Unsung Gay Superhero: Ultraverse’s Spectral
Nobody remembers the guy who came out second
As Pride month draws to a close, I decided to take it upon myself to profile one of the unsung pioneers of gay superherodom. Yes, most of us know Northstar, who came screaming out of the closet in Alpha Flight 106, way back in 1992. But what of the guy standing right behind him, who debuted one year later in June 1993? Surely the second mainstream gay superhero deserves to be remembered. And so I present to my readers: Spectral, the Multi-Powered Man!
What’s that? You’ve never heard of him? That’s fair. The series in which he appeared lasted only twenty-four issues. He hasn’t been seen or heard since, though he was ostensibly absorbed into the Marvel universe (more on that later). He utterly fails to make any lists of gay superheroes. In fact, more than one friend of mine accused me of making him up when I told them about him. I assure you, dear readers, Spectral was real. He may be a footnote in the history of LGBT comics representation (if that), but I hope to rescue him from obscurity if only because he is not merely a gay superhero. Spectral is the gayest superhero who ever was or will be.
I know, I know. Midnighter is very, very gay, and he’s hard to top (no pun intended), but let me explain. Spectral was a human torch who burned the colors of the rainbow! And he had a different power with each color! His friends died of AIDS (it was the 90s). And he lived in San Francisco! That last one is actually kind of a cheat, since Malibu, the publisher of Spectral’s book, set themselves up as the West Coast alternative to Marvel and DC and set most of their books in California. However, short of a superhero who gains powers by actually fornicating with a person of the same sex, it’s hard to think of a gayer hero than Spectral.
Spectral was a founding member of The Strangers, one of the flagship titles of Malibu’s Ultraverse imprint. Created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Rick Hoberg, it was actually one of the most diverse superhero teams in the history of comics. Not only did it feature a gay man, but it had two Black characters and one Latina (we can infer this last bit of information because she occasionally exclaims in Spanish, not because anyone ever mentions that a character named Elena La Brava might be anything other than another white woman). They each (save one) gained powers from a magic bolt of lightning that struck a cable car they all happened to be riding at the same time. Did I mention The Strangers took place in San Francisco? Because the book rarely let you forget that fact.
The final team member was Yrial, a woman with magical powers from a floating island in the sky. I swear all of this is true.
Spectral, aka Dave Castiglione, was one of the most powerful members of the team. When he burned red, he gained super strength. Orange gave him typical fire powers, yellow granted flight, and green flames gave healing powers. Blue fire somehow meant he had water powers (How were the flames not extinguished by going underwater? Shut up.). Indigo was a deus ex machina power (seriously, this post will be three times as long if I try to explain it). Finally, violet flame made him invulnerable.
The first few issues were the team’s origin story, during which Spectral spent time figuring out his powers and saving the day at the last minute. This in itself should make Spectral more heralded as a gay superhero. Northstar was always something of a joke, but Spectral saved his whole team’s collective ass more than once. His sexuality was hinted at, but usually when he was alone.
In issue five, Spectral is finally outed. It’s not a very empowering scene, either. Grenade, one of the most aggressively heterosexual members of the team, who nevertheless has a costume that wouldn’t be out of place at a leather convention, angrily confronts Spectral and more or less demands to know his sexual orientation…and then is cool with it. It’s not great, but the acceptance the rest of the team exhibits is comforting, and was astonishingly progressive for the time.
For proof of that, the letters pages are unfortunate reminders of how regressive attitudes were as recently as twenty years ago. “If you intend to use your comic books to push a social agenda, the ‘comic’ book should make this clear.” (From issue 11) “I have nothing against gays, I just tire of being constantly reminded of it. Why doesn’t he just wear a sign? Better yet, he could change his name to ‘Flamer’ and let the people draw their own conclusions.” (From issue 16) The letters about Spectral were supposedly positive on a twenty-to-one ratio, but the negative ones overwhelmingly saw print to “keep the letters page interesting.”
The initial handling of Spectral’s sexuality was the unfortunate high point, as the rest of the team often paired off or he was the brunt of some insulting banter that was supposed to be funny. From issue nine:
Or he would be left to stand around awkwardly while his teammates paired off. You can practically hear a sad trombone in the background of panels like these from issue 11:
For the rest of the short run of the series, Spectral was the odd man out. The other team members consisted of two straight couples and the two Black members of the team, because if you have two members of a superhero team who ostensibly belong to the same minority group they are obligated to become friends even if they have nothing in common.
Spectral disappeared for months, sometimes barely appearing in issues, often being chastised for arriving late to team meetings. This may have been because he was so powerful that any superhero fight would have ended too quickly if he were involved, but also because he was being set up as a red herring for a mystery, and it was more comfortable for the gay guy’s personal life to happen off panel.
This did change, though! Spectral was eventually given a boyfriend — in the final issue. Granted, there were clearly plans for more issues, but the boyfriend survives the superhero battle that ensues! And he gets a line! (That line: “Hi.”) I’d like to think that this would have led to a more prominent role for Spectral, closer to what was promised in the beginning of the series. It’s just as likely this would have led to him being sidelined more often.
I’ll admit I stretched the truth to call Spectral mainstream. Ultraverse comics, at the height of their popularity, were never going to become as culturally relevant as Marvel or DC. Like Image and Valiant in the early days of those publishers, they were seen as a bracing alternative to the status quo. Ultraverse rode the comics boom of the early 90s hard, developing a tight continuity and conspicuous advertising. It was seen as groundbreaking at the time, full of innovation and diversity. The Strangers were going to be developed into an animated TV series, too. Spectral may have been the first gay cartoon superhero!
Then Marvel, as they are wont to do, ruined everything.
In 1994, they purchased Malibu and ran it into the ground. That’s the most charitable way I can describe what happened. Whether Marvel was trying to acquire better coloring technology or simply beating DC to the punch because they had designs on Malibu (both of which have been given as reasons for the buyout), the quality of the writing nosedived. The Strangers was one of the luckier books, as it was cancelled early and kept from having to shoehorn Marvel characters into its pages. Loki, Thor, Black Knight, and Silver Surfer all showed up in Ultraverse titles before the whole line was mercifully cancelled. According to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005, the Ultraverse universe exists on Earth-93060. I doubt it will be making any appearances anytime soon.
This is a shame, really. For all of the faults of the book, The Strangers was a comic that provided a positive role model for gay kids. They had to do a bit of hunting for him, but he was there. “I feel that [Spectral] has been all the things gay people would like in a role model…I know of only two superheroes in all of comics that are gay. This is hardly overkill…it’s interesting for a change.” (Letters page, issue 22) Valiant and Image have undergone renaissances in recent years, so why can’t Marvel take a chance and hand over the reins of these characters to capable creators?
I won’t hold my breath. But now we know of one more superhero who was out and proud. And Spectral gives us one more reason to be out and proud ourselves.
