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Transwomen in Comics

Cody
Jun 15, 2016
4 min read

As an extension of my recent post about the fetishizing of trans bodies in comics and video games, I decided to make a brief list of major transgender characters that I have come across in comics and graphic novels. This list is by no means complete - not even close - but it is comprehensive and will hopefully help to show the wide array of representation that has been explored over the years.

- Alysia Yeoh - Batgirl (first appearance - 2011)

Created by writer Gail Simone and artist Ardian Syaf for the stand-alone Batgirl comics, Alysia Yeoh is Barbara Gordon's roommate. Her creation was a seminal moment for trans narratives: she is the first transgender character in a contemporary, mainstream comic publication. She is also notable for being just an average human, without super powers or magical abilities, which gives her character the ability to portray general trans narratives in a relatable and realistic way.

- Sir Tristan - Camelot 3000 (1982 - 1985)

The Camelot 3000 universe centers around King Arthur and Merlin, who have been reincarnated in a dystopian world in the year 3000 AD. In order to combat an alien invasion, Merlin resurrects various Knights of the Round Table, channeling their spirits into the bodies of people already alive. The character of Sir Tristan awakens in the body of a woman, Amber March. Sir Tristan experiences a great deal of confusion, being a male spirit trapped in a female body, but this experience gives him a chance to interrogate his previous thoughts regarding gender and sexuality. In fact, his ancient love, Isolde, is also reincarnated (as a female), and after several tribulations, the two find peace and love with one another and come to terms with Tristan's new body.

- Lord Fanny - The Invisibles (first appearance - 1994)

Lord Fanny is my personal favorite because of her complicated history and incredible abilities. Fanny is born in Brazil in 1972 and assigned male - however, her grandmother, a witch, raises her as a woman so that she may continue her family's line of witches, which can only be female. During her initiation, Fanny discovers that her patron goddess is Tlazolteotl, a deity of prostitutes, filth, and lust. She eventually becomes a sex worker and is brutally raped. In the aftermath, she contemplates suicide, but ultimately joins the Invisibles, a gang of punks who are rebelling against the subjugation of mankind at the hands of extradimensional alien beings. With them, she hones her powers as a shaman and shape-shifter. Fanny is typically portrayed as ultra-sexual and in perpetual "drag," with chapter titles as puns that hint at her transness (ie. "Venus as a Boy" and "Apocalipstick").

- Shvaughn Erin - Legion of Super Heroes (first appearance - 1978)

In the DC Universe, Shvaughn Erin is a member of the Science Police, a law enforcement brand of the United Planets in the 30th/31st century. She is in a relationship with the character Element Lad (Jan Arrah), and it is discovered later in the series that she was in fact assigned male at birth and has been taking a drug known as Profem to transform her body into that of a female. As war breaks out across the planet, her access to the drug becomes limited and she reverts back into the body of a male, though Element Lad continues loving her for who she is, regardless of the body she has. This storyline is shifted and not considered canonical after a different story arch was developed that only identified this character as a female, never bringing into the narrative her assigned sex, and which made Element Lad far younger and therefore not her romantic interest.

- Wanda - Sandman (1993)

Wanda Mann first appears in The Sandman collection entitled A Game of You. She is the neighbor and close friend of the protagonist, Barbie, who appeared in the collection The Doll's House. In the story, Wanda is a pre-operative transwoman who Barbie discovers has died during a hurricane that was caused by the witch, Thessaly, performing a ritual to summon the moon. Devastated by the loss of her friend, Barbie visits Wanda's grave, only to find that Wanda's conservative parents had their child interred with a grave marker that bears her birth name, Alvin. In retaliation, Barbie scrawls "Wanda" across the tombstone with lipstick. She later dreams of Wanda, now with a perfectly-formed female body, standing next to the character, Death, both of whom are waving goodbye.

An interesting exchange takes place when Wanda wonders why she has not been taken by a spell that called away all of the women around her. As progressive as the storyline is, the things that the character, George, says are painfully transphobic. Thankfully, that doesn't stand as representative of the narrative as a whole:

Wanda: “Listen: I’ve had electrolysis. I’m taking hormones. All that’s left is just a little lump of flesh; but all that doesn’t matter. Inside I’m a woman.

George says: “She (the moon) doesn’t seem to think so. And to be honest, well, even if you had had the operation, it wouldn’t make much difference to the moon. It’s chromosomes as much as anything. It’s like, gender isn’t something you can pick and choose as far as gods are concerned.”