Top 10 LGBT Geek Couples

So last year around this time, I waxed poetic about the perks of dating a geek. This year, I thought I'd try something different and celebrate my favorite couples in all of geekdom: comic books, TV, anime, and the like. My favorite thing about this list? I had to narrow it down from a pretty big list. The last few years have been great for LGBT representation in the geek world and this list is just a sampling of the gay geeky awesomeness:

10. Captain Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones? (Torchwood)



So the romance was as short lived as the series that followed the Cardiff unit of a black ops organization that specialized in extraterrestial activity. And yeah, there was a lot of space left between episodes were the viewer had to fill in how the unassuming Ianto Jones went from mourning his dead girlfriend to hooking up with his hot, pansexual boss in the office to developing a deep love for him. But there was enough in those moments for geeks of all sexualities to cheer on the relationship, making it one of the most celebrated same-sex relationships in geekdom. Though it ends in tragedy, the love between Captain Jack and Ianto will love on forever in the hearts of the fans. Or at least, forever in fan fic.

9. Xavin and Karolina Dean (Marvel: Runaways)

The children of supervillains, the Runaways were a motley crew of superpowered teens trying to escape the sins of their parents. In the form of a black male teen, Xavin falls in love with Karolina Dean, who is a lesbian. Easily enough solved, Xavin assumes the everyday form of a black female so that they could pursue a relationship. Through the many trials and tribulations faced by this ragtag group, one of the only constants was the relationship of Xavin and Karolina. The relationship ended abruptly when aliens come to Earth to claim Karolina and Xavin disguises himself as her and goes with them to protect her.

8. Wolverine and Hercules (Marvel: X-Treme X-Men)

X-Men Dazzler and Sage enlist alternate universe versions of their teammates as they cross dimensions to stop ten evil versions of Charles Xavier. Among them is Howlett (aka Wolverine) whose sexuality is hinted at early on but confirmed in issue 8 when he first meets the demigod Hercules. They begin a hot and heavy relationship and while this doesn't happen in the main Marvel universe (our Wolverine is still straight while our Hercules has been hinted at to have had same-sex encounters), it's a pretty epic storyline that leads to some pretty hot and heavy smoochies.

7. Jun/Hisao and Guillaume (Image: Morning Glories)

So there were two things that attracted me to the first issue of Image Comics' Morning Glories a few years back. One was that the first cover featured a diverse cast in prep school gear (going to Catholic school and watching Dead Poets Society as a child has really stuck with me). The second was that prominent in the diverse cast was a guy of Asian descent. The book follows six students making their way in a homicidal, Machiavellian private school. As the story progresses, we learn bit by bit about the students who inhabit the school, including the aforementioned Hisao (disguised as his twin brother Jun). The story is so focused on what the kids are doing there and where they came from and how they escape near death that the subtle and delicate revelation of Jun/Hisao's sexuality in issue 18 was a wonderful treat. Reunited with his childhood sweetheart Guillaume, the pair manage to...um...make up for lost time while the rest of the school stands in chaos and blood sacrifices.

6. Kate Kane and Maggie Sawyer (DC: Batwoman)

Even though DC won't let Kate and Maggie get married, let's celebrate that the two-time GLAAD award winning book featuring the first lesbian lead of a comic, for one brief shining year, was steeped in lesbian love.

5. Northstar and Kyle (Marvel: Astonishing X-Men)

The marriage of X-Man Northstar and his human partner Kyle made national headlines in 2012, including my coverage of it here.

4. Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus (Sailor Moon)

The famous anime Sailor Moon first hit American airwaves in 1995 (twenty years ago? Oy!) The DIC dubbed series adapted the original Japanese series, making it more palatable to American audiences if not a little too "family friendly" in the process and losing its edge. Thankfully the internet was just launching into mainstream usage and fanboys and girls around the country could look up what was getting lost in translation (they all Ed at the end?! Rei's grandfather I actually a perverted old man? Naked ribbon magic?!) I was a freshman in high school and coming into my own as an out gay, so the news that two of the Sailor Soldiers were a lesbian couple blew my mind. Watching the deep love and devotion Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune had for each other gave me hope that gay love was possible, even at the end of the Universe. And thankfully, this love will survive in the upcoming reboot of the series.

3. Rictor and Shatterstar (Marvel: X-Factor)

Here's the thing with Rictor and Shatterstar: they've always sort of been a couple. In the nineties when they were in The New Mutants together, there was always something more than jus a "bromance" simmering between them. Chalk it up to times changing and gay acceptance becoming more mainstream as we left the twentieth century, but when the pair were reunited in X-Factor issue 50 (volume 3) years of sexual tension came to a head in a panel that featured Marvel's first same-sex kiss. What I especially appreciate about the relationship that developed is that nothing was romanticized. They're two guys that are still trying to figure themselves out and how that works in a relationship. On paper Rictor still figuring out his sexuality and Shatterstar's pan-sexual polyamoric tendencies seem like a disaster waiting to happen, but somehow the two make it work.

2. Willow and Tara (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)



There are no words for the epic love between two burgeoning witches Willow and Tara. None. Just watch the scene above and you get it all. #NuffSaid

1. Wiccan and Hulking (Marvel: Young Avengers)

Alright, anyone who reads my geek musings knows how much I love the relationship between Young Avengers Wiccan and Hulkling. I could seriously fill a top 10 of their best moments (hmmm...)

My favorite thing about their relationship is that it focuses on these intimate tender moments, rather than hot and heavy crazy passionate ones. Those moments are the best. It's kinda like the way Shelter stands out amidst all the "just enough dialogue to excuse getting naked and screwing without being porn" gay movies they always show on Logo. When they're not showing RuPaul's Drag Race. But I digress.

They are there for each other no matter what. They've seen the worst and best in each other, they fight evil together, but at the end of the day, they're just two boys who love each other very much. And at the end of the day, isn't that what we all want?

BONUS ROUND

Boy in Pink Earmuffs by Jay Fuller, featuring two young super sleuths who may or may not be in love with each other is my daily dose of happy. Do yourself a favor and read it today!