Superman's back, rumours fly

Superman is known for emerging from telephone boxes. But now leading gay commentators are helping one of fiction's most famous figures out of the closet.

On the eve of the hero's return to the big screen after nearly 20 years, gay magazines and online message boards are asking: is Superman gay? And they think they know the answer.

US gay magazine Advocate has the world's most famous man in tights on its cover with the headline: "How Gay is Superman?" Reports that Warners Bros have bought advertising for the film on an American gay cable TV channel have added fuel to the flames.

Superman has had historical struggles with heterosexual romance, as the Los Angeles Times pointed out last week.

If he did turn out to be homosexual, Superman would certainly be in tune with the superhero times. Last week it emerged that his creator, DC Comics, is relaunching Batwoman after an absence of almost 30 years - as a lesbian socialite.

This is a far cry from her origins in 1956 when, as Kathy Kane, she carried a handbag and was given to swooning.

Batman and Wonder Woman are already well established gay icons, but not everyone is convinced Superman should join them.

Comic books expert Liam Dineen admits he is surprised at the suggestion.

"He doesn't really seem that type of guy," says the 33-year-old, who has been collecting comics since he was 12.

But, as an assistant manager of Megacity Comics shop in London, Dineen is used to Wonder Woman's large lesbian following calling in.

DC Comics has not always taken a progressive attitude towards the sexuality of its superheroes. Last year it took legal action against a New York gallery that exhibited paintings of Batman and Robin in bed.

- INDEPENDENT