Bunker: The Fist of Justice

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Over the weekend, the artist on the upcoming DC New 52-renumbered Teen Titans announced that the team will be introducing its first openly gay member in the third issue.

Penciller Brett Booth let the news about new character Bunker, a new character with the power to create brick-shaped force fields that he can form into apparently any shape, slip via the following Twitter exchange with Batgirl writer Gail Simone:

Gail Simone: Tomorrow I am on a panel not listed on the schedule, WHERE ARE THE GAY SUPERHEROES, at 11:00 am, in Mezzanine 1. It’ll be great!

Brett Booth: We got at least one in Teen Titans:)

Gail Simone: Really? Who is the gay superhero in TT? Can you say?

Brett Booth: Bunker is gay (the purple guy, I know, not my first color choice!)

Booth followed up with some more information on his blog, including a character description by Titans writer Scott Lobdell:

His real name is Miguel Jose Barragan. He was raised in a very small Mexican village called El Chilar. He was very loved by his family and the village as well — and they were as accepting of his homosexuality as they were to his super powers when they first manifested. To that end he grew up in an angst-free environment. He was born out of the closet and so he has a very refreshing outlook on life.

God knows Bunker won’t be the first gay character in DC Comics – Batwoman’s been relatively high-profile for the past couple of years, and Apollo and The Midnighter have been around for more than a decade (But only now residents of the primary DC Universe), so this shouldn’t be big news. The interesting spin on this character is that the creators are trying to make Bunker set off your “gaydar”:

We wanted to show an interesting character who’s homosexuality is part of him, not something that’s hidden… I wanted you to know he might be gay as soon as you see him.

Oh, I knew. Just check out the other publicity picture of Bunker that DC’s released: