This is a list of graphic art works with LGBTQ characters. This list includes gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender fictional characters, and others within the LGBTQ+ community, in comic series, newspaper strips, graphic novels, and manga.
History In the 1950s, American comic books, under the Comics Code Authority, adopted the Comic Code which, under the guise of preventing "perversion", largely prevented the presentation of LGBT characters for a number of decades.
Within the Japanese anime and manga, yaoi is the tradition of representing same-sex male relationships in materials that are generally created by women artists and marketed mostly for Japanese girls while the genre known as yuri focuses on relationships between women.
List of works
Year(s) Title Characters Identity Notes Country 1963–2015 Uncanny X-Men Northstar Gay First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #120 (1979). Northstar was the first openly gay superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. United States1966–presentBamse HappGayHapp is Lille Skutt's brother. He lives with his life partner Lille Sixten on a stump in the forest. They eventually adopted a little girl rabbit named Suddan.Sweden Lille Sixten 1970–present Doonesbury Andy Lippincott Gay First appearance: 1976.Andy Lippincott was the first openly gay character to appear in a mainstream comic strip. United States1971Shiroi Heya no FutariResine de PoissonLesbianSet in all-girls Catholic boarding school in France. It tells the story of Resine de Poisson and Simone D'Arc. Simone is initially hostile towards the naïve Resine, the two girls gradually grow closer, with Simone going so far as to recite a love poem by Rainer Maria Rilke in front of their class that she dedicates to Resine. Considered the originating work of the yuri genre.JapanSimone D'Arc 1974–1975 Thomas no Shinzō Thomas Werner Gay Set in a German boys boarding school, the story relates how, after Thomas' suicide, an upper classman, Yuri, finds a love letter Thomas wrote to him, and then meets a new student, Eric, who looks just like Thomas. Japan Julusmole Bayhan ("Juli" or "Yuli") Eric Fruehling 1979–2008 For Better or For Worse Lawrence Poirier Gay In 1993, Lawrence Poirier's coming out generated controversy, with readers opposed to homosexuality threatening to cancel newspaper subscriptions. See also: For Better or For Worse#Lawrence comes out. Canada 1980–present DC Comics Starfire (Princess Koriand'r) Pansexual Deriving from being raised on the culture of her homeworld Tamaran, where it's acceptable to have open marriage, Starfire's sex-positivism and free-thinking habits such as a fondness for practicing nudism, openness to polygamous relationships and acceptance of "open sex" and pansexual "free-love" with persons regardless of terrestrial species, race or gender, usually lead her into conflict with Earth's more reserved culture and customs. For Starfire, polyamory was a personal and cultural preference. United States 1983–2008 Dykes to Watch Out For Mo Testa Lesbian Mo is a semi-autobiographical representation of the creator Alison Bechdel who started the strip in because she wanted to see representations of her life that were not available in the media at the time. United States1985–1994Banana FishAslan Jade Callenreese "Ash Lynx"BisexualAsh has slept with men and women during his time as a prostitute. He mainly has relationships with men such as Eiji, while dealing with childhood trauma from molestation. While has a close relationship with Eiji, he admitted that he had a relationship with a girl who was killed "under suspicion of being his girlfriend." Eiji has blushed at the idea of having a girlfriend however his true sexuality has never been confirmed, leading people to debate if he is gay or bisexual.JapanEiji OkumuraQueer 1987–present JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Dio Brando Bisexual Dio Brando in-story was sexually promiscuous, having many illegitimate children while also having ambiguous intimate relationships with male characters. In an interview in 2007 for Eureka magazine, JoJo creator Hirohiko Araki stated "...women, men--Dio can go with either." to a question about Dio's sexuality. Japan Scarlet Valentine Bisexual Scarlet Valentine, the wife of Funny Valentine, is confirmed to be bisexual in-story, when she shows attraction to her husband but is also seduced by Lucy Steel. 