Openly gay DC Comics superhero Midnighter is getting his own series launching in June, and writer Steve Orlando has revealed that when he’s not fighting crime, the hero will be setting up his own Grindr profile.
Orlando spoke to Comic Book Resources about the upcoming title, the character’s first solo book, and dropped the fact that he’ll be using Grindr:
“He hooks up with a guy, and is shocked to find out that he’s not frightened by the fact that he’s Midnighter. The fact that these things in his Grindr profile are not jokes. He is a crazed vigilante with a heart of gold, and he’s shocked that’s OK, but this person says to him, ‘Dude, there’s a Superman and there’s a Justice League. It’s not that weird. It’s actually kind of hot.’”
Midnighter, first introduced in 1998 but only brought into the main DC universe in 2011, is described as a “hyper-confident queer.” Orlando explained that “he is out of the closet as a gay man, he is out of the closet as a superhero,” and that the book is about his attempts “to find a way to really be a person.”
Orlando revealed that, being bisexual himself, the character was important for him while he was growing up:
“I’ve been saying on the Internet, and in other interviews, Midnighter had a profound effect on young Steve. The fact that now I can maybe do that for people, and add to that myth, is very exciting for me. Being bisexual in the 1990s, you think that it’s only really one thing. The media only gives you so many ways to do things. So when you see this character that is totally different, and everyone fears and respects him, and he’s so good at what he does, even if what he does is horrifying — it’s a game-changer… Being able to present that type of character I think is very powerful, because people need to know that you just have to be yourself, and you can be anything, and you can still be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. There’s no one way to do things.”
Midnighter issue one is scheduled for release on June 3rd.