Coagula
| Coagula | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | "The Laughing Game" Doom Patrol,no. 70 (September 1993). |
| Created by | Rachel Pollack |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Kate Godwin |
| Team affiliations | Doom Patrol |
| Abilities | Alchemy |
Coagulais a character fromDC Comics'Doom Patrolseries, the firsttransgendersuperhero by the publisher. Created byRachel Pollackin response to other poorly written trans comic characters, thelesbianCoagula obtained her powers—to coagulate and dissolve material—from having sex with Doom Patrol member,Rebis.An actively-written character from September 1993 through February 1995, Coagula has cameoed in other comics as recently as 2022.
Character
[edit]Coagula is atransgender lesbian,former prostitute andprogrammer.[1]After having sex with former Doom Patrol memberRebis( "an alchemicalhermaphrodite"), Coagula gained[2]"alchemicalpowers[1][…] the power to dissolve things on the one hand and coagulate them on the other hand ".[2]She tried to join theJustice League,but "it's implied that she was rejected in part for being an out transgender lesbian activist"; she instead joined theDoom Patrol.Coagula first appears in issue 70— "The Laughing Game" —defeating The Codpiece, a spurned man-turned-villain with a multifunctional, mechanicalcodpiece.After her introduction in the next few issues, Coagula takes center stage in "The Teiresias Wars", a five-part story combining "Greek mythologywith [Pollack's] twisted retelling of theTower of Babel".[3]
The character last featured in "Imagine Ari's Friend (Part Four of Four: A Cry for the Great Face)"Doom Patrol,no. 87 (February 1995).[3]InDC Pride 2022,Coagula cameoed in the stories "Super Pride"[4]and "Up at Bat".[5]
Development
[edit]After creating the trans character Wanda Mann forThe Sandman,Neil Gaimansolicited feedback from his friend,Rachel Pollack.She felt Gaiman had poorly written Mann, and said "she would remedy that by putting her own trans character, Coagula, intoDoom Patrol.(In 2023, Gaiman admitted he would write Mann differently if creating the comic contemporaneously.) Coagula became comics' first transgendersuperheroine.[6]
The synergy of Coagula's name and powers are derived from theLatinphrasesolve et coagula.[2]Pollack wrote Coagula's past to include prostitution and programming because those were the most-common professions fortrans womenin the early-to-mid 1990s. Pollack coopted Coagula's real name (Kate Godwin) fromKate BornsteinandChelsea Goodwin.[1]The Coagula character allowed Pollack to expose readers totransgender topicsbefore being killed off,[7]garnering positive feedback from readers who finally saw themselves represented in the pages of comics.[3]
Legacy
[edit]As of October 2015, Coagula wasDC Comics' only transgender superhero, and had not yet been reused or reprinted since its original run.[7]DC's first transgender superhero on television wasNia Nal(played byNicole Maines) who premiered inSupergirlon October 14, 2018.[8]In 2024, DC announced a 96-pageone-shottribute to Pollack under theDC Pridebanner (DC Pride: A Celebration of Rachel Pollack); scheduled forPride Month,it will include a reprinting of "The Laughing Game".[9]
References
[edit]- ^abcPollack, Rachel(December 15, 2013)."Interview with Rachel Pollack".The Heroines of My Life(Interview). Interviewed by Monika Kowalska. Archived fromthe originalon September 18, 2019.RetrievedMarch 29,2024.
- ^abcGaiman, Neil;Pollack, Rachel(Summer 1994)."The Gods of the Funny Books".Gnosis(Interview). Interviewed byErik Davis.Archived fromthe originalon May 29, 2012.RetrievedAugust 15,2020.
An Interview with Neil Gaiman and Rachel Pollack
- ^abcLloyd-Davies, Madeleine (November 14, 2013)."Women Out Of Refrigerators: Coagula".The Toast.Archivedfrom the original on November 12, 2020.RetrievedMarch 29,2024.
- ^McCreery, Cori (June 7, 2022)."DC Round-Up: Pride & Poison Ivy spotlight DC's LGBTQ+ community".The Beat: The News Blog of Comics Culture.Archivedfrom the original on June 8, 2022.RetrievedMarch 29,2024.
DC kicks off June with their second-annual DC PRIDE anthology, and the debut of a new POISON IVY miniseries.
- ^Axelrod, Jadzia [@planetx] (June 7, 2022)."At some point I'll do proper annotation thread of the whole story, but yes, that is indeed the great Kate Godwin standing with Lee Serrano at the Gotham Trans Wellness Conference. I like to imagine Kate as well-known in the Gotham trans community, a respected queer elder"(Tweet).Archivedfrom the original on June 9, 2022.RetrievedMarch 29,2024– viaTwitter.
- ^Doyle, Jude Ellison S.(September 26, 2023)."Rachel Pollack's vision of spirituality may be her greatest accomplishment".Xtra Magazine.ISSN0829-3384.Archivedfrom the original on January 5, 2024.RetrievedMarch 16,2024.
Tarot legend and comics writer Rachel Pollack's legacy is epic
- ^abCorallo, Joe (October 27, 2015)."Coagula, DC's First And Only Transgender Superhero".ComicMix.Archivedfrom the original on October 24, 2020.RetrievedMarch 29,2024.
- ^Keveney, Bill (October 10, 2018)."'Supergirl': Nicole Maines shows her power as TV's first transgender superhero ".USA Today.Burbank, California.ISSN0734-7456.Archivedfrom the original on June 16, 2021.RetrievedMarch 29,2024.
- ^Griepp, Milton(March 13, 2024)."DC Plans Pride Anthology, Rachel Pollack Tribute, Covers Collection, OGNs, Pride-Themed Variants".ICv2.Archivedfrom the original on March 14, 2024.RetrievedMarch 15,2024.
In Publishing Program for Pride Month
Further reading
[edit]- Rachel Pollack(w),Scot Eaton(p),Tom Sutton(i), Tom Ziuko (col),John Workman(let),Tom Peyer&Lou Stathis(ed). "The Laughing Game"Doom Patrol,no. 70 (September 1993).
- Pollack, Rachel(September 13, 2019)."A Superhero on Your Own Terms: An Interview With Rachel Pollack".The Nib(Interview). Interviewed by Annie Mok.Archivedfrom the original on October 26, 2020.RetrievedMarch 6,2021.
Talking to the Doom Patrol and Tarot Wisdom author about just going out and living your life.
- Phelan, Kevin (July 12, 2020)."DC's Weirdest Villain is So Much Crazier Than You Think".Screen Rant.Archivedfrom the original on February 7, 2021.RetrievedApril 28,2021.
There's not [sic] shortage of bizarre villains in the DC Universe, but few rival the strangeness of when the Doom Patrol were confronted by Codpiece.