The Family and Identity in Bash Back

In Part I of this article, we examined some of the possible origins, influences, resonances and echoes behind Issue #0 of Lawrence Gullo, Fyodor Pavlov, and Kelsey Hercs’ Bash Back: A Story of the Queer Mafia. Now, we get the chance to delve further into the comic, specifically looking at some of its characters, and how they might represent the story’s ideal form of The Family.

Where we last left off, we were looking at a panel where a violent homophobic hypocrite’s life is threatened with a knife. The knife wielder, who we find out later to be Angelo, tells the young man’s attacker to “Stop terrorizing my people and go home.” (1) But just who are Angelo’s “people?” And who are they not?

The easy answer, of course, is that Angelo’s people are those from the LGBTQ+ community in the world of Bash Back. You will notice, specifically, that despite saving this young man’s life from a potential basher that Angelo’s people aren’t – necessarily or solely – gay.

This look at terminology goes back to Bash Back‘s subtitle: “A Story of the Queer Mafia.” In his interview with Geeks OUT, Lawrence Gullo explains why the comic isn’t called “the gay” or “LGBT mafia.” He acknowledges that while “the word ‘queer’ is not ideal for everyone” it is, to his mind, the most inclusive one he can find. (2) This sentiment echoes the “Introduction” of Queer Ultraviolence when it states: “The term queer in [Queer Ultraviolence] is used both loosely and inclusively. We view queer as the blurring of sexual and gender identities. Queer is the refusal of fixed identities.  It is a war on all identity.” (3) There is an even older resonance of this idea in the Queer Nation Manifesto when it is stated that while “”gay” is “a much brighter word. And isn’t it synonymous with ‘happy’? [...] a lot of lesbians and gay men wake up in the morning [... feeling] angry and disgusted, not gay.” Indeed, Lawrence Gullo flat out mirrors this statement in the short comic version of “Bash Back” when he writes: “Do not be ‘gay,’ brothers and sisters. Gay is a word for those who are content … There is nothing gay about us, my dear ones. We are faggots. And we are burning.” (4)

Essentially, the Queer Nation Manifesto goes on to also explain that the term queer is a way to “take back” its inferred homophobic slur to empower LGBTQ+ people and that “Queer, unlike gay, doesn’t [perhaps necessarily] mean male.” (5)

With these precedents and this premise in mind Gullo goes on to say that he wants to avoid the image of “cis white Hollywood men” profiting off of marketing stereotypes. In his “Bash Back” comic he even goes as far as to state in his narrative captions that to identify as gay are “Those who wear tense smiles and explain on national television calmly and reasonably why they should have the right to live … to be a punchline on a cheap sitcom, an accessory for a more acceptable demographic. To be an impotent victim. To be a body in a shallow grave.” (6)

Instead, Gullo intends to represent “an all-expansive family of outlaws who include [the] entire rainbow and fight especially hard for those who are most in need.” (7) In this way, the idea of “a gay mafia,” particularly an ethnically white cast of solely composed of cisgender-identifying gay men and lesbians is also something that Bash Back subverts.

In fact, it’s just the first in a line of assumptions that Bash Back smashes down. In their interview with Graphic Policy, the creative team made a point of further equating their idea of queerness with diversity: specifically pointing out that they attempted to represent different body types, ethnicities, and identities in Bash Back‘s cosmopolitan setting of New York City – with emphasis on Fyodor Pavlov’s artistic style to this regard. (8) Lawrence Gullo cites his own time performing in a burlesque group that has different body types and how he uses these experiences to inspire the look of the characters. (9)

Gullo goes into further detail in the comic’s Kickstarter Campaign video: emphasizing that he and his team were inspired to create “Bash Back because we thought that the queer community, including trans people of colour, including all the intersectional demographics that don’t get in mainstream gay media, [should] have some kind of catharsis – a fantasy of having power and having this anti-hero organization that fights for their rights.” (10) There is definitely some considerable intersectional representation in the cast of Bash Back: where different character’s various identities meet and make you question how they might define themselves.

