful places left.

I was enjoying the writing, but I found myself getting wrapped up in bringing a post-apocalyptic world to life. I was focused on plotting and world building, and creeping away from what I’d really wanted to do: a tight, character-focused story about the closeness of cramped spaces (a vehicle) and mutual support budding into romance.

I took a break from Doom Drive to key-in on that, and Night Rides is what came out. A contemporary setting and two boys brought together by dual forces: an offer to teach late-night driving lessons (the vehicle), and a random pairing on an English project exploring literary romance (the bud).

Griffin closed his eyes and took a moment. He recalled the feeling of tenderness he’d felt as Charlie touched his chest for those brief moments. He committed it to memory.

I couldn’t be happier with the result. Night Rides is a true labor of love – I hope you’ll enjoy it too.

Grab Night Rides for free (or pay what you want!) on Gumroad.

Oh, and Doom Drive? That’s still in the works! Night Rides was the perfect reset button – and I think Doom Drive is going to be better than ever. So if the Big Gay Apocalypse is your thing, feel free to subscribe and I’ll let you know when it’s released!

And if you're still reading, I'll share a little preview of what's to come after Night Rides...

Subscribe above and I'll send it your way once it's finished 💗

Header image provided by Ripley

If you haven’t heard queer Scottish electronic artist and drag performer Ripley’s single Fake News – you’ve certainly encountered its subject matter.

On the song, released earlier this year, Ripley (32) takes aim at right-wing men, conservative news outlets, and the president that coined the infamous – and insidious – phrase.

Daily Mail, Daily Fail
Rupert Murdoch should go to jail
...
Right-wing guys, we despise
We've had enough of all your lies
What about Donald Trump?
Hope he dies the stupid cunt!

It's cathartic, to say the least.

And now, despite being from across the pond, Ripley has released their debut EP One Foot On The Ladder just a few days before the U.S. election – a time when catharsis is exactly what's sorely needed.

Opening with Fake News, OFOTL continues to hold no punches as it continues. They Know What You Want opines on the danger that giants of capitalism like Amazon, Facebook, and Google pose as they pursue ever further consumption – and monetization – of our personal data.

The next big emotional release comes as you hit Milkshake. It's an anti-racist, frothy guitar track inspired by the moment right-wing UK politician Nigel Farage of Brexit fame was soaked by an activist. Or maybe you're more familiar with the times Glee did it (again and again) with slushies.

Milkshake has an infectious, upbeat chorus that will have you bopping along:

You're racist
And I hate it
It's a shame to waste it
Had to throw that milkshake in your face

Musically, the song bears some very superficial, positive resemblance to Charli XCX's Shake It in a few moments– or maybe that's just my poor, fried brain's inability to hear the word 'shake' without spiraling into a hyperpop fugue state (which, at this point in 2020, I'm thankful for). But really, listen to Ripley and Charli's tracks back-to-back, it's good fun.

Next up, Let The Party Die combines a marimba hook with glitchy drum machines to imagine the conversations had by right-wing party leaders as they desperately try to cling on to power. ‘We’ll fix the next election, we can never ever, ever fall,’ sings Ripley from the point of view of a tinpot dictator.

One Foot On The Ladder takes its name from the electronic dance track, How Do You Sleep At Night? which leverages class consciousness to haunt the pillow-thoughts of the political and capitalist elite:

More money for you
Yeah, fuck all the rest
One foot on the ladder
While the other's kicking down

And finally, the EP wraps on Pause, another anti-capitalist anthem – this time born directly out of the global repositioning of lockdown brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. And for me, personally, it couldn't hit closer to home.

With the whole world on pause
There's time to collect our thoughts
...
It's time to do things differently
No we can't go back to how we used to be
Everything that we knew is a lie
Chained to our desk working 9 to 5
Every day until we die
I'm sick of that shit

Ripley's music is fun, and dance-y, and charged with meaning. And One Foot On The Ladder is available now – give it a listen.

For more queer content, follow us on Twitter @biggayuniverse or subscribe for email updates below 💗

Character art and design is by Supergiant Games art director, Jen Zee

Title: Hades

Platform: Nintendo Switch, Windows/Mac

How Gay Is It?

Very!! Hades is a game based on Greek mythology, so it is, of course, full of criss-crossing lines of polyamorous romance and family drama. Canonically queer relationships play out both between NPCs (Achilles & Patroclus) and as an available romance option for the main character, Zagreus – who is bisexual. In fact, Zagreus can romance multiple characters of various genders simultaneously without conflict, which is about the queerest gift a game has given mankind.

On top of that, Hades brings Zagreus into contact with numerous Greek gods and characters of lore, many of whom bring a fairly open and queer-coded vibe to their interactions and relationships with Zagreus and the other Olympians.  Chaos, the primordial being the existed prior to everything else, is never gendered and is referred to by gender-neutral pronouns.

And finally, though a minor point, all the characters in Hades are extremely hot, flirtatious, and likely to incite a gay awakening in players of all genders and dispositions.

Overview

Supergiant Games is the studio behind fan-favorite indie games Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre – and their latest release, Hades, is perhaps the greatest of them all.

The official description reads:

Hades is a rogue-like dungeon crawler in which you defy the god of the dead as you hack and slash your way out of the Underworld of Greek myth.

But oh-ho-ho it is so much more than that.

The structure is simple: Zagreus must fight his way from the House of Hades up through the regions of the Underworld: Tartarus, Asphodel, Elysium, and the maze-like Temple of Styx out through the gate that leads to the mortal world in Greece. He battles through procedurally generated rooms with monsters and traps that shift with each region, and is able to explore forking paths that each grant him different boons as he completes rooms.

If & when you die – because you will, often – you crawl out of a pool of blood, revived & back in the House of Hades to try again. You'll get to try again, endlessly, meeting and conversing with gods and other characters along the way and deepening your relationships as you go.

Eventually, you'll make it out. And I won't spoil the story – but you'll have plenty of reason to keep making it out, over and over again, as you learn more about Zagreus, his family, the gods, and the heroes that dwell in the Underworld.

Mechanically, Hades is just good, undeniable fun. There are 6 different weapon bases to choose from – a sword, a spear, a shield, a bow, gauntlets, and a gun. And each is eventually upgradable and customizable as you earn a resource called Titan's blood on your runs. They each offer different gameplay styles, and I've loved each of them for different reasons – discovering new favorites that completely changed my play style as the game went on.

Most importantly Hades hits all three must-haves for me in gameplay:

• You can pet the dog (Cerberus!) – though he only likes it on one of his three heads. There's even a nice vibrational haptic to give the good boy scratches a better feeling.
• You can romance the men (one of them, anyways) – as the game stands now, there are three romance options: Megaera (a fury), Dusa (a floating Gorgon head and house servant), and Thanatos (broody god of Death, childhood friend, and pseudo foster brother). You also get to throw vibes at Achilles, but his heart belongs to another (Patroclus 💗).
• There is an easy mode! God mode – which can be enabled and disabled at will – gives you a +2% stacking protection from damage each time you die, making you tougher and tougher the more you lose until you just... won't anymore! I actually spent some runs dying early on just so I could buff up and have an easier time in future boss battles. Around the 70% mark, I stopped dying altogether.

There is such strong attention to design woven into the very fabric of this game. Art director and character designer Jen Zee is directly responsible for the stunning character portraits I couldn't help but litter throughout this page.

The backgrounds, the sound design, the battle effects and animations – every detail is rendered beautifully to create a gorgeous and immersive experience.

