Barry Allen, Wally West and Jay Garrick, among others in the DC comic universe, are welcoming a new member to the legendary Flash or speedster family. This new member will not only be breaking sound barriers but also gender barriers as the first non-binary Flash to tap into the speed force.
In January 2021, The new DC comics two-month long event “Future Slate” that will shake up the whole DC comic universe and will introduce a new Flash. The Speedster in question, named Jess Chambers aka “Kid Quick,” uses they/them pronouns and will debut in Ivan Cohen and Eleonora Carlini’s DC’s “Very Merry Multiverse.” The announcement has been greeted with enthusiasm by the comic book community.
“It’s great that the new flash is non-binary,” said SF State Humanities lecturer and the head of Black-Brown Comics Arts Fest Shawn Taylor.
“We want it done thoughtfully, not just as a gimmick to cash in on. We want to make sure that this character Jess Chambers represents the non-binary community in the most respectful, and heroic way possible. This character deserves to be a kick ass character. On their own right.” he added.
Grant Morrison, a writer for both DC & Marvel, who has previously written for titles such as “The X-Men,” “The Flash” and “Green Lantern” came out as non-binary during a MONDO 2000 interview earlier this year.
“For instance, when I was a kid there were no words to describe certain aspects of my own experience,” Morrison said during the MONDO 2000 interview. “I’ve been non-binary, cross-dressing, ‘gender queer’ since I was 10 years old, but the available terms for what I was doing and how I felt were few and far between.”
Morrison joins the list of other comic book creators who have come out as non-binary such as Vita Ayala (Xena: Warrior Princess, Supergirl), Neon Yang (The Tensorate Series), and Taneka Stotts (Steven Universe, Deja Brew).
“Representation is absolutely important. I’ve taught Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona the last several years in my introductory comics course. A teen, female, Muslim, Pakistani-American was quite the twist on who superheroes could be, and yet she’s had great success and tremendous staying power.” said SF State Comic Studies professor Nick Sousanis.
Kamala Khan aka Ms.Marvel was introduced seven years ago in Captain Marvel #14. Since then her popularity grew to become a icon for the Muslim communnity.
The Bay Area Art Queers Unleashing Power covered anti-islamic ads that were purchased by the extremist anti-islamic group Freedom Defense Initiative with pictures of the Pakistani-American hero. Iman Vellani is expected to play Khan in the first live-action TV show adaptation of Ms.Marvel on Disney+.
The universal acclaim animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and the PS5 video game Marvel’s Spider-man: Miles Morales has increased the half-black and half-latino heroes popularity to new heights giving Spider-Man a new demographic.
“The success of Miles Morales/Spider-man speaks to the same thing as Ms.Marvel. It’s awesome to see kids of color dressing up as superhero costumes and see themselves reflected in their hero.” Taylor added.
