Green Arrow Comes Out In DC Pride 2022!
Connor Hawke, Oliver Queen’s son, and a former Green Arrow, comes out as asexual in May 2022.
The Advocate reports.
Green Arrow’s Son Connor Hawke Is Your New Asexual Superhero
This year’s DC Pride anthology just got even more exciting for ace comic fans. Connor Hawke, son of Green Arrow, is finally coming out as asexual in “Think of Me,” an eight-page story by Ro Stein, Ted Brandt, and letterer Frank Cvetkovic.
Connor’s asexuality has long been speculated about, as the monastery-raised superhero has, since his 1994 inception, repeatedly made his lack of sexual interest clear. While some said it was due to his upbringing among monks, ace fans recognized the truth.
Finally, Connor’s sexuality is becoming canon with the help of an all-ace team. “It was that extra little bit of help, having the entire team be asexual,” Brandt told Them. “It really felt like it was a personal story for all of us on some level.”
Connor will be facing off with one of DC’s less well-known villains, Music Meister, who uses his singing voice to hypnotize and control his victims. The rogue character was first introduced in the animated television series Batman: The Brave and the Bold and was originally voiced by Neil Patrick Harris.
In “Think of Me,” Connor uses high-tech earplugs to prevent Music Meister from controlling him. The earplugs not only serve as a tactical advantage over his foe but as a metaphorical one that speaks to Connor’s disconnection from the experiences of allosexuals, and becomes the “emotional core” of his coming-out letter. “I was very aware of the logistics of [the letter],” Brandt said. “As well as coming out, it needs to explain what asexuality feels like, because a lot of people can’t imagine it. And that makes perfect sense to me, especially because I’m also autistic. I get not understanding what it’s like for someone who experiences something different to you.”
Importantly, while Connor is coming out in this anthology, the story is also in DC’s current continuity, which means this isn’t a one-off tale, but rather a ”permanent fixture of who the character is,” as Brandt explained.
DC Pride 2022 hits shelves on May 31, just in time for Pride Month.
As you can see from the preceding Pride variant cover, the upcoming Robin #15, in stores on June 28, 2022, has such a variant cover featuring Connor Hawke by Lynne Yoshii.
More 2022 Pride variant covers are here.
