Batman, Batwoman, and the whole gay thing. (MM #114)

Something that gives me a chuckle about the whole Crisis thing coming together like it is.

Okay, so thanks to alternate universes, Burt Ward as Dick Grayson is going to be in the same adventure as Ruby Rose as Batwoman.
Why is this significant?
Oh, holy shit, it's everything!

First of all, Adam West was not a homophobe or a transphobe.
That's important to know.

BUT, the censors that handled Batman in the show and comics were rampaging seething homophobes.

In the comics, how they handled their imaginary fear of Batman & Robin being a couple, was to add Batwoman (an incarnation before Kate Kane) and Batgirl (this was before Barbara Gordon's Batgirl) for them to flirt with.
But, the morality cops realized they were even more scared of their precious children being exposed to any kind of sexuality period, so Batwoman and Batgirl quietly went away.

Then comes the TV show, and once again, the homophobes were like "oh, shit, people are gonna think Batman & Robin are a coupla' queers!".

So, what do they do?
They add Aunt Harriet living with them.
....yeah, that'll fix it. *Facepalm*

Fast-forward five decades, and we're (allegedly!) in more woke times, so the comics writers get retroactive revenge on the prudes by creating Kate Kane Batwoman, and making her an out-and-proud lesbian.

And Adam West and Burt Ward gladly helped the makers of the Batman '66 animated movies get even by having Aunt Harriet suspect something, and keep cracking subtle gay jokes that'd go over the heads of kids. Not in a derogatory way, she seemed to think Bruce and Dick were a cute couple, but she wanted them to come out.

So, jump ahead a little more to 2019, and Ruby Rose (an out-and-proud lesbian actress) is playing a live-action version of Kate Kane Batwoman co-existing with Burt Ward Dick Grayson.

It's the culmination of a long slow motion middle finger to all the bigots, and I fucking love it.

Greg Berlanti rules.


Previously-

• Parts #1-90.
• Parts #91-100.
• Parts #101-110.
• Crisis On Infinite Earths update. (MM #111)
• Splitting out TV and home video. (MM #112)
• Crisis On Infinite Earths update #2. (MM #113)