Star of Marvel’s Immortal Hulk comes out as trans, proving once again the comics are more inclusive than the films
Charlene McGowan (Twitter)
A character in Marvel Comics’ Immortal Hulk series has revealed that she’s trans, saying she only tells people she knows well about her gender identity.
Dr Charlene McGowan is a relatively new character in the comic series, Screen Geek reports, and tells Doc Samson in issue 32 that she is a trans woman.
Dr McGowan tells Samson about her gender identity because she is afraid of a new ploy by another character, called Xemnu, to alter the memories of the world.
She explains that the idea bothers her because she spent so much time questioning her own gender identity before she transitioned.
Dr Charlene McGowan reveals that she is trans in Marvel Comics’ Immortal Hulk series.
In the comic strip, she tells Doc Samson: “You know I’m trans, right?” He tells her he “didn’t know exactly” but didn’t think it was any of his “business” so didn’t want to ask.
Dr McGowan continues: “Yeah. I don’t really bring this up with people I don’t know well.” She goes on to say that she realised she was trans after a period of “self-discovery”.
“I spent a lot of time working out what was me and what wasn’t,” she adds, “what was a story told about me, to me, by the world.”
She goes on to explain that she is afraid of Xemnu’s ploy because it can “force its own narratives” onto her and into her head.
I spent a lot of time working out what was me and what wasn’t, what was a story told about me, to me, by the world.
Dr McGowan adds: “I’ve had enough of that. Who I am belongs to me.”
This is obviously not the first time Marvel has introduced an LGBT+ character to the mix in its comics – but its efforts at promoting diversity in its stories haven’t always been successful.
The company recently came under fire for its bizarre non-binary superhero.
Marvel Comics recently came under fire after revealing its first non-binary superhero – a Black character called Snowflake who has a twin brother called Safespace.
Snowflake is Marvel’s first-ever non-binary superhero, and their superpower is generating snowflakes.
And with all the sensitivity of two white cisgender men, Marvel’s Daniel Kibblesmith and Luciano Vecchio also announced that Snowflake is blue-themed – blue hair, blue eyes, blue outfit – while Safespace is pink-themed.
The backlash was blistering. One Twitter user wrote: “Calling your first non-binary superheroes Snowflake and Safespace is the most insensitive and out of touch things you could do.
“They sounds [sic] like the kind of names you’d expect a writer who’s trying to make fun of non-binary people would give their characters.”