One of the standout features is Hades attention to music. One of the characters you interact with and aid is Orpheus, the court musician that has lost his love Eurydice to another region of the Underworld. In canon, Orpheus is responsible for much of the music you'll hear throughout the game (in reality, its produced by long-time Supergiant collaborator Darren Korb). And there are a few songs featuring vocals by Eurydice herself (recorded by Ashley Barret) – in fact, entering Eurydice's chamber in Asphodel and hearing her song is always a welcome and heartwarming break from the battle grind.

At the end of the game (the real end), you'll even get to hear an incredible rock duet between Opheus & Eurydice – In the Blood. The music in Hades is crafted so superbly that I've had the soundtrack on repeat since completing the game earlier this morning.

Narratively – well, it's hard to say enough about how much joy this game brought me. In fact, I'll plug another review by Ash Parrish for Kotaku that does a much better job at explaining the queer joy that underpins the story in Hades.

She outlines the quality of Zagreus' character that makes his POV so easy to follow along with:

Beyond being an utterly gorgeous disaster bisexual, Zagreus’ most attractive feature is how disarmingly tender he is. He has all the hallmarks of your typical cantankerous bad-boy. He is the prince of the Underworld, who resents his father, struggles with abandonment issues, and whose only talent it seems is killing monsters. I would have expected him to be some grimdark, I’m-not-here-to-play-nice kind of guy. But in his conversations with people, even people that annoy him, he is unfailingly gentle and jovial.

And that quality extends to the rest of the characters as well:

In fact everyone, including main antagonist Hades and the universally reviled Theseus, has this caring softness to them that enhances their blinding attractiveness to cosmic levels. Zagreus, full of concern for his friend Dusa, asks her if she’s okay with him killing other gorgons. Asterius, slain by Theseus in life, becomes bound to him by camaraderie and respect in death. Even Megaera, after being slain by Zagreus countless times, develops a fondness for him, and warns him to be careful whenever he ventures out to escape. Everyone loves everyone else and that is just so awesome to see—especially in 2020 when even human compassion is in rare supply. [Ash Parrish, Why Everyone's Horny For Hades, Kotaku]

Don't get me wrong – Hades does, at its center, revolve around familial and interpersonal conflict. But it also offers an uncommon solution to navigating that conflict: deep compassion, understanding, forgiveness, and love.

This is nowhere more apparent than in the Trial of the Gods rooms that you'll encounter on your runs through the Underworld, demarcated by two godly boons appearing as the previewed reward. In these rooms, Zagreus must choose between one of two gods' boons. The spurned god who you did not select will then comment on your perceived betrayal, and you'll need to fight through waves of enemies who are aided by that god in order to clear the room. At the end, though, that god forgives you – often jokes and re-affirms their love for you and commitment to your cause – and gifts you their boon anyways.

Furthermore, the real narrative of the game plays out not just in the successive campaigns of destruction through the Underworld, but in the optional relationship building you are given the opportunity to explore with almost every character through the gifting of Nectar and Ambrosia. You get to learn more about them, spend time with them at the lounge, help them repair old wounds and reunite lost loves, and in some cases pursue your own budding romance with them.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but many queer people may have rocky relationships with family – or perhaps no relationship at all. It's one of the reasons why found and chosen families are so prevalent and important among the queer community: they offer opportunities for healthy and unconditional love. For affirmation and for healing. So to play through Hades, which is to be dropped into the messy familial dramatics of Greek myth, and then be offered endless waves of support from your distant family as you work to heal the scars of your own parentage?

Well, that's the cathartic release I didn't know I was waiting for.

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Header image artist: Jamie McKelvie, colors: Rachelle Rosenberg

Still spoilers ahead

And we're back! If you landed here first, go catch up on Part One before proceeding.

This begins the final half of the first Young Avengers volume, and the start of a new arc. We know we've hit a fresh story because we start with a callback to the original opening page that kicked us off!

Young Avengers vol. 1, Issues #7-8

The first thing you'll notice about this issue is that it isn't drawn by Jim Cheung. Penciler Andrea Di Vito is on art duty (along with a new inker, Drew Hennessey) for this and the next issue to give Jim a breather, which is a common practice for books that ship monthly. Jim does remain on covers, though, which was arguably much more important at the time to selling issues before interior previews became as widespread as they are today.

There are some things you'll immediately miss inside, like the way Jim renders hair, and some glaringly odd choices that you can't ignore. Like this TV report screen:

If you're wondering what Spider-Man, Luke Cage, and Captain America are all doing hanging out in an apartment – they're part of the New Avengers! They were coming together at about the same time the Young Avengers were over in Brian Michael Bendis' New Avengers, but didn't officially become a team until recently (which is why they weren't all around to help with Kang earlier). New Avengers, which is what gave Luke Cage his first spot as the team leader, would go on to run for a very long time (64 issues!) and be a fascinating book and new status quo for the Avengers' line.

But I digress – Cap wants to shut the kids down again, though both Peter and Luke are much more understanding. Luke, especially, is fond of seeing another black superhero on the streets – even a teenager – when there are so few to begin with.

Cap decides he's going to contact the kids' parents. Little does he know the kids already decided to tell their parents, knowing full well that as soon as they put on those new costumes it was only a matter of time before they got told on.

Billy is still working up the courage, and Teddy is coming over to pick him up for school. It's nice to see Teddy get such a warm greeting from Billy's mom.

Billy and Teddy go back and forth about spilling the truth on their superhero identities. When Billy decides to finally go through with it, it doesn't exactly go as planned – it turns out that when you are very clearly dating your best friend, and you haven't come out of the close to your parents yet, they jump to conclusions when you start a sentence with "Mom? Dad? There's something you should know."

This may be the most wholesome, loving, and accepting coming-out on page in Marvel comics (there aren't many to compete with). One of the things I love most about Billy and Teddy's story is that they never had to go through Queer Trauma™️ centered on their identity or lack of familial acceptance.

From the very start they have been one of the rare examples of characters whose stories consistently highlight and elevate their relationship and queerness without trying to shoe-horn in a cautionary tale about homophobia and rejection. Those stories have value, but so does the simple representation of thriving. Add in the fact that Billy and Teddy will go on to individually be two of the most powerful people in the Marvel universe? And they'll headline the main cosmic cross-over event this year while simultaneously giving us the gayest one-shot ever AND an entire wedding special? Absolutely iconic, unforgettable, truly the queeroes we deserve.

The other kids don't quite work their way up to confessing just yet. Elsewhere, Iron Man explains to Cap and Jessica Jones that the Vision built out of the Iron Lad armor that Nate left behind is functionally a brand new android distinct from the original Vision. For all intents and purposes, he's a teenager. Cap debates with Jessica over snitching on the kids. Please accept another very strange art choice, Jessica Jones in hoop earrings:

The kids all meet up – minus Eli – and commiserate over failing to reveal their secret lives to their parents. There's definitely a metaphor to read into there, but we don't really need to because we get actual textual representation of queerness and coming out – who'd have thought?

And to counter-balance the cursed image of Jessica above, please accept this close-up of bantering boyfriends:

When Eli doesn't show up, the kids get worried. Billy decides to cast a locating spell on Eli, and we get another sweet little detail of him holding both Teddy and Cassie's hands as he floats off the ground in full casting mode:

They find Eli in a warehouse where MGH (Mutant Growth Hormone) is being produced, and Eli is already in the middle of a tussle with the Big Boss, Mister Hyde (another scientist turns very strong, not-so-smart monster type).

They're surprised to see that Eli is bleeding, when he's supposed to be invulnerable. The kids engage Mister Hyde, and Eli scrambles away. Billy finds him a few moments later, injecting MGH into his arm...

