Things had started to evolve by 1992, when Northstar, another Marvel hero, came out — an event that was praised in an editorial in The New York Times. “Mainstream culture will one day make its peace with gay Americans,” the editorial said. “When that time comes, Northstar’s revelation will be seen for what it is: a welcome indicator of social change.”

Though Superman is not the first LGBTQI hero and will not be the last, comics experts said that there was something particularly momentous about Superman coming out.

“It is not Northstar, who your aunt has never heard of,” said Glen Weldon, the author of Superman: The Unauthorised Biography, and the co-host of the Pop Culture Happy Hour on NPR. “It’s not Hulkling. It’s not Wiccan. It’s not Fire and Ice. It’s not Tasmanian Devil. It is Superman. That counts for something — just in terms of visibility, just in terms of the fact that this is going to attract attention.”

There has been some blowback to the recent evolution charted by comics. In August, as rumours about the Superman development began to circulate, a commenter on one website complained that “Marvel and DC have ruined their characters to please the woke mob, who don’t even buy comics.” But others have cheered the news: “It’s nice to see queer superheroes being more mainstream now, I’m very happy to see people like me being the main characters,” a commenter wrote on another site.

Loading

Weldon said that the changes in comics can lead to more vibrant storytelling. “Any step that can be taken to make the world on the superhero comics page look more like the world outside of it is good,” he said. “That gives you access to more varied stories, more interesting stories, more compelling stories, more different ways of telling stories.”

Jonathan Kent took the mantle of Superman alongside his father this year. The Clark Kent version of Superman was introduced in 1938. He married Lois Lane in 1996. Jonathan was introduced in 2015 and — let us skip a lot of comic book shenanigans — spent some time as Superboy before being encouraged by his father to become the new Superman.

Jonathan and Jay Nakamura met in an August story during the new Superman’s ill-fated attempt to establish a secret identity and attend high school. Last month, Jay, a budding journalist, met Jonathan’s parents — and was awe-struck by Lois Lane.

Jonathan and Jay will share a kiss in a story that will be published next month. This month, readers will discover that Jay has special abilities. “Jay could be the only person in Jon’s life that he does not have to protect,” Taylor said. “I wanted to have a really equal, supportive relationship for those two.”

The editors at DC were already considering similar lines of the development for the character and were supportive, he said.

“I’ve always said everyone needs heroes, and they deserve to see themselves in their heroes,” Taylor said. “For so many people, having the strongest superhero in comics come out is incredibly powerful.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

The Booklist is a weekly newsletter for book lovers from books editor Jason Steger. Get it delivered every Friday.