Like many kids, Chris Cooper grew up reading Marvel Comics.
One story line in particular, however -- The X-Men -- held special poignancy for the young gay artist, whose latest project, an online comic strip called Queer Nation, is previewing now before its official launch on 1 January.
"The X-Men was a perfect parable for the gay experience," Cooper says. "The X-Men looked like everyone else, but they learned a deep secret in adolescence that made them different. They were feared and hunted by society, but they just wanted to make the world better."
Cooper, who is now 35, eventually became a writer and editor at Marvel, contributing his vision to Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, the Darkhold series, and The Incredible Hulk/Sub-Mariner 1998 Annual.
Now, Cooper is porting the talents he honed in the domain of paper and ink to the world of bits -- and he's bringing his perspective as a gay man with him.
Queer Nation, created with comic artist John Dennis, won't hide its sexual politics -- or its sex -- behind a metaphoric veil.
The very first episode begins with two superheroically proportioned lesbians gettin' tantric as a scripture-spouting fundamentalist is elected president, and a comet sweeps toward a cataclysmic close encounter with Earth.
If that wasn't enough, some sinister force makes every woman-loving woman on the planet vanish (except for one), and a gaybashing-in-progress is interrupted by a super-buff mystery man with the wings of a black eagle and some serious attitude.
Cooper says he's launching Queer Nation -- recommended for adults only -- on the Web because of the difficulty connecting with the audience for in-your-face gay comics in the offline world.
"Most gays and lesbians don't set foot in comics bookstores, which are seen as the exclusive reserve of adolescent heterosexual male geeks," he observes.
But gay bookstores such as A Different Light aren't promising markets, either, Cooper says.
"Gay bookstore owners don't know what to do with comics. They sit there in the back, gathering dust."
The Web is a natural home for gay comics, says Dan Schramm, CEO of the Gay and Lesbian International News Network, which sponsors a site called Gaytoons.com, devoted to presenting and syndicating gay strips. Queer Nation looks promising. "[It has] a really exciting story line, and the artwork is great -- totally professional," says Schramm.
Another gathering place on the Web, the Gay League of America OUTpost, was born on America Online, among fans who wanted to discuss "who was hunkier ... Mon-El or Timber Wolf," the site says.
A baby boom of gay-themed strips reached print in the '80s, with Alison Bechdel's droll Dykes to Watch Out For syndicated in gay newspapers all over the country, and a spunky anthology called Gay Comics, edited by Robert Triptow, muscling its way onto the racks in comics shops.
The economics of printing and distributing color comics on paper, however, are getting tougher. Even Marvel, the mothership, has been sputtering along with debts that would require superpowers to pay off, says Cooper.
"Marvel is a shell of its former self. Comics have boom/bust cycles, and the most recent boom is over," explains Cooper, who was laid off after a staff cut and is now working as a freelancer.
Still, the home of Spiderman, the Human Torch, and the Sub-Mariner was a stimulating, progressive place to be a comic artist.
"People [were] coming to work with purple hair, and [we had] a witch on staff," said Cooper. So the office had very little room for homophobia or racism, recalls Cooper, who is black.
Even so, getting Marvel to publish Queer Nation -- chronicling the rise of a gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transsexual nation-state against the forces of the right wing, and the exploits of a chic superhero called Miss Thang -- would have been a stretch.
Cooper credits his parents, who were civil rights crusaders, with instilling in him a passion for social activism.
"You can't grow up with that legacy and sit around and do nothing in the face of moral evils," he says, sounding a little like a superhero himself.
Queer Nation is currently a volunteer effort. The site is looking for sponsors and advertisers.
