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Elizabeth Sandifer

Elizabeth Sandifer created Eruditorum Press. She’s not really sure why she did that, and she apologizes for the inconvenience. She currently writes Last War in Albion, a history of the magical war between Alan Moore and Grant Morrison. She used to write TARDIS Eruditorum, a history of Britain told through the lens of a ropey sci-fi series. She also wrote Neoreaction a Basilisk, writes comics these days, and has ADHD so will probably just randomly write some other shit sooner or later. Support Elizabeth on Patreon.

6 Comments

  1. J. L. Webb
    April 22, 2015 @ 3:09 pm

    Rachel Edidin wrote up a fairly stirring queer-informed counter to the going criticisms of X-Men #40 if anyone is interested. Currently only up at the link below, apparently available on her usual outlet on, I believe, the Saturday:

    http://www.playboy.com/articles/one-of-the-x-men-is-gay-and-it-matters-more-than-you-think

    Thoughts anyone?

    Reply

  2. Dr. Happypants
    April 23, 2015 @ 5:59 am

    When gay men are first coming to terms with their sexuality, there is a very, very common pattern. Many, many of us were raised to think we must be straight, because we were raised with the understanding that the alternatives were all unthinkable. When we finally started to acknowledge our same-sex attractions, many, many of us did go through a phase of calling ourselves "bisexual", which generally only lasts until we actually have sex with another dude, when a little lightbulb goes off over our heads and we do in fact go "full gay". It doesn't work this way for every gay man, but it is an incredibly common life experience many, many of us share.

    Iceman's story–creepy mind-reading aside–fits this pattern, especially given he's from "the past", in a way that I found very resonant and touching and oddly sweet. I don't think it's intentionally playing up any stereotypes about bisexuals at all. I think it's doing exactly what it says it's doing, which is telling a story about the experiences of gay men.

    At worst, I think it could be said to be biphobic in the same way that "The Unquiet Dead" could be said to be anti-immigrant, but even that seems…uncharitable.

    Reply

  3. encyclops
    April 23, 2015 @ 10:34 am

    As a guy who, four decades into his life, is still helplessly and sometimes frustratingly Kinsey 3 "full bisexual," I'm grateful for Philip's remarks on the subject, and I see (and have experienced, with an ex-boyfriend) the truth of yours as well. Obviously I'm going to have to read this issue to get my own take on it, so between the two of you, you've sold a comic for Bendis. 🙂

    Are there any male bisexual characters of note in comics today? It would be nice if there were one.

    Reply

  4. randomvan
    April 23, 2015 @ 1:03 pm

    Daken from Marvel. And I suppose John Constantine from DC although WB seems to have forgotten about that. I would mention Prodigy but you asked for the character to be of note.

    Reply

  5. encyclops
    April 23, 2015 @ 2:27 pm

    Those are all interesting examples — thanks! I haven't read anything about Daken but it sounds like there's a hefty dose of "he'll do anyone if it serves his purposes," which is better than nothing but still kind of a cop-out. I always got the same vibe from the treatment of Constantine, though I tuned out sometime in the Mike Carey run and haven't read it for a while, so I don't know if that changed at all. Prodigy sounds the most promising based on Wikipedia alone, i.e. a bisexual guy with bisexual desires rather than "I don't do labels, I'm just sexual, you know." Which is not uncommon, but also not satisfying, for me anyway.

    Reply

  6. encyclops
    April 29, 2015 @ 11:14 am

    I read the comic, and unfortunately wasted my money on the issues leading up to it, which were full of punching and explosions and all the reasons I typically don't read superhero comics. I'm not trying to be a snob; it's just not my thing. Though one of them had some pretty amazing art, I must say.

    #40: well, judging solely from what was in this comic, I didn't have much of a problem with it. The lead-in to Bobby and Jean's conversation doesn't actually work at all if he's bi; it would have to be rewritten so he's hiding feelings for someone rather than covering with bluster, though that wouldn't be that big a change. But it's one thing to conceal part of yourself and another to hide it completely, so the whole dynamic's a little different.

    But then I don't know much about the character's past, so I don't know how much beyond the relationships they allude to Bendis is retconning here; and I don't know where they're going, so I don't know what value it'll have to the story for him to be gay or bi or whatever. I guess we'll see, or rather someone who continues to read this will see. 🙂

    Reply

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