Marvels First Confirmed Transgender Character Returns After 25 Years

Marvel’s First Confirmed Transgender Character Returns After 25 Years

Marvel has brought back its first transgender character, Jessie Drake, pairing her up with Black Cat – and now she might actually stick around.

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Marvels First Confirmed Transgender Character Returns After 25 Years

Warning: contains major spoilers for Marvel Voices: Pride #1!

Marvel’s Pride month special has brought the return of Jessie Drake, the company’s first confirmed transgender character who was first introduced 25 years ago but disappeared immediately after. Marvel Voices: Pride #1 showcases numerous LGBTQ characters and even introduces a new one.

Some of the heroes featured in this special include Northstar, Wiccan, Hulking, Iceman, Mystique, and Daken. Somnus – a new inhabitant of Krakoa — has also now been formally introduced. Going forward, he is likely to have a bright future like many of Marvel’s other queer heroes. However, not all heroes have been featured equally over the years and one largely disappeared after making just two appearances — until now.

Jessie Drake debuted in Marvel Comics Presents #150 in 1994. She returned again in the next issue, which is where she revealed that she is transgender. However, immediately after this two-part debut, she never appeared again. Jessie is a mutant with the power of empathy. She is being held prisoner and experimented on, so Professor Xavier asks Wolverine to save her. To do this, Wolverine enlists the help of Typhoid Mary, who breaks Jessie out, but not before attacking every man in her path. At a women’s shelter, a staff member reveals that Jessie is a boy, which causes Typhoid Mary to turn against the youth, slapping him. In the next issue, Jessie reveals what she truly wants to be and comes out to Mary, helping the mutant with multiple personalities realize that she has another aspect to herself. At the end of the issue, Mary walks out as her newest self, with Jessie in tow.

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After this debut, Jessie wasn’t seen again, until “When a Black Cat Crosses Your Path, You Give Them the Right of Way,” a story within Marvel Voices: Pride #1. This story, created by Leah Williams, Jan Bazaldua, and Erick Arciniega, features Jessie Drake taking on a new guise — that of Black Cat. Unfortunately Steel Raven — a character who was also present in Jessie’s debut — has been impersonating Black Cat on purpose, while Jessie’s imitation is just part of her powers. In this triumphant return, Jessie’s powers are elaborated on a little more. She’s an empathic metamorph, so she looks like a copy of the people she comes across. She can also read intentions thanks to her empathy. In the new story, Black Cat and Jessie cross paths at the Fortress, the very location where the young mutant was initially experimented on. Now she seems to be joining up with Black Cat — who was recently confirmed to be bisexual — which means after 25 years, Jessie might actually get a more permanent place within Marvel’s future comic pages.

Marvel has a few transgender and gender fluid characters in their large catalog of heroes and villains. While some have been majorly in the spotlight — Mystique and Loki, for example — many others have largely stayed under the radar. This is especially true of Jessie Drake. Despite being the first transgender mutant and Marvel hero, she has basically been non-existent — forgotten over the years. With a shift towards broader representation in comics over the last several years, it seems likely that Jessie could actually begin living up to her legacy as a pioneer in Marvel’s comics. If Jessie Drake appears again, it’s likely to be in the pages of Black Cat, as Marvel’s first transgender hero steps into the spotlight more than she ever has before.

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Link Source : https://screenrant.com/marvel-first-transgender-character-jessie-drake-returns-pride/

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