Progress in LGBTQ+ representation : an analysis of LGBTQ+ characters in the graphic novels and 2022 NETFLIX adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s ‘The Sandman’

Abstract

Whilst there has been some research done into the field of LGBTQ+ representation in comics, there is still a lot of room for further research. Even with what is available, research has tended to focus on multiple literary sources as opposed to a single series. This dissertation remedies this by researching Books One and Two of Neil Gaiman’s work, The Sandman. Unlike other comics and graphic novels in the 80s, The Sandman contains not one, not two, but a whole cast of LGBTQ+ characters who function throughout the series without stereotyping, a characteristic unusual for the time. The first volume of the series was published in January of 1989 and was released at a time when any mention of LGBTQ+ characters was very heavily frowned upon. In some cases, such as comics or graphic novels being marketed towards children, any mention of such characters was banned by the Comics Code Authority (CCA). With this in mind, those belonging to the LGBTQ+ community, who were already having a difficult time being accepted by society at large, found little to no representation in comics, and so the advent of The Sandman series marked one of the first graphic novels to include multiple characters with varying sexualities and gender identities. Fast forward 30 years or so to the release of The Sandman as a Netflix adaptation, providing the same sense of importance but with the difference of an increasing amount of LGBTQ+ representation in literature. Using the works of prominent LGBTQ+ theorists Judith Butler and Riki Wilchins, as well as Larry Gross and Linda Hutcheon, who speaks about adaptation theory, I will bring to light the ways in which progress has been achieved against theories on stereotyping, gender performativity, and the fluidity of gender, with reference to the ways in which the audience can be affected by the representation available to them.