This distinction is difficult to see at first glance. The main character of Bash Back is a young man named Bastian. For the most part, the reader sees the world of Bash Back through Bastian’s perspective and experience and, as such, the story is coloured by who he is, what he has gone through, and what he is going to do. On the surface of the narrative, Bastian is a young homeless gay man forced into prostitution to survive the streets of New York: only to be saved by Angelo who directs him to the New Oxford Youth Shelter. (11) It is in this shelter or group home that Bastian is introduced to a wide variety of people with different backgrounds, as well as sexual and gender orientations.

Through Bastian, we are introduced to a wide variety of different characters who are more than just Gullo’s conception of “cis white Hollywood men” stereotypes. From the very beginning, you have Angelo who is a roaming Hispanic or Latino fighter – a soldier for The Family – that isn’t afraid to use violence to defend the exploited, but has the self-control to know when to use it, and an appreciation for community. (12) Daniel is a black man and The Family’s mechanical and information technology expert (13) while his lover John Doran – a fey and angular white man with delicate gloved hands (14) – is a grim and brutal hitman often sewing his body shut with finely monogrammed towels after a particularly troublesome encounter on The Family’s behalf. (15) Lady is a transgender female enforcer of The Family (16) while Djuna, who becomes one of Bastian’s friends and his guide at the Shelter (17) and society around them, is a black bisexual young woman (18) planning to become a college student.

Even the owner and administrator of the New Oxford Youth Shelter, Stephen, (19) resembles in appearance and mannerism nothing less than an Ivy League professor or an Inkling like J.R.R. Tolkien. He is the kind of older scholarly gentleman who reads the Classics (20) and can quote poets such as Walt Whitman off by heart. But while Stephen may well know some of the other possible nuances behind Bunburying and Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest in general, Bastian sees that he has other layers.

On one hand, Stephen seems to have modestly converted his home and estate in New York (21) to take in homeless youth or, more specifically, young LGBTQ+ individuals. He also seems to serve as something of a teacher, tutor, and a coordinator of an extended community hub of a wider age and class bracket that delivers graded papers, (22) HIV treatment drugs, other medications, hormones, vitamins, and even groceries. (23) Basically, as Djuna puts it to Bastian, Stephen helps to facilitate “Anything our folks can’t afford.” (24) It is also made apparent that Stephen is only capable of doing all of this with the aid of The Family, but while he works with them (25) and accepts their financial and political assistance he draws a hard line at allowing “Family business” or violence into “the house.” (26) This can be seen when you look at his unease with Daniel and John being in the hostel, as well when he confronts Lady meeting Bastian for the first time.

In a lot of ways, Stephen presumably represents an older generation of LGBTQ+ people that gives much needed advice and guidance to a diverse and multi-generational community. Kelsey Hercs herself even mentions that in addition to loving Bash Back‘s focus on queer history, she is especially interested in the idea of the LGBTQ+ community and how many of its elders have been silenced and maligned. (27) In this context Stephen symbolizes an LGBTQ+ elder who is still alive, who hasn’t fallen to AIDS, hate crime, or imprisonment and provides a vital link between the young and the old. There is no visible division or disconnect between the generations here.

However, there is something to be said about the New Oxford Youth Shelter and the community that it supports. All of these are Angelo’s “people.” But they seem, for the most part, to be invisible. Bastian doesn’t even find these resources, these people, on his own. He has to be directed to them through Angelo, or more specifically Angelo’s sense of empathy and his recognition of Bastian as one of his people: as part of his Family.

It is no coincidence that the Shelter and everything around it is hidden in plain sight, as invisible to the rest of the world as minorities often are to both the heteronormative world and some LGBTQ+ ideologies. It’s often said that race or ethnicity are separate issues from one’s gender or sexual orientations, while bisexuals and transgender people are told that they are aberrant, or that they don’t exist at all: even in some gay and lesbian circles.