It turns out that Eli doesn't have powers – previously he'd claimed to have gotten a blood transfusion from his grandfather, the original Black Captain America, granting him super-soldier status. Instead, Young Avengers decided to reveal their only Black character to be the one among them that shoots up illicit drugs in order to gain powers. It's not the best look. Even the imagery, which I won't reproduce here, is especially troublesome – Eli hunched over, craven, injecting from a syringe despite the fact that we've usually seen MGH in the much more innocuous pill form (including a couple issues ago).

To be clear, the problem isn't that Eli uses MGH to gain powers, or that it comes in the form of an injectable in this scene. It's the associations and greater context in which this narrative decision takes place – far too often drug use is vilified specifically when it intersects with Black youth, and accepted in the hands of their White counterparts. But Eli will get his due as a character, and eventually he will actually get that blood transfusion from his grandfather giving him organic superpowers.

For now, this does explain Eli's particular penchant for projecting his own discomfort with non-powered teammates onto Kate (and previously Cassie).

Long story short, a super buffed-up Eli tussles with Mister Hyde and knocks him out by injecting too much MGH into the man (which is scarily reckless and dangerous). Meanwhile, Cap and Jessica have told Eli and Cassie's parents about their superhero identities, and Cap learns from Eli's grandmother that he never received a blood transfusion and has no powers.

The Avengers show up at the scene of the just-finished battle to give Eli an intervention, and Eli refuses to go with them. He doesn't want their help, he just wants to escape with friends he can trust. His friends – specifically, Billy – decide instead to subdue him.

It might turn out for the best – the Vision oversees Eli's recovery from the dosing of MGH he took, and we learn that the Vision knows each of the Young Avengers because he retains Iron Lad's brainwaves and memories. They briefly discuss the notion of using time-travel to fix the mess that Eli is in, but ultimately he decides to confront the Avengers and his friends. He comes clean about the truth – he's been using MGH to induce super-powers since the first time Nate approached him looking for a super-soldier descendant of Isaiah Bradley (he was actually looking for Eli's uncle, Josiah X, who had disappeared a year prior).

With the truth off his chest, Eli decides to officially quit being a superhero and he walks off.

Issue #9

Long-story short, the kids are broken up and re-adjusting to normal teenage life – and they're each itching to practice some heroism in the margins of their lives.

Teddy, for his part, stops a purse snatcher on the street with a stretchy arm grab befitting Mr. Fantastic himself. We also get another instance of straight shapeshifting into another person in order to hide his identity, both factors which serve to foreshadow a turn in the next few pages... but for now, please enjoy a proper shot of Teddy's fully pierced ears:

The group all meet up outside Eli's school to catch him on his way and stage an intervention – they want to convince him to keep leading them as Patriot, and to fight without powers just like Kate does. He doesn't bite, and the group is quickly interrupted by yet another moment of traumatic boyfriend-endangerment and Billy-panic. If this was a drinking game, it would be a dangerous one.

These boys can't catch a break.

Kl'rt the Super-Skrull and Teddy tussle in the sky, and Teddy denies the implication that he's a Skrull. As far as he knows, the explanation for his powers is a simple one: he's a mutant. And I enjoy some of the layers here – mutant is a simple, catch-all explanation that kids waking up with strange powers and oddities can reach for until confirmed otherwise. It's a word that's known and accessible, and so it becomes an easy identifier. It's not unlike reaching for the right vocabulary to describe one's own queer experience. Over time, as your vocabulary expands by learning and living and seeing and being, so too does your access to identifiers. There are new possibilities for your identity because you've learned new ways to articulate them to yourself and others.

I imagine Teddy's Skrull awakening to a bit like that. He never imagined the possibility of being a shapeshifting alien species. Or, as we'll soon learn, the hybrid of two alien species. I'm certain he never imagined he'd one day go on to become the king of space and marry a reality warping god destined to re-write the foundation of magic itself across the multiverse. But that's just the gay experience for you.

As an aide, I miss some of the monstrosity that Jim Cheung rendered Hulkling's transformations with. Hulkling is great in all shades and forms, but in recent continuity he is often depicted as a very handsome befreckled green himbo (which he is) – and I'd like to see him get the scaly demon-Hulk treatment a bit more.

We also get a little tidbit of something that will get called back 15 years later in the Empyre event, which Kl'rt features in prominently. Everyone keeps forgetting he has the fifth power of irresistible hypnotism! No spoilers, but it is a fun parallel.

Kl'rt, unfortunately, uses his surprise hypnotism to enthrall Billy, so Teddy is immediately ready to surrender to save his boyfriend. Kl'rt isn't expecting Teddy to also have super-strength (only the Super-Skrull is supposed to!) so he gets in a good sucker punch that sends Kl'rt across the city block.

When Kl'rt feels the brunt of Teddy's strength, he radios to Skrull command that the rumors about Teddy's father may be true...

The kids run off and decide to head back to Billy's place because it's the closest. Eli splits off, not wanting to get caught up in the superhero tango. Side note: because Teddy hulked-out and tore through all his clothes, he spends the next several panels running around New York barefoot in pants ripped into shorts. Somehow, it's very on brand.

Teddy is understandably worried about his mom – if the Skrulls are targeting him, they might go after his mom too. Heightening things is the fact that she's not answering Teddy's calls.

They walk into Billy's home to find that Teddy's mom is already there waiting for him with Billy's parents. She's about to reveal something to Teddy when the wall gets bust down: Kl'rt captured Eli, and is threatening to kill him.

And this is how Billy's parents first learn that their son, and his friends, are all super-heroes. When their house explodes and a floating alien with a python arm constricting a teenage boy's neck demands that they give over their son's boyfriend.

To prove to Teddy that he is, in fact, a Skrull, Kl'rt employs some device that reverts skrulls to their true forms. Nothing happens to Teddy, but his mom suddenly transforms – it turns out she's been a skrull his entire life.

These last few pages are emotional ones. Yet another person is making a final stand for Teddy, but this time it's not all going to turn out okay.

The emotional beats of this scene are so masterfully paced. I tear up every time.

And when the fire burns out, they turn to find that Kl'rt – and Teddy – are both gone.

Issue #10

The kids need some serious backup so they head to the Avenger's hangout, but find  it empty beyond teen Vision and Jarvis (longtime butler to Tony Stark, and honorary Avenger) who are playing a game of chess and opining on Vision's exclusion from the Avengers' missions.

Jarvis exits to attempt to contact the Avengers who are off-world, and Vision offers to help the Young Avengers himself. Deciding that they'll need even more backup, Vision consults the Avengers Fail-Safe Program to find more potential Young Avengers.

First recruit is Tommy Shepard, a speedster from New Jersey and chaotic disaster bisexual that we will all come to love dearly. For now, Billy is skeptical. He doesn't see the value in adding a speedster to the team until Vision reminds him that Tommy can do more than run fast – he can also use his speed to accelerate and destabilize atomic matter. Or, as Kate translates it, he can blow stuff up.

It turns out that Tommy is being held prison in a juvenile detention center after "accidentally" blowing up his school. So the Vision and Billy both don security guard costumes (the Vision via holographic technology, Billy via ✨magic✨). Cassie shrinks down to hide on Billy's shoulder, and Eli and Kate wait outside to contemplate cooler codenames for Kate than "Hawkingbird" (which, honestly, is hard to beat).

Vision disables the power dampener on Tommy's cell that's keeping him from using his powers to escape, and the wall immediately explodes – giving Tommy his grand entrance and the readers a very... familiar face.

It's not always easy to tell in comics when characters are supposed to look eerily similar – I think partially because characters so often look similar, demanding identifiers like different costumes or hairstyles/color to distinguish them that it's impossible to know when the coincidence is intentional. But Jim Cheung does a pretty good job giving us that uncanny feeling when looking at Billy and Teddy (despite their different hair colors), and similarly succeeds at giving the Vision vestiges of Nate's face (whose form he's taken after, much to Cassies discomfort).

