Happy Valentine's Day from Apollo & Midnighter!

I have to admit that when I first started reading The Authority, it took me a while to get that Apollo and Midnighter were a gay couple. As soon as I would think that they were, my brain would fight back by saying "But everyone treats it so nonchalantly. If they were gay, wouldn't it be a bigger deal?" I think Warren Ellis was specifically NOT making it a big deal, which is what made those characters such a great moment in the history of LGBT characters in comic books. The only people that seemed bothered in the slightest by their relationship were the super villains - there would occasionally be sa crack about them being "poofters" or some anger from the right-wing villains, but the people that knew them didn't think twice about their relationship. It was a non-issue. In my attempts to not fully admit that they were gay, I started using strategies that my aunt would use, like "Maybe they're just really good buddies? Or 'travelling companions'." I guess I was concerned that I was projecting my own desire for them to be a really strong gay couple on them - even if that was never intended.

No, they're gay. And in fact, I can't think of any other gay couple in comics that have been so damn domestic in their relationship. Case in point:

Awwww!!! And Apollo's being all grumpy, too, which makes it all the cuter.

And eventually, I did see them kiss. And I breathed a sigh of relief that I was not projecting my own homosexual agenda on them. They're gay and it does need to be pointed out every five seconds. 

So in honor of today, I want to thank Warren Ellis for giving me a solid role model of LGBT domesticity. Happy Valentine's day, everyone!