Green Lantern unmasked... and outed

More than 70 years after he was introduced, comicbook superhero the Green Lantern has been outed as fearless, honest and gay.

In a revitalised version of the original Green Lantern, otherwise known as Alan Scott, The DC Comics character is drawn enjoying a kiss with his partner before donning his obligatory skin-tight superhero outfit.

The gay kiss features in the second edition of the new comic Earth 2, but he's not the first gay superhero – even ignoring rumours that have dogged batman and Robin for years.

Batwoman, aka Kate Kane, is gay, while Northstar, one of the X-Men mutants from the Marvel stable, was featured proposing to his boyfriend in the last edition.

Gerry Gladston, the co-owner of Midtown Comics in New York, said of the Green Lantern: "I'm sure there will be some controversy, but nothing like it might have been 20 years ago."