Tommy and Billy's twin-hood will go on to be a big, big deal and a huge tie-in to the mess spilling out of Disassembled – but we'll cross that twisty knot of continuity when we get to it!

After breaking out Tommy pretty immediately wants to kill all of the guards and scientists on site – they'd been experimenting on him to try to turn him into a living weapon. The Young Avengers keep him from making any fatal decisions and they escape. After all, they don't kill – except for Iron Lad, that one time (with a sword).

CUT TO A NONDESCRIPT BRICK HOUSE IN THE WOODS! Teddy is restrained and Kl'rt is signaling to Skrull command that he's recovered "Dorrek VIII", Teddy's Skrull name, apparently.

We get some nice abridge exposition on Teddy's alleged origin:

TL;DR a Skrull princess gave birth to an illegitimate child months after sharing a space ship with her Kree (another alien race) enemy Captain Mar-Vell (the original Captain Marvel).

Also, a couple pages after the Billy/Teddy twin reveal, Kl'rt found it fit to mention that twins Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (a wielder of magic) and Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver (a white-haired speedster) also happen to be there. A long time ago in previous continuity, Wanda had given birth to twin sons William and Thomas 👀 conceived with magic (she was dating an android, the adult Vision, at the time). How does that relate to just revealed maybe-twins Billy and Tommy? That's a story for a later Young Avengers event series! Specifically, Young Avengers: Children's Crusade.

Kl'rt is about to reveal to Teddy who is rumored father is, which is obvious to us readers but himbo Teddy hasn't caught on yet, when the Young Avengers bust down the wall. Specifically, Tommy blows it up. Teddy is confused to see a white-haired version of his boyfriend, but Billy is quick to reassure Teddy that he's there for him.

The Vision takes Kl'rt out by phasing and then partially solidifying his hand in the Skrull's chest – a comics power move that intangibles love to use, but has very dubious basis in physics/biology? Anyways, Kl'rt recovers somewhat and is about to reveal Teddy's rumored father when a shot blast takes him out!

And poor himbo Teddy is faced with another very confusing dramatic entrance and his 2nd alien claim of the day:

Issue #11

That's right, the Kree are here to claim Teddy as the son of Captain Mar-Vell! They rehash his conception, Teddy is shocked, and they immediately conscript him into the Kree militia.

When Teddy refuses to join them, they attempt to take him by force and blast him in the chest. We get yet another panel of Billy yelling Teddy's name as his boyfriend is injured. So, take a drink?

Kl'rt pops back up to defend Teddy (everyone is constantly throwing themselves in harms way to protect him, as they should). We get this sweet moment between Billy and Teddy, and a good show of Teddy's character – he forgives quickly and leaves no one behind.

Sadly, Billy and Teddy will be vowing not to lose each other again for many years to come.

You may have also noticed a total of FIVE credited inkers on the above panels – inkers work to clean up the original pencil art from the book's artist, and this many inkers on a single issue is usually an indication that the issue was under an incredible amount of timeline pressure to complete for publication.

The kids are on the run from the Kree now, so they steal their spaceship by having Vision interface with the controls and learn how to fly it. In another room, Billy is trying-but-not-trying to heal Kl'rt with magic as Teddy empathizes with the man that killed his adoptive-and-secretly-Skrull mother two issues ago.

Kl'rt recounts that he actually helped Mar-Vell and the princess escape after realizing he too was just a pawn in the endless Kree-Skrull war. Now, he serves to protect their son, Teddy. Furthermore, he recognizes Billy and Tommy...

The next page is about the most condensed version of an explanation of the Billy/Tommy children-of-Wanda continuity nightmare that you're ever going to find.

Tommy and Billy have fairly opposite reactions to this news.

Soon after this aside on Billy & Tommy's mystical parentage, their ship is fired on by Skrulls – they aren't aware that Teddy and Kl'rt are onboard, they just see an enemy ship. Kl'rt is about to jump out of the airlock to reveal himself, but sweet soft boy Teddy Altman doesn't want him flying while injured. Teddy decides he'll reveal himself instead, which Billy isn't thrilled about.

The Skrull ship is then fired on from another Kree ship, and all alien-hell breaks loose above the skies of New York. Caught in the middle, Teddy is just trying to calm things down and Billy is still not having a bit of it.

The fighting does stop soon after, which Teddy is very proud of himself for – but it's actually only because the adult Avengers have showed up (which both alien parties are seemingly afraid of disobeying).

Both the Kree and the Skrulls threaten to go to war with Earth if the Avengers don't hand over Hulkling. Captain America tells Teddy it's his decision. Billy, understandably, is flipping out a bit.

Please accept these tiny boyfriends embracing in the background as a balance to the trauma that is about to ensue.

Cap, good to his word, tells the Kree and Skrulls that Hulkling is staying on Earth under the protection of the Avengers.

The Kree don't take well to that, and gear up to fire on Cap. Eli sees it coming, and despite not having any powers, dives in front of the blast.

It tears right through his shield. He's very severely injured. And all hell breaks loose again.

Issue #12 – The Final One!

It's absolute chaos on the rooftop, with the Avengers and the Young Avengers caught between two alien factions and with more about to pour in from the sky.

Cap has Sentry (a fascinating character brought to prominence from relative obscurity by Bendis in New Avengers) fly Eli to safety. He wants to have Teddy flee, but Teddy and the Young Avengers refuse – knowing the Kree and Skrulls would tear up New York looking for him.

They all decide to make a stand on the roof, and we get a glory shot of Teddy's heroism and leadership alongside Captain America with a great spread:

As a finale issue, this book really delivers on the absolute chaos of a jam-packed roof-top brawl. A bunch of the Young Avengers and adult Avengers get sweet mid-battle moments together, and it does a really good job of solidifying the competency of the Young Avengers in the field and the respect they command from their counterparts.

It's a very effective book layout – for a series of 6 pages there is a full-page wordless spread of the battle on the left, and a series of "close-up" moments in the middle of the action on the right page where they fit in the character moments.

For fun and beauty, here are the three spreads:

Not pictured: Billy deciding this is the right moment to try to have the I-think-we're-the-lost-souls-of-the-Scarlet-Witch's-kids talk with Cap.

Also, check out this foreshadowing! 15 years later, Teddy will indeed unite the Kree and Skrulls under one empire in.... well, Empyre.

Right after, Hulkling gets snatched up by the Kree. The Skrulls are about the shoot him down – they'd rather he die than betray them to the Kree – but Kl'rt intervenes. Kl'rt pleads with Teddy to come with the Skrulls. Though it wouldn't end the Kree-Skrull war, it would, at least, take the battle away from planet Earth and spare Teddy's friends.

Teddy decides he has another option: he surrenders, and negotiates a compromise.

He'll spend 6 months with the Kree, and 6 months with the Skrulls – after which he'll decide his true allegiance. Somehow, only a few panels after the Skrull soldiers were ready to take him out sooner than let him go with the Kree, everyone is in agreement.

Teddy says his goodbyes, and we get the start of one of my favorite Billy/Teddy tropes that, yes, will also feature prominently in Empyre: Billy is watching Teddy speak, and he knows something isn't right (spoiler: it's not really Teddy).

I'll also appreciate that Cap immediately turns to Billy after "Teddy" has taken off with the Kree to check on him. It's a very simple gesture, but it's also incredibly validating. Captain America sees and acknowledges their relationship, and has empathy for what it means to be separated. Queer relationships haven't always been afforded this legitimacy on the page.

It's no surprise for Cap's character, though.

