Apollo
Gender: Male
Orientation: Gay
Publisher: DC
Character Type: Primary
Alignment: Good
AKA: Sun God
Summary: Apollo and his husband, Midnighter, are the most famous gay couple in the DC Universe. They are often compared to Batman and Superman, and for good reason. Like Superman, Apollo has super-strength and heat vision, he is near invulnerable, and he gains his powers from the sun. However, Apollo is a bio-engineered human, in contrast to Superman's origin as an alien from Krypton. Though Apollo has never received his own stand-alone series, he and Midnighter were the main characters of Midnighter and Apollo, which was nominated for a GLAAD Award in 2016.
Database Links: Wikipedia, DC Fandom, Comic Vine
Important Issues: In 1999, on the eve of the new millennium, Warren Ellis revealed Midnighter and Apollo's relationship in a touching scene that critics have described as a "raw and genuine" breakthrough for gay comic characters. Three years later, in the final issue of the series (The Authority #29), Apollo marries Midnighter and they adopt a daughter.
When I think about comic book romances, there is no better couple on the inked page than Apollo and Midnighter. The duo was first created by Warren Ellis for Jim Lee’s Wildstorm universe in the ’90s but were subsequently absorbed into the main DC Universe after the events of Flashpoint... Apollo is essentially an alternate take on Superman but, instead of being an alien himself, he is actually the result of alien experimentation to give him the powers of the sun, achieving a power-set very similar to Superman’s. Midnighter is an alternate take on Batman, albeit with superpowers instead of unlimited access to gadgets. Midnighter possesses a laundry list of abilities including super strength, enhanced reflexes, and teleportation, but his main deal is that his brain is essentially a super computer... However, the most interesting thing about Midnighter is his relationship with his frequent lover Apollo... (Read more)
Andrew Neimann, "The queer dynamic duo of Midnighter and Apollo," Deadshirt, February 14, 2017.
Not only were Midnighter and Apollo confirmed to be living together in issue #1 of this new series, but they shared an on-panel kiss in issue #8. What makes this kiss significant is the way that it is addressed. It was neither a grand gesture, nor a shock to any character present at the time. Rather, it was meant as a gesture of comfort from one lover to another. It was subtle and intimate and everything that various heterosexual couples had been allowed to be shown engaging in in the past. (Read more)
Amy Coller, "Gay marriage and comics," Queer comics: A public history, March 31, 2019.
Long before The Boys and Deadpool showed wider audiences that superhero comics could have an edge, there was The Authority, Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch's ultra-violent, widescreen take on superheroes in the early 2000s. The Superman and Batman of The Authority, Apollo and the Midnighter are two of the definitive heroes of their word. The pair have hidden histories and mysterious pasts, but they found each other and even fell in love, despite the violence that surrounded them. (Read more)
Brandon Zachary, "The Authority: Apollo & Midnighter Are Still Comics' Best Superhero Couple," CBR, October 17, 2019.