Happy pride month! Let's talk about Jericho

 DC might have forgotten Jericho, but we won't!

One of DC's best characters when it comes to representation, Joseph, or just Joey as his friends like to call him, is one of Deathstroke's kids and a Teen Titan. Created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, one of the most legendary duos in comic history. Joseph first debuted in DC Sampler #3, contrary to what people believe, he was seen before Judas Contract. Joseph was brought in to help stop his own father, Slade Wilson, with his powers, Joseph can possess others peoples bodies. Jericho's name originally was a reference to a character from the original Teen Titans series, however in DC Rebirth, that was changed to be a biblical reference.

Jericho was more of Pérez creation, he was the one responsible for making the character mute. 

Now, one thing to notice is that Jericho wasn't always a member of the LGBTQ+ community, Pérez and Wolfman had consider making him gay since the beginning,  however, Wolfman feared that it would be too much of a stereotype to have the sensitive, artistic, and wide-eyed character with arguably effeminate features be also homosexual. 

As the time passed, lots of things happened to Joseph, lots of bad decisions too. Before Flashpoint happened, it seemed that Jericho and Arsenal would create a new Titans group, sadly we never saw that. 

Convergence: The New Teen Titans 

Lets jump over to 2015, during that time Convergence was happening. With the goal to homage different eras from DC comics history, we had Marv Wolfman writing for Teen Titans again. Wolfman rewrites one moment from his New Teen Titans series, making it official, Jericho was gay. 

I really like how this was handled, the comic stops in a sign of respect for the character, the artwork is very clean and beautiful, How the characters act in the scene feels very natural too. 

Deathstroke: Rebirth, or should I call it Jericho Rebirth? 

Now, let's go to 2016, Deathstroke was being written by Christopher Priest and he made one briliant decision with his run, making Slade the main villain and Joseph the actual hero. Since Rebirth took place in the main continuity, where the character was shown having relationships with women, Priest made it so he was bisexual in DC's main canon. 

Besides making Joseph's journey the real focus of the series, his love life also gains proper attention and respect. And it's also important to mention how the fact that he is mute was respected here. Overall, the character gets the proper treatment he deserves. 

Why Jericho is the best 

This segment was a hallucination, but Slade's words are sincere.

Joseph Wilson is the type of friend that everyone needs, he's kind, he worries about his friends and would do anything to protect them. He's the son of a super-villain, but he does not let that define who he is, he was even turn into a villain many times, but always comes back as the hero he is. 

He's a very inspirational character in my opinion. He was dealt every bad card  life could give him, and yet, he will always be there to help his friends with a smile. 

That's it for today, happy pride month, everyone. Stay safe and have a good one.