Zoinks! indeed... (Monday 22 August 2005)
compiled by Mary Garboden
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| Mark Chamberlain Untitled, 2005; image held here |
DC Comics, the people who brought us superheroes such as Spiderman, Superman, Wonderwoman, somebody called Hawkman, and the like, are threatening to take legal action against an art gallery in New York if it does not remove an exhibition displaying watercolours of Batman and Robin in homoerotic poses. The comic book giant has asked that the Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts Gallery hand over all unsold works in the show by Mark Chamberlain.
So what's so wrong about a homosexual caped crusader? The most recently released Batman film attempted to rise above the cartooney style of the earlier pictures directed by Tim Burton - it co-starred Liam Neeson for Christ's sake! So if the Bat's undergoing a make-over anyway, why not go for a serious transformation? We've all heard rumours regarding the ambiguous relationship between the duo, and this could be an opportunity for DC Comics to broaden diversity in its industry. Not to mention the fact that, if Batman comes out of the closet, the possibility of Katie Holmes playing a part in any future films about the dark knight will be substantially lessened...