The character of Clark Rose Baxter III, (28) a would-be journalist supposedly kicked out of his home by his family and living at the Shelter, (29) seems to represent some of the latter elements. This is especially true in how awkwardly he addresses Bastian’s identity, and presumes to know who he is and his lived experience. (30) There is an unsettling and insincere manner in which he tries to make Bastian into a token as well: paying lip service to “what” Bastian is as opposed to getting to know him as a person. (31) Djuna even tells Bastian that she called Clark out on claiming that bisexuals “lie to themselves.” (32)

However, this trope of the ignorant and hypocritical LGBTQ+ individual who discriminates and tokenizes other fellow minorities gets subverted when the reader finds out that regardless of what his sexuality may or may not be Clark is an uncover journalist working for the homophobic Pastor Hyde, (33) planning to publish a false story about how Stephen runs his house by trafficking his charges into a “queer teen sex ring.” (34) If Clark has his way, Stephen’s name will be slandered or he will be put in jail, endangering all of the youth in his care in the process and damaging the community at large. Even so, this treacherous character seems to be a thinly veiled criticism of transphobia and biphobia even in safe spaces where LGBTQ+ communities are supposed to exist.

And these communities are more than just people who may, or may not have different sexual orientations from “the norm.” Certainly while the man who attacked Bastian at the beginning of Bash Back is clearly closeted with his same-sex desires one way or another, (35) the fact that he exploits Bastian and disrespects him – in Angelo’s or any other sane person’s eyes – excludes him from being part of The Family. Suffice to say he is definitely not one of Angelo’s “people.” The inclusion of this man is definitely a dig at the figure of the homophobe. He might suffer from self-hate but he is no more a part of the community than the gunman was at the Pulse in Orlando, Florida. It is more than just sexual orientation, but a sense of solidarity and community: which are the very things of which that Clark and the homophobe at the beginning are the antithesis.

But perhaps the most prominent thing to take away from discussing the idea of The Family and identity in Bash Back is that it isn’t safe to assume anything. For instance, the reader doesn’t know Stephen’s sexuality, or Angelo’s, or even John and Daniel’s. And then we have Bastian. Remember that we have been discovering what The Family is through Bastian’s eyes. Lawrence Gullo even states that Bastian is supposed to be someone with which we can identify. He starts off as an outsider character and he has the choice to either become “corrupted,” betray The Family or give into violence completely, or become part of the larger story: reflecting what he calls part of the larger demographic. (36) And this intent is what makes Bastian so interesting because, despite appearances, Bastian is anything but a “white cis gay man” stereotype. And while it isn’t even certain that Bastian is necessarily gay, one thing is definitely known. Bastian is queer. He is transgender. He is a trans man.

It isn’t obvious. There are some clues such as his attacker’s comment about his voice, (37) Stephen and Bastian talking about hormones, (38) and even Bastian’s own account about his family life. (39) The reader pieces it together. It hides in plain sight: just as the Shelter and the community do. In the Bash Back creative team’s interview with Graphic Policy it’s mentioned that there is a serious lack of representation of transmasculine protagonist characters (40) with the exceptions of Alex de Campi and Carla Speed McNeil’s No Mercy, Sam Orchard’s Rooster Tails, Morgan Boecher’s What’s Normal Anyway? and Paul Cornell and Robert Venditti’s series Demon Knights. (41)

So essentially, we are looking at Bash Back through the coming of age story of a young trans man. It subverts the trope of the young gay man being exploited and attempting to find his place in the LGBTQ+ community and replaces it with an intersectional reality. Lawrence Gullo sums it up well when he states “The Family, I think, has to be no compromise. And there can’t be a ‘no fats, no femmes’ mentality in a mafia family. You have to take the people who will going [further] your cause and [respect] them no matter what part of the spectrum there in. And hopefully, if nothing else, they will be a good example.” Bastian and other minorities, even by LGBTQ+ standards aren’t the exceptions, but the accepted and the embraced within The Family.