As a brief aside, Captain America was responsible for one of Marvel's first canonical gay characters in Arnie Roth, Steve's childhood best friend who he later re-connects with after coming out of the ice as Captain America. In the 80s, Arnie featured prominently in several Captain America stories along with his boyfriend, Michael. And while those stories are filled with their share of trauma, Arnie's friendship with Steve is always portrayed as significant, meaningful, and deep – and his queer identity is never shied away from.

In one exchange, a mind-controlled Arnie was forced to sing a demeaning song mocking himself and insinuating that Steve's friendship with him was an implication that Steve himself was gay. Arnie overcomes the mind-control, and Steve offers a heartfelt reassurance worth reproducing here:

Comics have always been political! And gay!

Anyways, back to the rooftop in Young Avengers.

It's quickly revealed that the "Teddy" that left with the Kree is actually Kl'rt masquerading as Teddy. And Teddy is right there beside them, in the Super Skrull's form. It seems almost everyone was aware of the bait and switch except for Steve, because if he has anything in common with Teddy (aside from excellent leadership!) it's that he too is a big blonde himbo.

Everyone goes to visit Eli in the hospital, who is getting that foretold blood transfusion from his grandpa Isaiah, the super-soldier. Kate gives Cap a dressing down that the Avengers should have accepted and trained the Young Avengers in the first place, and maybe many of the recent disasters would have been avoided.

It seems Steve is inclined to agree. The next scene we get is the kids back at Avengers mansion fixing a few statues, and constructing a couple new ones, to honor the fallen Avengers from Disassembled and before. They build one for Captain Marvel, Teddy's father (which he's still having a hard time wrapping his head around). Billy also constructs one for Scott Lang, Ant-Man – Cassie's dad killed in Disassembled.

Jessica Jones comes baring gifts for Kate – a bow an arrow belonging to Clint Barton (the original Hawkeye), and a note from Steve: For Hawkeye.

So Kate finally settles on her codename. I'll still always love Hawkingbird, though.

We also get a very emotional moment with Teddy releasing the ashes of his mother, who died protecting him and whose history he never really got to learn.

After the brief ceremony for Teddy's mom, they announce that the next item on their agenda is to locate the Scarlet Witch (who's been missing since Disassembled) to let her know that her two (maybe) sons are alive and well, and re-incarnated in the form of two super-powered teenage boys. Catch the follow-up on this in the miniseries, Young Avengers: Children's Crusade!

Moments later, the kids hear an explosion off in the distance. Vision confirms the source as being hyper-kinetic, and everyone collective mentally face-palms. I'm a sucker for Tommy Shepard content, and his entrance here is one of my favorite moments.

Speed is here to pick up his new teammates and head back to the U.N. building, because super villains are holding it hostage.

I love the look that we see Billy and Teddy share before the final send-off:

Phew, what a series.

This was a revelation to me when I was a kid reading it for the first time. And it still is years later. It's a great comic, with incredible characters, and although Billy and Teddy's relationship isn't the focal point of the series, Young Avengers served as the foundation for some of the best queer representation we'll later see in Marvel comics – both in it's second volume from 2013, and in the current mainstream cross-over event of the year, Empyre!

There's a lot more Billy/Teddy history to cover, so follow us on Twitter @biggayuniverse or subscribe for email updates below 💗

Header image artist: Valerio Schiti, colors: Marte Gracia

Spoilers ahead! For Marvel’s current event – Empyre – and eventually the entire relationship arc of Hulking & Wiccan (or billyteddy if you’re 🤗) dating back to their first appearance in Young Avengers #1 (2005).

You might have seen recently that Marvel has had it’s reportedly “first-ever same-sex wedding between gay superheroes.” Whether or not that statement is true depends on how much you care about semantics. Jean-Paul Beaubier (aka Northstar), Marvel’s first out gay superhero, wed his longtime boyfriend, Kyle Jinadu, in the pages of Astonishing X-Men #51 back in 2012 – but Kyle isn’t a superhero, so technically the statement still stands.

The more recent milestone was revealed on August 5th in Emprye #4 (Marvel’s current intergalactic line-wide cross-over event), as a surprise splash-page ending – the rare, good kind that leaves you shocked with warmth and excitement and joyful affirmation.

Teddy Altman a.k.a Dorrek VIII (Hulkling) and Billy Kaplan (Wiccan) – former teen superheroes and quite possibly the most wholesome couple in recorded comics history – are revealed to no longer be long-time boyfriends and later fiances, but now officially husbands after eloping in Las Vegas in front of their friends, former teammates, and even in-universe versions of their original comic creators.

And in September, we're promised a one-shot – Empyre: Aftermath Avengers – aimed at properly exploring and celebrating their wedding in full.

It’s a sweet, earned moment for the characters and readers who have followed their journey for the last 15 years – and it is no small feat that Marvel is publishing a line-wide cross-over (meaning all or most of their published titles participate in it) helmed by out queer leads and centering their relationship amidst the interstellar drama.

But how did we get here? And who are these adorable superpowered boys?

“Big 2” comics (that’s typically Marvel & DC – though it’s less and less relevant every year as creator-owned and indie comics blossom) can be complicated to dive into. They have decades-long publishing histories, characters that weave in and out of numerous series, and continuity that is often shaken, twisted, forgotten, and then re-written altogether. But these comics are also fun! And occasionally, very gay!

So if your interest is piqued at these sweet, soft boys and you’re looking for a primer on their relationship through the last 15 years of comics – abridging messy distractions like plot and, yes, even more line-wide cross-over events – well… I’m here to write it 🥰

Young Avengers (2005-2006)

Brief publishing background

Young Avengers debuted in 2005 as part of a new wave of Avengers comics spilling out of the status-quo scrambling Avengers Disassembled event that saw the death of several Avengers and the official disbanding of the team. Disassembled is a controversial event for many reasons, some of which we’ll probably come back to when relevant! The important takeaway is that in the end, the Avengers as they’d been known for several decades were no longer – allowing Marvel (and writer Brian Michael Bendis) to launch entirely new lines of Avengers comics with new rosters and tones, and in the case of Young Avengers, new characters altogether.

Young Avengers was co-created by first-time Marvel writer Allan Heinberg and veteran comics artist Jim Cheung. At the time, Allan was a writer and producer on The O.C. that had recently written into the show his own love of comics via one of the characters, Seth. Allan weaved a number of comics references into the show, including naming a side-character Mr. Bendis after the writer architecting Avengers Disassembled and the new line coming out of it. When Marvel editors came across an interview Allan gave espousing his love of comics, they reportedly called him up and gave him a blank slate to write whatever he wanted.

Allan – an out gay writer – and Jim ended up creating a series that would go on to win a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book in 2006 for it’s first run featuring two gay leads (Billy and Teddy!).

It would only get exponentially gayer in its second run years later helmed by writer Kieron Gillen (who’s shared his own journey with coming out as bisexual) and artist Jamie McKelvie – two of my favorite creators in comics today. The running joke in that volume became that no one on the team was entirely straight – so it’s unsurprising that Young Avengers would go on to win it’s second GLAAD Media award in 2014.

Young Avengers has been one of the most important contributors to queer representation in mainstream comics over the years – and both volumes are some of my favorite comic series of all time. That said, for the purpose of these posts I'm looking mostly at the development of Hulkling & Wiccan’s relationship, and may be pretty breezy with most everything else.

When you have the time and interest, you should absolutely read Young Avengers in full – both volumes are available on Marvel Unlimited!

