Looks, Brains, And Nerdery: Perry Moore Has It All

It's just not fair that people like Perry Moore exist in the world. Seriously, they make the rest of us look like complete and total slackers without even trying. Not only did he work in the White House under Bill Clinton's administration, he also was involved with the Rosie O'Donnell Show, is the producer of the trilogy of Narnia films, and now he's written a book about a gay superhero. Oh, and he's also drop-dead gorgeous. As I said before: it's just not fair. He also seems to a super-nice guy, the wanker.

Moore recently sat down to discuss his young-adult novel, Hero, which focuses on the life and struggles of a teen superhero who also happens to be gay. In the interview, a number of issues are discussed, including the fact that the sole focus of the book itself isn't on the main character's sexuality:

AE: It’s not just about his being “gay”. PM: It’s not an “afterschool special” kind of thing like “Timmy has a problem.” I mean, he is gay, that is part of his identity, but in a lot of ways he just happens to be gay. It’s one of many things he has to deal with, one of many challenges he has to confront and overcome and integrate into his life.

My whole mission was what you got from the X-Men, where anyone could relate — black, white, young, old, gay, straight — if you’re alienated in any way, you could relate to the X-Men. But then they were also empowered by their differences … I wanted to teach people that what makes you unique is actually very special and that very thing that may make you feel alienated, if you’re willing to embrace it, can become the most empowering thing in your life.

While I'm not quite sure I agree with Moore's perspective on Northstar's death in Wolverine (to be honest, I think he overreacted to what was just a generally stupid plotline), he does have a great perspective on homosexuality within the comics industry. Plus, I'm totally jealous of him for getting the seal of approval from Stan Lee himself (yet another reason to hate that him).

But Hero sounds like it's a fascinating read. I was particularly intrigued by the part discussing how Moore's main character, Thom, hides both his superpowers and his sexuality from his father -a disgraced hero- and that it's hard to tell which is the bigger secret. Now, I guess I'll just have to pick up a copy of the book so I can review it...

Interview with “Hero” author Perry Moore [AfterElton.com]

Boy of Tomorrow
Posted to Comics on 12 September 2007 · Comments (3)
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