Extrano

The most flamboyant gay superhero ever, Extrano embraced those stereotypes with gusto that made '60s Batman look like The Sweeney. A magician with a penchant for flowing robes and bejewelled leather boots, he provided the comedy relief of a short-lived team called The New Guardians. He liked to be called Auntie, had a natty moustache and handed out sage advice to his comrades. In one adventure, he faced an "AIDS vampire" called Hemo-Goblin, and was later confirmed as HIV-positive himself. He first appeared in 1988 but The New Guardians only lasted 12 issues, after which the team turned up in The Green Lantern only to be killed off. Some of them have since been resurrected, but Extrano seems to hav been cosigned to comics history. A sad indictment of a homophobic industry in which gay characters are not valued as equals to their straight comrades? Or the realisation that he was a bit crap, really. Not to mention embarrassing.

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