Queer Characters in DC’s CONVERGENCE Event
For the next two months, the world as DC Comics readers know it is going on vacation. Well, a vacation that involves a ton of people brawling in a cramped space—a DC family roadtrip, if you must.
Historically, line-wide events predicated on nostalgia (which is a great many of them) often neglect the publisher’s queer characters. The nostalgia is based in the company’s old stories, and it’s generally accepted that queer people weren’t invented until recently—or something.
With Convergence, that’s not quite the case. DC has just enough queer characters in just enough spaces for there to be pretty decent representation across the board (except for transgender characters, unfortunately). Find out where to read ’em here!
Renee Montoya — The Question
Where: Convergence: The Question #1-2 by Greg Rucka and Cully Hamner
Biography: Though she was technically first introduced in comics, Renee Montoya was created with Batman: The Animated Series in mind. She was first introduced (in both stories) as a detective from the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) and became one of Commissioner Gordon and Batman’s highest-profile allies.
The GCPD later became more corrupt, which prompted Montoya to leave. After training by Vic Sage, she assumes his original vigilante role as The Question. Despite being one of DC’s most prominent lesbian characters, she has not appeared since the New 52 reboot.
Where to Find After Convergence: Detective Comics #41 by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Alan Scott — Green Lantern
Where: Convergence #1-8 by Jeff King, Scott Lobdell, Carlo Pagulayan, Stephen Segovia, Jason Paz, Andy Kubert, Sandra Hope, Ed Benes, Aaron Lopresti, and Mark Morales
Biography: In DC Comics history, Alan Scott is the first bearer of the title “Green Lantern.” His overall history is rather complicated, and most of that baggage does not belong to this Alan Scott.
This iteration of Alan Scott was born from the New 52 reboot on the alternate universe of Earth-2, where many core DC heroes died in a siege by Darkseid. Years later and minutes after a tragic train accident (which claimed the life of his then boyfriend Sam Zhao), a mysterious arbiter of “the Green” grants Scott the powers of Green Lantern. He has remained a core member of the DC’s current Earth-2 stories, and is DC’s most prominent gay male hero.
Where to Find After Convergence: Earth 2: Society #1 by Daniel Wilson and Jorge Jimenez
Ayla Ranzz — Lightning Lass 
Where: Convergence: Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #1-2 by Stuart Moore, Gus Storms, and Mark Farmer
Biography: Off in the distant 30th century exists a sprawling, inter-galactic superhero team called the Legion of Super-Heroes. In their original incarnation (of which this series seems to be based on), they traveled through time to recruit Superboy (a young Clark Kent) into their ranks.
One of the later members of the Legion of Super-Heroes was Ayla Ranzz, alias Lightning Lass. She boasts the power of flight, lightning generation, and lightning manipulation—just like her twin brother, Lightning Lad. She is one of DC’s oldest bisexual female characters, and is commonly paired off with her frequent girlfriend, Shrinking Violet.
Where to Find After Convergence: Nowhere, though Ayla does exist in the New 52 continuity.
Todd Rice — Obsidian
Where: Convergence: Infinity Inc. #1-2 by Jerry Ordway and Ben Caldwell
Biography: In pre-New 52 continuity, aforementioned Green Lantern Alan Scott was the father to two children who would later become superheroes: Todd Rice and Jennie-Lynn Hayden. The two were given up for adoption but would later reunite in their late teens.
Where his father (and sister) could manipulate green light, Rice discovered that he could manipulate (and also merge with) shadows. After reuniting with his biological family, Rice would join a group of young superheroes called Infinity Inc. and later come out as a gay man.
Where to Find After Convergence: In the New 52 reboot, Alan Scott was aged-down to the point of not having children, thus seemingly eliminating Todd and his sister Jade from existence. In the weekly series Earth-2: World’s End, however, an alternate, older, and African-American iteration of Todd was found imprisoned beneath Arkham Asylum. His fate remains unknown after Convergence.
Kate Kane — Batwoman 
Where: Convergence: The Question #2 (and possibly #1) by Greg Rucka and Cully Hamner
Biography: To dispel rumors that Batman was gay, DC, back in 1956, introduced Kathy Kane, alias Batwoman, as a love interest for Batman. She may cape comics’ first superhero iteration of #NoHomo.
Decades later, Kate Kane was reintroduced as Batwoman—DC’s, and likely the entire comic industry’s, highest profile queer character. All the way from #NoHomo to #YesHomo.
Kane would join the Marines but later be expelled on the grounds of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” After a party in Gotham months later, Kane would be rescued from a mugging by Batman and be inspired to take on the mantle herself.
Where to Find After Convergence: Nowhere, though DC publisher Jim Lee told the Advocate that Kate would make a return from her “rest.” Do you know who else probably needs a nap? Batman.
The Wild Cards: Selina Kyle and Alan Scott — Catwoman and Green Lantern
Where (Selina Kyle): Convergence: Catwoman #1-2 by Justin Gray and Ron Randall, and Convergence: Harley Quinn #1-2 by Steve Pugh, Phil Winslade, and John Dell
Where (Alan Scott): Convergence: Justice Society of America #1-2 by Dan Abnett, Tom Derenick, and Trevor Scott
Confusion: Convergence is essentially about the merging and colliding of many different DC universes and timelines from the publisher’s past. Old iterations of characters returning in a blaze of nostalgia.
Selina Kyle and Alan Scott were both outed as queer in the New 52; Kyle as bisexual and Scott as gay. The two were largely considered straight before the reboot. These iterations look identical to their older incarnations, so these characters may or may not still be queer. I’d like to hope there’s a cosmic rainbow ripple effect that retroactively keeps them that way, but I’m not optimistic.
Biography: Selina, alias Catwoman, is a fictional Batfamily villain and antiheroine who loves stealing jewels, befriending felines, and smooching Batman (and sometimes other Catwomen). Her variations are many, yet the previous biography remains true much of the time.
Old man Alan Scott’s origins are relatively similar to those his more recent counterpart.
Where to Find After Convergence (Selina Kyle): Catwoman #41 by Genevieve Valentine and David Messina
Where to Find After Convergence (Alan Scott): Earth 2: Society #1 by Daniel Wilson and Jorge Jimenez
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