IDW Sonic writer 'Evan Stanley' talks about LGBT+ Representation

[DaBigJ]

So uh, I dunno if this really deserves a topic, but I thought I'd share this for anyone interested.

I think it's pretty cool that there's some LGBT+ rep in the comic, though I'm also surprised that they weren't changed to fit the apparent 'no romance' policy.

Still, this is pretty nifty. Makes me wonder if they'll try to introduce more depending on the online reactions?

[MetalSkulkBane]

My reaction is a decisive "eh, cool I guess?"

Can't say I got couple vibe from those two. I mean, Don was almost willing to leave Nite when zombies attacked. He didn't but that's still something odd for a dating couple. At the end of a day this has same weight as Penders saying Rotor was gay.

But you know, whatever. It doesn't bother me and if it makes someone happy, yay.

And if it makes someone homophobic angry, also yay.

[Waveshocker Sigma]

I really don't care. I'm just here for cool adventures with Sonic, his friends and his enemies. Just don't get in the way of that and we're cool.

[Polkadi~☆]

While that is cool and all, and I don't really have any kind of issue with it, I really don't want any Sonic comic to devolve into romance. We all know the last Sonic comic series really suffered from it. Tangle can be a bicon if she wants to (for example), as long as we still get to see more adventures with Sonic.

[Shaddy Zaphod]

I'm all for making things gayer, and I like Don's punk design, but this was as much a reminder that these guys even exist as it was a reveal of any kind of representation. I hope it'll be a trait of characters who left a stronger impression on me than these ones did.

[Wraith]

Tangle and whisper 

 

Do it 

 

[Raya]

32 minutes ago, Wraith said:

Tangle and whisper 

Do it 

My first thought.

[Sega DogTagz]

You can give up on that for the moment. 

They'll stay well beyond mum on both tangle and whisper as long as they have a chance to crossover into Sega. 

[Razule]

One of these days, I'll get the vibe of a canon LGBTQ+ relationship in a Sonic comic before they confirm that they were, in fact, hinting they were a couple. They didn't even seem like very close friends in the annual the way Don almost abandoned him, but sure, cool. 

If they have to already be a couple when introduced, that's disappointing for Whispangle. Unless they can become a couple, but they just have to be so vague about it, they just seem like best friends? They could already be a thing now, for all we know.

1 hour ago, Sega DogTagz said:

They'll stay well beyond mum on both tangle and whisper as long as they have a chance to crossover into Sega. 

Yeah. SEGA doesn't seem actively against any portrayals (that the comic crew are willing to share), but I'll believe that they're totally cool with two recurring characters being gay when I see it. 

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

So…can we have Sally X Nicole back then?

[Fieryfurnace]

This is another instance of gay representation being "these two background characters who show up for a single scene/single page/a few minutes at most are actually gay, guys!!!!" So Sonic is consistent with other children's media, at least. I don't care about shipping at all, but I'm happy for people this extraneous material is meaningful for (I say extraneous, because it doesn't appear in the comic itself thus far).

It would be nice to have a bit of non-intrusive romance with developed characters that we care about.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

1 hour ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

So…can we have Sally X Nicole back then?

If they're ever brought back as canon, then sure.

[JezMM]

I'm sure people against this sort of thing could argue about it all day but Tangle and Whisper feel so blatant to me that I almost don't even need it confirming.  They've made it as clear as they can without portraying clear-cut romance between the two which... suits SEGA's mandates so yeah, there it is, as far as I'm concerned lol.

Even if it's a bit token side-character stuff, it's still cool to have Nite and Don concretely confirmed mind. I didn't really NEED anything confirming because, as per the mandate, it's not like any non-queer relationships being represented either, there's nothing that needs "balancing out" so to speak.  But it's still cool to know the creators of a thing I like are on the right side of history in regards to a topic that the thing I like doesn't typically get to confirm one way or another.

[Kuzu]

This doesn't affect me one way or another, but its good to get one confirmed at least.

Though yea, at this point you may as well just canonize Tangle and Whisper.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Yeah it's fine.

After all, Amy Rose and Techno were also probably the first gay couple but it's nice to have a confirmation.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

4 hours ago, Badnik Mechanic said:

Techno

Who?

[Mauro Fonseca]

side note, but the quotation marks around evan's name in this thread make me laugh

"the alleged 'evan stanley' writer"

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

3 hours ago, Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon said:

Who?

Tekno the Canary.