(Also: fans of teen drama The OC can draw their own conclusions about what plot ideas Heinberg might have wanted to include in the show had they not been too racy for mid-naughties Fox, based on the physical appearance of Hulkling and Wiccan.) I’m also looking forward to reading more of Hulkling and Wiccan from their original creators, Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung, again, in Marvel’s Voices: Pride #1 later this month. Oliveira spoke to Cerebrocast back in October and chatted more generally about queer comics with Bitches on Comics for Pride last year and both are really interesting conversations.

I can’t wait to see Anthony Oliveira’s work in Marvel’s Voices: Pride #1 later this month, giving us some of Bobby Drake’s journey from the closet.

But if you only want a small serving of comics to read, Emperor Hulkling is simply a moment of gorgeous queer beauty. The whole Empyre event is worth reading, not least to see a happy, queer couple save the universe. (Incidentally, Wiccan and Speed are the twin brothers you might have seen in WandaVision, so I’m hopeful we might see more of them in the MCU at last!)Įmperor Hulkling is a delight throughout, with wonderful witty panels:Īs well as beautiful moments of queer intimacy:Īnd even as someone who grew up in the universal homophobia of the 1980s and came out over 20 years ago, it’s surprising how important it feels, seeing the superhero protagonist of a comic book not only be rescued by his superhero boyfriend, but seeing them lying together in each other’s arms, shown just like a loving cis- het couple.Īlso I love that we see a continuation of the MODOK dream from Oliveira’s previous story “My Drag Brunch with Loki”, in War of the Realms: War Scrolls #2, which y’all should also go read 😉 With colourist Triona Farrell, he is also responsible for bringing “Thinkfast” (the m/m pairing of their fellow Young Avengers: Prodigy and Speed) into Marvel’s canon, in a gorgeous 6-cel Pride-coloured panel: Written by a queer author (Oliveira), he told This Week in Marvel that it was important to him that they depict the everyday queer life that Hulkling lives and to expand on his character, who is often left on the bench while his boyfriend Wiccan is off saving the world. A definite highlight of 2020 for me was Anthony Oliveira and Chip Zdarsky’s GLAAD Award-winning Emperor Hulkling one-shot from Marvel’s Lords of Empyre summer event.

Lords of Empyre by Chip Zdarsky