1988–1997 Hen Chizuru Yoshida Bisexual Chizuru is a buxom high school girl who has a tendency to manipulate the people around her. At the start of the story, she has a boyfriend and is also shown seducing a male teacher for the purpose of sleeping in his house. She becomes smitten with Azumi, a petite, innocent and shy girl from the same school. Though Chizuru initially hesitates to act on it, she manages to convince Azumi to join her in a lesbian film, in which both girls are the lead actresses and their characters are the ones who fall in love. Chizuru constantly uses this as an excuse to attempt to be intimate with Azumi, such as inviting her to hug and kiss for the purpose of rehearsing the film. Though Azumi tends to be uncomfortable with her advances and often gets away from her without doing what she wants, Azumi eventually becomes aware of her feelings and reciprocates them. Japan Azumi Yamada Lesbian 1988–2008 Marvel Comics Presents Jessie Drake Trans woman First appearance: Marvel Comics Presents #150 (1994). Jessie came out as a transgender girl in Marvel Comics Presents #151 and is the first openly transgender character in the Marvel Universe. United States 1989–2011 Veronica Kevin Keller Gay First appearance: Veronica #202 (2010). Kevin was first eyed by Veronica who did not realize he was gay. He has since become a part of the gang. United States 1989–2015 Desire Genderqueer Desire is the personification of desire itself. Desire is both male and female, because the character represents everything someone might desire. Desire is called "sister-brother" or "sibling" by his/her siblings and "uncle-aunt" by his/her nephew Orpheus. England Alex Burgess Gay In "Sleep of the Just", the 1st issue of Preludes & Nocturnes, Alex Burgess and Paul McGuire are lovers who spend decades together. Alex is the son of Roderick Burgess, the man who attempts to imprison Death but imprisons Dream instead. After the death of Roderick, Alex inherits the ownership of the Order of Ancient Mysteries and continues keeping Dream as his prisoner. Later, Alex passes the order on to his boyfriend Paul. Eventually, Dream escapes and puts Alex in an eternal nightmare. In The Kindly Ones, Dream dies five years later, which causes Alex to wake up from the nightmare, asking for Paul. Paul McGuire Foxglove (Donna Cavanagh) Lesbian Donna and Judy are lovers. After Judy dies, Donna changes her name to Foxglove and starts a relationship with Hazel. Foxglove and Hazel have a child, Alvie, the result of one heterosexual encounter by Hazel.
In "24 Hours", the 6th issue of Preludes & Nocturnes, Judy, in a 24-hour diner, tries to talk to her girlfriend Donna on the phone, but Donna's mother does not approve of Judy and hangs up on her. Bette, the diner waitress, secretly wrote a story where the two girls are married to young men. Eventually, Judy dies as a victim of John Dee, who uses Dream's ruby to force everyone in the diner except himself to commit suicide.
In A Game of You, Donna, now called Foxglove is living with her girlfriend Hazel. Hazel is pregnant because she cheated on her girlfriend with a gay man. Foxglove has a nightmare in which the deceased Judy blames her for her death.
In the 2nd issue of the spin-off mini-series Death: The High Cost of Living, Foxglove has her first gig as a singer. She sings about the deaths of Judy and Wanda. Hazel, still pregnant, and Death are present in the audience.
In another spin-off mini-series, Death: The Time of Your Life, Foxglove and Hazel are raising Alvie. Foxglove has become a famous musician. While travelling on tour, Foxglove cheats on Hazel multiple times, and one of her partners, Véronique, publicly outs Foxglove as lesbian without her consent. When making a deal with Death, Foxglove offers to give her life so that Alvie may live, but Boris (who promised to care for Foxglove) does it in her place. In the end, Foxglove, Hazel and Alvie stay together as a family. Judy Hazel McNamara Chantal Lesbian Chantal and Zelda are a lesbian couple introduced in The Doll's House. They dress in white and collect spiders. Zelda Wanda Trans woman She is a transgender woman featured in A Game of You. She is Barbie's best friend. She is unable to visit the Dreaming together with Thessaly, Foxglove and Hazel because the magic ritual used only allows passage for people with biologically female bodies. She dies in the storm caused by Thessaly's magic and is buried as "Alvin", her former identity. Wanda is last seen, along with Death, in Barbie's dream. Cluracan Gay Cluracan is a member of Faerie folk. In Season of Mists, when a number of immortals visit Dream to bargain for the ownership of Hell, it is shown that Cluracan is gay, as he sleeps with a male Egyptian priest. When the visit is over, Cluracan complains that he is tired of one-night stands and wonders if the Egyptian priest will write to him. Corinthian Gay The Corinthian is a nightmare created by Dream. He has two additional mouths in place of his eyes, which he covers with sunglasses. In The Doll's House, he goes AWOL from the dreamscape and becomes a serial killer who invites men to have sexual relations with him, then murders them. Corinthian then removes the eyes of their victims and eats them using his eye-mouths.