DC Comics' First Asexual Hero Featured in New Pride Month Cover Art
A variant cover for Robin #15, by the talented Lynne Yoshii, highlights Green Arrow's son Connor Hawke, who will be coming out as asexual in DC Pride.
DC Comics' first canonically asexual superhero Connor Hawke, son of the legendary Green Arrow, is highlighted in new variant cover art for DC Pride 2022. After years of speculation by fans about Hawke's sexuality, the character is finally coming out as ace in the upcoming DC Pride anthology one-shot, a huge step for asexual representation in media.
While DC Comics has shown a tremendous amount of care and attention in expanding its LGBTQ+ representation over the past few years, both within its stories as well as its creative teams, asexual fans have lacked for representation. Jughead Jones of Archie Comics is one of the most famous and popular asexual characters in the world of comics, but his sexuality was not honored in the CW's TV adaptation Riverdale, which shows just how much more work needs to be done around making asexuality visible in society.
The gorgeous DC Pride variant cover - revealed by DC Comics - is drawn by Lynne Yoshii. The cover, which is a variant for Robin #15, features Connor Hawke and his new friend Damian Wayne, charging into action overlaid on top of a stylized Asexual Pride flag, which is represented with the colors black, grey, white, and purple. Hawke's Pride cover being used for Robin makes perfect sense, as Connor's main reintroduction into DC's Infinite Frontier era has come in the pages of Robin as he fought for the League of Shadows in the Lazarus Tournament, eventually turning on his benefactors and siding with Damian and others who opposed the League. Hawke, who first debuted as the illegitimate son of Oliver Queen and Sandra Hawke in 1994s Green Arrow #0 before briefly taking on the mantle of Green Arrow, was completely retconned out of continuity in The New 52 relaunch, making Connor's surprise return to Earth-0 in 2021 a real treat for fans of the underutilized character.
Connor Hawke's asexuality has been speculated about since his debut in the '90s, given his habit of avoiding and rejecting sexual advances. Hawke's coming out story in DC Pride 2022 is titled "Think of Me" and will focus on Connor interrupting "a villain’s nefarious mind control scheme, all while composing a coming-out letter to his mother." What makes this story an even more important landmark moment for asexual representation is the fact that the entire creative team behind the story - Ro Stein, Ted Brandt, and Frank Cvetkovic - are all ace-identifying themselves (as reported by Them), meaning DC Comics is really putting its money where its mouth is by not just highlighting an asexual character, but also uplifting the voices and careers of asexual creators.
DC Pride 2022 is already turning into one of the major comic highlights of the year, and Yoshii's addition to the Pride celebration with her gorgeous depiction of Connor and Damian is the perfect addition to an already exciting time for LGBTQ+ comics fans.
What makes Connor's return to DC Comics, and his coming out, even more intriguing is the suggestion that in this continuity, Connor and his father Oliver Queen have not yet met. With Tim Drake's recent coming out as bisexual seemingly strengthening his relationship with his adoptive father Bruce, hopefully Connor gets the chance to reunite with his father Green Arrow and experience some of the familial closeness he has clearly missed out on. Make sure to pick up DC Pride 2022 to see Connor Hawke coming out as asexual and definitely check out Lynne Yoshii's variant cover for Robin #15 celebrating his ace pride!
Robin #15 will be available from DC Comics June 28.