Issue #1

Young Avengers starts out with a mystery centered on a question:

"WHO THE #*&% ARE THE YOUNG AVENGERS?" asks Daily Bugle's J. Jonah Jameson (of Spider-Man lore). He and reporter Kat Farrell want to know – and they've solicited ex-superhero and current P.I. Jessica Jones (whose excellent Netflix show you might have seen) to help them find out. Jessica also happens to be pregnant, which will become relevant further down the line.

We get our first appearance of Teddy (Hulkling) and Billy (Wiccan) here in the newspaper cover photo, but they're still an enigma at this point. And you'll notice that their designs – along with those of their two other teammates, Eli (Patriot) and Nate (Iron Lad) – are decidedly derivative. Hulkling truly appears to be a Bruce Banner lookalike Hulk here, and Wiccan – who is actually going by the name Asgardian at this point – is dressed like a teen Thor cosplaying as the Greek God Hermes.

It's all part of the central themes that Young Avengers will explore: what does it mean to carry forward an Avengers' legacy? Who and how do you have to be?

Jessica and Kat make a plan to reach out to some Avengers contacts to learn what they can about the teen heroes, but as soon as they head out they're met with this beautiful, ridiculous, very gay dramatic entrance:

It's the hand on the waist and the cocked leg for me. This pose was clearly architected for maximum homoromantic vibes, and we thank Jim Cheung for that. After the private rooftop chat with Jessica (they want to shut the kids down to keep them from getting hurt), their exit has even queerer implications. Repeating the same pose, Tony and Steve blast off as Jessica asks, "How do I get in touch with you guys?" – "Ask your boyfriend," Tony replies. And you can just about picture Luke Cage (the focus of another underrated Netflix show canceled too soon) in his other arm.

We'll also see a direct parallel to this pose reflected in Iron Lad and Patriot (their analogs) a few pages later – and honestly, I can't get enough of it.

But that's getting slightly ahead of the action! The next scene we cut to is a wedding party being held hostage at gunpoint inside of a church, and an even more dramatic – and disastrous – entrance from the young heroes.

This is our first real introduction to the initial Young Avengers lineup, and it's a perfect foil to the enigmatic and heroic photo the issue opens on. What appeared to be a coordinated and valiant group is revealed immediately to be exactly what you would expect from teen superheroes – goofiness, uncertainty, recklessness and a penchant for thrill.

Despite a lack of experience and total disregard for de-escalation, the Young Avengers do alright subduing the gunmen at first. Asgardian relies on mystical lightning, Hulkling on his strength and fearsomely intimidating hulkishness.

Right before the tide of the battle is about to turn against them, we get the first interaction between Teddy and Billy – and of course, it's midst-of-the-battle flirting. Right from the very start, it's subtly established that Billy and Teddy are involved and it's sweet and tender and a great bit of tight writing.

Shortly thereafter – largely due to the messy disregard from our young heroes – the bad guys get the upper-hand. The sister to the bride, Kate Bishop, is held at gunpoint – but she's a resourceful and capable girl and frees herself with the help of one of Patriot's throwing stars that she snatched up from the ground earlier.

Kate and Eli exchange some banter, and if this were Big Mostly Het Universe I would go on about their dynamic and romantic tension (which is fun and frustrating in different ways), but I digress.

Thanks to Kate they turn the tide around again and squash the hostage crisis. The Young Avengers decide to skedaddle before getting overrun by both reporters and police, though Jessica Jones and Kat do manage to catch them on their way out and Jessica hands Teddy a business card in case they ever want to talk.

Billy and Teddy are both starstruck at hearing her name. After all, Jessica Jones was an Avenger once (then known as Jewel – sort of*), which is one of my favorite aspects of Billy and Teddy's characters – they're both fanboys. That trait carries through to their current portrayals, where we've recently seen Teddy relaxing at home with X-Men comics on the floor of his bedroom.

*You won't find Jessica Jones a.k.a. Jewel a.k.a. Knightress as a team member in published Avengers comics up to this point. She was established as a former superhero and ex-Avenger as a retcon (that's a retroactive change to continuity) in her debut comic series Alias by Brian Michael Bendis, which is an incredible series and the basis for the Netflix show.

Importantly, as the boys flee the crime scene, I would like to point out a particular distinction in the way Billy transports his boyfriend compared to the way we've seen Iron Man/Iron Lad travel with their platonic Americana buddies:

The kids head back to the ruins of Avengers mansion – abandoned after the events of Disassembled – and get into an argument. We learn why they've come together: Iron Lad knows that Kang the Conquerer (long-time time-traveling Avenger's villain) will be coming to the present-day timeline, and there are no Avengers to stop him. How does Iron Lad know this? Well... it turns out he's a younger version of Kang himself.

Issue #2

The most important thing about the opening of the next issue is that I'm immediately proven wrong about Billy & Teddy not doing the hold-my-boyfriend-by-the-hip-while-flying thing, because here it is in a cut-back to their escape from church, a glorious double whammy with Nate/Eli:

Did Allan and Jim invent homoromantic superhero flight? I find no evidence to the contrary.

To breeze through some plot (not because you shouldn't read it! It's excellent! We just haven't the time):

• Kate is at the hospital, but she's relatively unharmed so she isn't being prioritized
• A blonde teenage girl, Cassie Lang, comes up to her on the curb outside looking to find the Young Avengers – she's the daughter of Ant-Man (Scott Lang), and she wants to join them. Scott was killed in Disassembled, one of its many controversial deaths, leaving Cassie alone with her mom and stepdad.
• Nate, who is really a young Kang, is being grilled by the adult Avengers back at the mansion. We learn his backstory – Older Kang used time travel to intervene in a moment of bullying from his adolescence, gave his younger self the rundown on his future of villainy, gifted him a time-travel suit, and was shocked when Nate immediately fled into the timestream to find some help in stopping... Older Him.
• In present day, Nate finds a mostly destroyed Vision (another Disassembled casualty) and activates his programming.

Phew – back to the gays, who are back to flying together at arm's length :( but Billy also soothes Teddy's insecurity about being too heavy :).

They run into Patriot, who is attempting to single-handedly stop an armed getaway van. He gets shot, but it's okay – he's (allegedly?) bulletproof! Billy and Teddy dust up with the bad guys, and we get a parallel with the previous church battle wherein Billy desperately worries about Teddy's safety.

It turns out these guys were selling Mutant Growth Hormone (MGH) in the park, a drug that can give normal people superpowers for a short while. As a fun aside, it may or may not have served as the conceptual inspiration for the recent Netflix original film, Project Power.

The kids head back to Avengers Mansion, where coincidentally Cassie and Kate are similarly breaking-and-entering to try and find them. Banter and arguments ensue – Patriot in particular doesn't want two "young" (they're all basically the same age), "powerless" (both Cassie and Kate are trained combatants, and in Cassie's case... a bit more) girls joining them.

Cassie, understandably, gets emotional at Patriot attempting to strong arm her out of there – the place where here father died and she spent many a weekend growing up – and she suddenly has a giant growth spurt. Like, a very big one. It turns out Cassie had been stealing her dad's Pym Particles (which make you change size) for years, but they'd never seemed to activate until this very moment.

Issues #3 - 5

Nate and the Avengers come out onto the lawn to find a giant Cassie and some confused teenagers. They exchange proper introductions, and we learn that Nate recruited the other 3 boys as part of the Avengers Failsafe Program recovered from the Vision's hard drive. Eli, Billy, and Teddy have some kind of vague connection to the Avengers legacy, and in the event of the Avengers disbanding, they were marked as the "next wave" of heroes.

Eli's connection is clear – his grandfather is Isaiah Bradley, the original Black Captain America (whose story of being experimented on is, in part, a reference to the Tuskegee Syphilis Study). Billy and Teddy are much less certain – neither knows much about their powers or why they have them.

