DC fans already have a lot of reasons to look forward to the upcoming DC Pride 2022 anthology, with stories starring and penned by a number of notable LGBTQ+ names in the publisher’s sphere. On Monday, it was revealed that the one-shot will be making history for another reason — by confirming that a beloved legacy character is asexual. A new report from Them confirms that a story involving Connor Hawke, the son of Oliver Queen / Green Arrow and the second person to hold the Green Arrow mantle, will appear in DC Pride 2022. The story, which will be titled “Think of Me”, will be structured around Connor composing a coming-out letter to his mother, in which he reveals he is asexual.
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“Think of Me” will be brought to life by an entirely-asexual creative team, which consists of Crowded alums Ro Stein and Ted Brandt, as well as letterer Frank Cvetkovic. The story will see Connor facing off against the Music Meister, a villain with hypnotic vocal abilities who previously appeared on Batman: The Brave and The Bold and on The CW’s “Duet” crossover event. According to the creative team, Connor’s fight against the Music Meister will serve as a metaphor for his asexuality, particularly through Connor using high-tech earplugs to resist the magical powers.
“I was very aware of the logistics of [the letter],” Brandt explained. “As well as coming out, it needs to explain what asexuality feels like, because a lot of people can’t imagine it. And that makes perfect sense to me, especially because I’m also autistic. I get not understanding what it’s like for someone who experiences something different to you.”
“We were splitting it into the actions of the script,” Stein added, “and it was like ‘these lines fit really well with the actions we’ve picked … this is kind of creepy, actually!’”
Also playing a role in the story will be Damian Wayne / Robin, who has befriended Connor during the recent Robin ongoing series, and who will help make sure the story “becomes a permanent fixture” of who Connor is in the larger DC canon.
Originally created by Kelley Puckett and Jim Aparo in 1994’s Green Arrow #0, Connor is a character who a number of fans have interpreted to be asexual for decades, as he has often shied away from sexual moments or innuendos. While that outlook initially seemed to be an effect of Connor growing up in a monastery, DC Pride 2022 will add new context to it — and will add more canon LGBTQ+ representation to the DC Universe.
