Green Lantern writer to donate royalties in response to anti-gay backlash

polygon.com:

It’s common for comic book creators to get on social media and rally fans to buy their newest book. But writer Tim Sheridan — whose credits include Teen Titans Academy, Dragon Age: Absolution, and as of this week, DC Comics’ six-issue miniseries Alan Scott: The Green Lantern — had something a little different to say last week.

In a video posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), Sheridan asked fans for “a favor” when it came to The Green Lantern, saying “already the haters and the queer-phobes are out in force, doing everything they can to see that this book tanks. They use code and they make it sound like they have legit problems with a book they haven’t read yet, but the truth is they just don’t like that there’s a queer hero in the upper ranks of the DCU.” In response, Sheridan announced he was asking queer and open-minded fans to pick up copies of the series, written by him and drawn by Cian Tormey — and would be donating all of his royalties to the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

“[Green Lantern] is the first time I, an out queer writer, have told a story with a lead character who’s gay,” Sheridan told Polygon via email. As the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott was one of DC’s earliest superheroes. The idea of evolving the character towards queerness has been percolating since 2012, and he came out of the closet in a 2020 story written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Stephen Byrne.

“To be honest, I was not sure I would accept the assignment when it was offered,” Sheridan said, “and that’s because of the experiences I’ve had with bigots, mostly on social media, working to sabotage the success of projects that feature diverse characters and/or diverse creators, all in furtherance of their hateful and, as I see it, dumb,