Eventually a giant android named the Growing Man crashes the party at the mansion looking for Nate on behalf of Kang, and a battle ensues. When it turns out that Billy's lightning doesn't affect the Growing Man (who has split into many little Growing Men at this point), Nate encourages him to use his "other powers" and we see Billy work some kind of magic to briefly disable the androids.

Nate decides to reveal himself to the androids, who recognize him as their master – and they call out to their true master, Kang, across the timestream to alert him. The Avengers bamboozle the teens into hiding in a locked safe room by telling them they are going to "train" them in order to keep them out of the fray, and Kang makes his grand appearance.

More battling with the adult Avengers while the kids slowly piece together that they've been duped. Please enjoy these close-up moments of the boys making the most of an opportunity to get in a workout, as well as a parallel in their face-smacking dumbfoundedness:

Kate eventually breaks the kids out of their prison and they all gear up to go fight Kang. Kate, who up to this point has been running around New York in just her bridesmaid dress, decides to upgrade – and it's an incredible ensemble.

Kate's superhero identity will fluctuate for a while – as will all of the Young Avengers' – but she'll eventually go on to become the better Hawkeye in comics continuity and the friendship she'll develop with Clint Barton (the original) will be sincere and iconic. She'll also be the focus of the developing Disney+ show Hawkeye, where she inherits the mantle from MCU's Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).

The kids make it out of the mansion where they're confronted by the Avengers, who want to turn Nate over to Kang. If they don't, they'll be dramatically altering the timestream, and Kang has already given them a preview of the outcome. For one thing, Jessica Jones is no longer pregnant with her and Luke Cage's child (and she's understandably extremely distraught at that).

The kids tussle with the Avengers to give Nate a chance to escape, and Iron Man (very recklessly) blasts Hulkling out the sky. Billy is very upset – as am I! Unfortunately, almost all of their characterization and the hinting of their relationship, has been expressed up to this point via their traumatic responses to each other's harm. Please give them a day off.

We also learn, after Hulkling crashes down to the Earth, that he's a shapeshifter – and we see his "default" human form for the first time!

Nate comes back with an unconscious Iron Man, because he didn't want to let Tony Stark fall out of the sky to his death (what a nice boy). Sadly, it turns out that Kang can control Nate's armor (he built it, after all) and he uses it to knock out all of the present heroes.

Just before Kang can take Nate back through a time portal, Cassie embiggens! She was hiding out in tiny shrunken form. She knocks Kang through the portal and almost falls in herself. Nate saves her, they share a kiss. Then another kiss. It's a straight romance, but I do love that good teen angst in all its forms.

They only have a few moments before Kang re-appears, so they convince Nate to escape without his armor (so Kang can't track or control him) and the remaining team squares up against the time-traveller. Things are dire, and we get some really nice insight into the nature of Billy's magic – and his sweet, supportive relationship with Teddy.

Billy's power is literally to put his desires out into the universe and manifest them. And Teddy helps him through a focusing exercise to imagine what it will feel like to have his goal achieved. How beautifully, powerfully gay.

The battle continues. Kate is a badass and disables Kang's tech with a well-placed arrow. She's about to face off against him with her sword, but Kang gets the better of her and takes the sword. She's fifteen, and he's had literally untold millennia to train in combat so it's understandable.

Nate shows up again to surrender, but it's actually Teddy! And he quickly hulks out and sucker punches Kang. This is the first time we see him use his shapeshifting ability to fully impersonate another person. Kang slices him up pretty bad, and if you had "Billy screams out Teddy's name in fear and horror" on your bingo card, well congratulations that's number four. I'll save you the trauma of yet another image.

The next two panels are pretty emotional, as Billy makes what he likely believes to be a final stand against Kang. He's still reeling from Teddy's injury (don't worry, Teddy assures him, it'll heal), and goes into directionless spell-caster mode. All he can manage to muster is "I want to stop Kang" repeated over and over again, and you can really feel the desperation as you read it.

I really appreciate the visual treatment of Billy's spell-casting, with the words all running into each other in equal parts distress and willful focus.

Kang would have killed Billy, but he gets taken out from an ion blast that comes from off-panel. You'd think Nate just returned but no... it's actually a teen Vision! That's right, Young Avengers did teen Visions long before the critically acclaimed (and truly enthralling) The Vision comic series by Tom King – which is also part of the inspiration for the upcoming WandaVision Disney+ show.

It turns out this Vision is actually an amalgamation of Iron Lad's armor (which he left behind on the battlefield to escape Kang) and the original Vision's programming (which Nate integrated into his armor to learn about the Avengers Failsafe Program). Because of this, Kang is able to quickly take over control of the Vision, and refit him into Kang's own time-warping armor, just about sealing the fate of the remaining heroes.

Just before he can take them all out, he's impaled from behind with a sword. Nate did come back this time.

Issue #6

Welp, it turns out that killing the future version of yourself, who is responsible for you going back in time in the first place, does a major whammy on the timestream. The Young Avengers won... and everything around them is changed again. The Avengers are all dead – as indicated by Avengers Mansion turning into a packed superhero cemetery – and soon the Young Avengers might fade from existence too.

The only thing that might fix things is Nate going back to his original timeline and undoing these events altogether – which he has no desire to do. The team decides they're to have Billy use magic to wipe Nate's memory and then send Nate back via Kang's left-over tech. Nate pounces on Billy as he starts to cast the spell, which activates protective boyfriend outrage #5! Things get worse, though, as Billy starts to fade from existence...

Soon after, Teddy starts to fade away as well – which seals the deal for Nate. He  re-activates his armor, bringing back the Vision, and asks the Vision to send him back to his original timeline.

He's going to go back and live out his future, knowing that he'll forget his time with the Young Avengers and end up becoming Kang the Conqueror. He asks his friends in advance to forgive him for his future crimes, and he and Cassie share another tender moment where she promises to remind him of his true self when they meet again.

I have to include the following page, because it really gets me every time:

Things mostly return to normal after Nate walks through the portal. Time seems to snap back to the way it was right before adult Kang showed up at the mansion (rather than, say, before Nate showed up in the past the first time). The Young Avengers are surprised to find that they still have their outfits and memories of their time with Nate, and the adult Avengers do too – Jessica Jones lampshades away the logical inconsistencies with a "See, this is why I hate time travel."

The adults give the kids no uncertain terms – they won't train them, and if they suit up in those uniforms again, they'll shut them down. Everyone heads home pretty dejected, though Kate holds onto the notion that they'll come together again.

Several weeks later, we see the kids gather in their civvies to hear out an impassioned Kate and Cassie. Please enjoy this collection of casual BillyTeddy close-ups:

On the next page –although it may seem strange after nearly 6 full issues – we actually get our first textual confirmation that Billy and Teddy are indeed in a relationship, as Kate makes a very underrated and sophisticated observation about Billy's current code name Asgardian.

Is it problematic to name yourself after a religion in which you have no foundational belief, practice, or belonging simply for aesthetic? Well, it's not the best.

Heinberg was asked about this in a now-archived interview:

Heinberg: It turns out that code names are the trickiest part of creating new characters. When Kate suggests "Wiccan" to Billy in Young Avengers #6, she, like me, was not thinking in terms of the specific religious practice of Wicca, but rather attempting to find a suitable counterpart for the word "witch." It was certainly not my intention to offend anyone with "Wiccan." And since adopting the code name, rest assured Billy has been doing his Wiccan homework, so keep reading...

Intentions aside, Billy has indeed maintained the name Wiccan for the last 15 years. A few later writers have explored this thread a bit more, with Billy eventually admitting to doing his research on the religion of Wicca, but it still not being his faith.

