I'm listening to RuPaul's new CD. RuPaul, the famous drag queen. It's circumstantial, to be honest. I like dance music; I like pop. It's music that doesn't require much thought, which can be nice for an over-thinker.
I'm not listening to RuPaul because I'm gay. I'm not listening to RuPaul because she's gay. That being said, it is refreshing to hear a genre of music I enjoy that reflects a part of myself.
Note: I am not a drag queen.
It got me thinking. (I did say I was an over-thinker.) Not about the bass in my walk — but rather about another of my passions.
Before I am a music lover, before I am a gay man, I am a comic addict. I'm not talking about Adam Sandler, or whoever the kids think is funny these days. I'm talking about comic books. Twenty-two-page, released every Wednesday, coming-soon-to-a-big-screen-near-you bliss.
I decided I wanted to write for Marvel Comics sometime in the womb, and I was introduced to the world of comic lore around 1991. The comic I started collecting was X-Men Unlimited #6, about a mutant-turned-pterodactyl attacking some of my favorite X-Men. Every panel was bliss, artwork and the written word joining together to entertain and induce addiction.
But I digress. This actually does relate to RuPaul, though indirectly. I've never lobbied for gay characters in Marvel's pages. To place them for some twisted version of affirmative action (like the character of Northstar in Uncanny X-Men) would be foul play and distasteful.
This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 4, 2009.