He might be Green Lantern, but one of America's most enduring comic book characters is turning rainbow colored as the latest superhero to come out as gay, DC Comics announced Friday.
Starting next week Alan Scott reappears as Green Lantern, "a team leader with a Type-A personality and an appetite for justice," the publisher said in a statement. "Alan also happens to be homosexual."
"Originally a Golden Age character whose previous continuity spanned from the 1940s through modern times, Alan... is getting an update for contemporary times to reflect the world we live in."
The new Green Lantern appears in the second issue of "Earth 2." A sneak preview of part of the storyline on the DC Comics website shows Alan as a strapping, blond man arriving in Hong Kong, where a handsome, dark-haired friend called Sam whisks him off to a luxury hotel.
Series writer James Robinson said that despite the modern revamp, "old-time readers will be pleasantly surprised by how, in some ways, I'm trying to show the 'classic' Alan Scott at the same time. He's still the same dynamic, heroic guy he was."
The imaginary comic world has tried hard recently to introduce ethnic and sexual diversity. DC Comics has a lesbian Batwoman, while Marvel's "Astonishing X-Men" is set to feature a superhero gay marriage.