Much like the Scarlett Witch got her own very witch-lore focused series, I'm hoping one day Billy does too – thoughtfully navigating the intersection of his Jewish background, Wicca influences, and own secular approach to reconciling magic in the Marvel universe.

But for now, back in Young Avengers #6, we get the kids deciding to rebrand themselves and relaunch in... only very slightly different costumes than their previous iteration (thanks to Kate's designer fashion house connections, which I truly think I deserve).

Yes, Teddy is the gay that decided the only way to revolutionize his look was to bleach his hair blonde (via shapeshifting). Honestly, all of these costumes are comically similar to their prior versions, but I most respect Billy's strong aesthetic desire to always maintain a particularly-tattered red cloak at all times.

And that's the first half of the original Young Avengers run! It is both full of good soft boyfriends and shockingly devoid of much textual queerness – but hey, this book was juggling a lot of plot and characters and it's delightful every step of the way.

Things get a least a bit gayer in part II, the next (and final) six issues of Young Avengers vol. 1! After that I'll go through the various Young Avengers event tie-ins and cross-overs that published after this run, and then get to the extremely gay, incredible, iconic, immortal Young Avengers vol. 2 that came out over 6 years after the end of this first volume. It was well, well worth the wait 💗

Ready for Part Two?

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Twitter: @biggayuniverse

You’ve might have seen him in Love, Simon, or as a guest star in its spin-off sequel Love, Victor that premiered on Hulu last week.

The episode (S1E8: “Boys’ trip”) that features actor, dancer, and musician Keiynan Lonsdale (along with Love, Simon star Nick Robinson, too) is one of the best examples of queer joy and community in recent memory. He shines in it — an uncomplicated snapshot of what growing up, finding kinship with a queer family, and living an unabashedly authentic life can look like.

Keiynan’s Bram introduces Victor to the fact that there is no right way to be. That queer identity cuts across class, religion, gender and race, and that chosen family can look like any mix of those things.

It’s a touching, heartening display of possibility. Keiynan’s music is much the same.

I first came across Keiynan's work via his 2018 track, Kiss the Boy. It’s a bright, upbeat pop take inspired both by his time filming Love, Simon and (at least in concept) the classic Little Mermaid song Kiss the Girl.

I adored his song the first time I heard it – the catchy chorus planting itself in my mind instantaneously – and it quickly became one of my go-to tracks when I needed something joyful that I could bop along to.

Keiynan’s debut full-length album, Rainbow Boy, was released just a few weeks ago — written and produced with friend and collaborator Louis Futon (catch Keiynan on Futon’s Royal Blood), and released independently. It carries forward the same buoyancy and captivating, modern pop inflections from Kiss the Boy, and adds playful introspection and layered sonic complexity with touches of funk, R&B and even a bit of swing.

It’s beautiful, fun, provocative, and well-worth playing on repeat under a sunny sky.

Keiynan himself is a great example of the transformative power of representation and queer art. He recounted in an interview how his experience making Love, Simon helped him publicly come out, and it was only a short while later that he released Kiss the Boy – his first queer-themed track – after a moment watching the teaser for the movie inspired him to write it.

Fast forward to Rainbow Boy two years later, and Keiynan has thoroughly come into his "Queer AF and Black AF" power – his queerness and Blackness take center stage in loud, proud proclamations.

The album opens with We are the Children – a dreamy imagining of the possibility of true freedom for kids like Keiynan. He sings:

Rise my child
To the garden of love and care
Where you ain't gotta be
Frightened of anything
You can just be
Free
Oh, wouldn't that be neat?

And the beautiful, tragic thing is that he might be speaking to queer kids, or Black kids, or queer Black kids – but regardless he speaks as someone that survives and thrives at the intersection of these identities, and knows that his simple existence as a possibility model (to borrow Laverne Cox’s suggestion) offers others the chance to follow:

Fighting for the truth so I know I'll be alright
And if I'ma play a hero I'ma show them to the light
I gotta run and tell these kids that we'll be fine

And when we get to the second track (which also served as the album's second single), Gay Street Fighter, he has a ton of fun on the outro queering everyone and everything in sight:

The truth is
Everybody's just a little bit Gay
Yo mother (she Gay)
Yo brother (so Gay)
All your soldiers baby (they fuckin’ Gay)
Yeah they all just a little bit Gay
Yo teachers (so Gay)
And yo doctors (so fuckin Gay)
If you look in the mirror, baby (you Gay too, bitch)
See we all just a little bit Gay
And even God (she Gay)
Even God's just a little bit Gay (he Gay)
So Gay
And even God (they Gay)
Even God's just a little bit Gay (so fuckin Gay)
(He did not just say that)
Yeah you Gay too, bitch

Magic Mickey is a sultry bedroom pop record that rolls into a brief confrontational rap break, and the entire song feels like a sexual awakening in Disney after dark.

The fluidity of genre and composition continues as Magic Mickey flows directly into Destiny Road, a dreamy pastoral rumination that again breaks half-way through into an electronic pop-rap ballad.

Each of Rainbow Boy's tracks feels perfectly crafted to carry and transform the tone of the song that precedes it. It feels, in a way, like traversing a hazy rainbow with each color bleeding into the next before a stark shift in character. And each band paints an aspect of Keiynan's multifaceted identity, musically composing the titular rainbow boy.

Ancient One is an upbeat African-pride anthem featuring fellow Aussies Project Peters, composed of Nigerian-born brothers Darlington and Joseph Peters. It's a fun, atmospheric track that feels like it could easily set the stage for a modern re-imagining of The Lion King, with a pre-chorus that celebrates reconnection with African ancestry and majesty:

Don't you know that you're a lion
Don't you know you're from the kingdom of the stars
Been this way before the dinosaurs
See yes it's all in everyone
Such a pretty young flower
Open up and let your petals face the sun
Once you blossom you can share the love
Because you are the ancient one

Rhythm & Music launches a 80's-esque pop-rock dance vibe that your body just can't resist dancing to. It's one of those songs that makes you want to jump up onto your furniture and stomp and shake – the kind that has you putting socks on just so you can slide across the floor in time with the beat.

White Noise is an explicitly political call-to-action wrapped in a modern doo-wop invention. The opening lines are particularly charged, skewering both a racist trope and the cultural appropriation carried out by the same population:

They call us monkeys
When they be monkeys too
Ain't no denying
Cause what they see is what they do

The finest track comes next – Rainbow Dragon, the album's first single and one of my most repeated songs to-date.

It's another perfect demonstration of Keiynan's ability to merge and morph genres with interesting breaks and transitions that keep tracks fresh even after your ten-thousandth listen. The chorus is catchy and fun, and just aggressive enough to really belt out in the shower after a long day.

Once you get to Play, Keiynan has circled back to the the theme of his intro – that there is a paradise here on Earth for kids like Keiynan, if they're able to let themselves embrace it by embracing each other. It's sweet and sincere, while rolling in and out of a bouncy dance beat. By the end, the layers of instrumentation slowly drop away to focus on Keiynan's bright, joyful sing-talking voice:

And all of this time I've been so scared of getting older
But I'll always be this dumb kid, I know
And I think it's beautiful
The things that we'll never know
Just watch and see
The stories unfold

It's exactly the song that I think Keiynan's Bram might have shared with Victor in Love, Victor after they connect in New York. It recognizes the legitimacy of the fear and isolation we often impose on ourselves when first grappling with queer identities – while gently parting the curtain to show hope, prosperity, and love on the other side of acceptance.

Rainbow Boy is a work of art. It effortlessly dances across genres, often multiple times within the same song. It embodies joy that is both Black and queer.

And it all sounds good as hell.

So I hope you'll give it a listen.

😊