He is essentially finding a place where he can finally feel like he belongs: his true Family. And yet, while The Family itself may not necessarily be about blood, there is nothing accidental about it being spilt for the right cause.

In the third part of this article, we will delve into the subject of violence: how it affects the characters of Bash Back and how its character affect and utilize it as a potentially constructive force in an LGBTQ+ narrative.

1. Gullo, Lawrence (w, i), Kelsey Hercs (w) and Fyodor Pavlov (i). Bash Back: A Story of the Queer Mafia #0 (30 March 2015-28 March 2016). Webcomic. Blog. Web. 31 August 2016. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/117011620252/bash-back-issue-0-page-4 > (4:6)

2. Gullo, Lawrence “@LewdAlfred.” Interview by Geeks OUT. “You can now read the entire 1st issue of Bash Back – the Queer Mafia Thriller!” Geeks OUT. (26 May 2016). Website. Web. 31 August 2016. <http://geeksout.org/blogs/lewdalfred/you-can-now-read-entire-1st-issue-bash-back-queer-mafia-thriller>

3. Baroque, Fray. “Introduction” in Queer Ultraviolence: Bash Back! Anthology. Baroque, Fray and Tegan Eanelli (eds). U.S.A. Ardent Press, 2011. P. 9.

4. Gullo, Lawrence (w, i). “Bash Back” in Geeks OUT! Presents POWER! John Curtis Jennison Jr. (ed). Brooklyn, NY: Geeks OUT, June 2015. 51:1-3.

5. Queer Nation Manifesto. New York. (June 1990). ACT UP: AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. N.p. Web. 1 September 2016. <http://www.actupny.org/documents/QueersReadThis.pdf>

6. Gullo, Lawrence (w, i). “Bash Back” in Geeks OUT! Presents POWER! John Curtis Jennison Jr. (ed). Brooklyn, NY: Geeks OUT, June 2015. 51:1-2.

7. Gullo, Lawrence “@LewdAlfred.” Interview by Geeks OUT. “You can now read the entire 1st issue of Bash Back – the Queer Mafia Thriller!” Geeks OUT. (26 May 2016). Website. Web. 31 August 2016. <http://geeksout.org/blogs/lewdalfred/you-can-now-read-entire-1st-issue-bash-back-queer-mafia-thriller>

8. Gullo, Lawrence, Kelsey Hercs, and Fyodor Pavlov. “Listen to Bash Back, A Story of the Queer Mafia Chat With Graphic Policy Radio on Demand.” Interview by Graphic Policy. Audio blog post. Graphic Policy: Where Comic Books and Politics Meet. N.p., 16 Jan. 2016. Web. (1 Sept. 2016). <https://graphicpolicy.com/2016/01/26/listen-to-bash-back-a-story-of-the-queer-mafia-chat-with-graphic-policy-radio-on-demand/> (15:27-17:20)

9. Ibid. (53:58-54:30)

10. Gullo, Lawrence, Kelsey Hercs and Fyodor Pavlov. Bash Back: A Story of the Queer Mafia #0. The Royal Baritarian Players. Kickstarter.com. (25 July 2016 –19 August 2016). Retrieved 31 August 2016. <https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1476677298/bash-back-the-queer-mafia-thriller-issue-0> (0:24-0:44)

11. Gullo, Lawrence (w, i), Kelsey Hercs (w) and Fyodor Pavlov (i). Bash Back: A Story of the Queer Mafia #0 (30 March 2015-28 March 2016). Webcomic. Blog. Web. 31 August 2016.  <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/117547699477/bash-back-issue-0-page-5> (5:1-7)

12. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/117011620252/bash-back-issue-0-page-4 > <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/117547699477/bash-back-issue-0-page-5 > (4:1-7, 5:1-7)

13. fyodorpavlov [Fyodor Pavlov]. “A while back, I posted that first character sketch and talked about a dream project Lawrence and I have had for a few years now.” Fyodor Pavlov. (10 August 2014). Blog. 1 September 2016. <http://fyodorpavlov.tumblr.com/post/94560629710>

14. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/123370837952/the-rest-of-the-world-might-be-celebrating-but > (15:1-5)

15. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/121075378592/issue-0-page-11-just-under-the-wire > (11:2).

