Marvel Comics is set to unveil a new LGBT+ character as part of a five-part limited edition series titled The United States of Captain America.
The timing is intended to coincide with Pride Month in June, and the character featured in that month’s intro story will be a teenage Captain America who is homosexual.
The plot will follow four popular previous Captain Americas (Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes and John Walker) who go on a cross country journey to meet people who have made a difference in their communities.
One of the people they meet is Aaron Fischer, an openly LGBT+ teenager who dubs himself “Captain America of the Railways,” and protects runaways and homeless people.
Marvel Comics is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, which is committed to increasing visibility of LGBT+ characters by 40 percent in 2021.
Fischer is depicted as a white male punk rocker with a mohawk haircut and tattoos. Black male teenagers as a consumer group don’t read Marvel comics.
Fischer will debut in the main story of issue #1, written and illustrated by Aaron Trujillo and Jan Bazaldua.
“Aaron is inspired by heroes of the queer community: activists, leaders, and everyday folks pushing for a better life,” Trujillo said in a Marvel press release. “He stands for the oppressed, and the forgotten. I hope his debut story resonates with readers, and helps inspire the next generation of heroes.”
