Superhero comics are finally getting better at representing all types of people. AfterShock Comics is doing their part to change the status quo (for the better!) with an all-new transgender hero named Chalice, set to star in her own series titled Alters.
Chalice is the star of a new series called Alters created by Paul Jenkins (Origin), Leila Leiz, and Tamra Bonvillain (a transgender woman herself). Alters is set in a world where humanity is confronted with the emergence of a mutant section of the population, dubbed “Alterations” that have develop superpowers.
While undergoing a transition from male to female, Chalice will discover that she’s an Alter with the power to manipulate gravity. This leads her to live a double-double life, where she is not yet ‘out’ as either transgender or superpowered. The series is set to feature other heroes, but Chalice is the primary protagonist.
Writer Paul Jenkins picked up the idea for a transgender hero from a fan while brainstorming ideas for the comics and it’s been his passion project since 2005. Jenkins also gives credit to his mother, a gay woman who raised him and his brother single-handedly.
“The most important thing in approaching this book is for me to concentrate on these characters as heroes and villains, and to let these things come out during the process… If we ever get to a point where issues such as race, sexuality and gender identity are a nonissue, we will have arrived… That’s my Mum talking right there.”
Alters is a welcome move for a larger variety of LGBTQ representation in superhero comics as they tend to stick to the lesbian/gay side of the spectrum without hitting any bisexual or transgender markers.
Chalice was revealed yesterday by the New York Times and Alters is set to begin this September.
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