DC Comics have revealed the secret identity of an iconic superhero to be re-imagined as gay in an upcoming storyline.

Speculation has been rife since the announcement that the comics giant was going to have one of its well known established characters come out of the closet. Comic fans were wondering if Batman’s sidekick the boy wonder Robin would be it, and there was speculation that it may have been the Amazonian princess Wonder Woman – but at least for now she won’t be roping in the ladies with her lasso of truth. So which character did DC decide to bring out of the closet?

It was Green Lantern, and no we’re not talking about Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern that was recently depicted on the big screen by Ryan Reynolds. We’re talking about Alan Scott, who was actually the original Green Lantern.

First seen in 1940, he is now being reintroduced as gay in “Earth 2” issue two. The storyline came out of DC’s reboot of their fictional universe last year, which saw the reintroduction of their the heroes as younger versions of themselves. The reboot effectively wrote out of existence Scott’s openly gay son, the superhero Obsidian.

“I was sort of putting the team together and I realized one of the only downsides to relaunching the Justice Society as young, vibrant heroes again was that Alan Scott’s son was no longer going to exist in the reboot,” “Earth 2” series writer James Robinson told NY Daily News

“I thought that was a shame and then it occurred to me, why not just make Alan Scott gay.”

The writer was also responsible for a 1998 storyline that saw Obsidian featuring as the first gay superhero to kiss in the history of comics.

This newest take on the Green Lantern character comes during a time when the comic industry is waving its rainbow flag with pride, with news that X-Men’s Northstar will be marrying his long time boyfriend, Batwoman is saving the streets of Gotham City from crime while kissing girls along the way, and in Archie their openly gay character Kevin Keller tied the knot.

While the comic industry should be congratulated for its inclusion of gay characters, there are some organisations that aren’t as appreciative.

The busybody conservative group One Million Moms have now called for a boycott of comic books featuring gay superheroes.

“Children desire to be just like superheroes. Children mimic superhero actions and even dress up in costumes to resemble these characters as much as possible. Can you imagine little boys saying, “I want a boyfriend or husband like X-Men?” said the group in a statement calling for a boycott of Marvel and DC.

This is the same group which called for a boycott of JC Penny when the retailer signed *Ellen DeGeneres * on as a spokeswoman. Just like their JC Penny campaign, this current campaign shows the group and their views are severely outnumbered by the majority. The group’s Facebook page was over so overwhelmed with pro-Alan Scott comments that the group decided it would be easier to take its page down then moderate the commentary.

While it still comes as a bit of a surprise that a gay comic book character is news, times are changing, and it’s satisfying to see One Million Moms’ attempt to spread their bigotry on Facebook was cut severely short. But we must always remember just like in the comic-verse, villains do have a tendency of coming back.

Take a look at preview pages showing the gay Green Lantern below.

Earth 2 issue 2 preview