16. fyodorpavlov [Fyodor Pavlov]. “A while back, I posted that first character sketch and talked about a dream project Lawrence and I have had for a few years now.” Fyodor Pavlov. (10 August 2014). Blog. 1 September 2016. <http://fyodorpavlov.tumblr.com/post/94560629710>

17. Gullo, Lawrence (w, i), Kelsey Hercs (w) and Fyodor Pavlov (i). Bash Back: A Story of the Queer Mafia #0 (30 March 2015-28 March 2016). Webcomic. Blog. Web. 31 August 2016. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/130159506562/new-page-tuesday> (27:1-5).

18. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/120444302882/issue-0-page-10-dont-forget-about-flame-con > (10:6).

19. fyodorpavlov [Fyodor Pavlov]. “More-bash-back-character-sketches.” Fyodor Pavlov. (25 August 2014). Blog. 1 September 2016. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/95728108591/fyodorpavlov-more-bash-back-character-sketches>

20. Gullo, Lawrence (w, i), Kelsey Hercs (w) and Fyodor Pavlov (i). Bash Back: A Story of the Queer Mafia #0 (30 March 2015-28 March 2016). Webcomic. Blog. Web. 31 August 2016. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/118699070811/bash-back-issue-0-page-7-edit-corrected-some> (7:1).

21. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/119313368712/bash-back-issue-0-page-8> (8:1-2).

22. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/128051334007/new-page-mobday> (23: 1-2)

23. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/130159506562/new-page-tuesday> (27:1-4)

24. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/130159506562/new-page-tuesday> (28:1-4)

25. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/131582104742/new-page-tuesday> (29:1-2)

26. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/128574286072/mobday-monday> (24:2-4)

27. Gullo, Lawrence, Kelsey Hercs, and Fyodor Pavlov. “Listen to Bash Back, A Story of the Queer Mafia Chat With Graphic Policy Radio on Demand.” Interview by Graphic Policy. Audio blog post. Graphic Policy: Where Comic Books and Politics Meet. N.p., 16 Jan. 2016. Web. (1 Sept. 2016). <https://graphicpolicy.com/2016/01/26/listen-to-bash-back-a-story-of-the-queer-mafia-chat-with-graphic-policy-radio-on-demand/> (6:10-7:03)

28. Gullo, Lawrence (w, i), Kelsey Hercs (w) and Fyodor Pavlov (i). Bash Back: A Story of the Queer Mafia #0 (30 March 2015-28 March 2016). Webcomic. Blog. Web. 31 August 2016. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/119908382042/bash-back-issue-0-page-9-announcement-all-3-of> (9:6).

29. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/120444302882/issue-0-page-10-dont-forget-about-flame-con> (10:4)

30. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/120444302882/issue-0-page-10-dont-forget-about-flame-con> (10:1-4)

31. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/120444302882/issue-0-page-10-dont-forget-about-flame-con> (10:4)

32. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/120444302882/issue-0-page-10-dont-forget-about-flame-con> (10:6)

33. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/132144476937/page-is-late-because-we-had-no-internet-at-our> <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/132539320432/new-page> (29: 3-4, 30:1-2)

34. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/134316031252/content-warning-rudies> (33:1-4)

35. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/116335937212/issue-0-page-3-edit-font-changed-to-be-more> (3:3-5)

36. Gullo, Lawrence, Kelsey Hercs, and Fyodor Pavlov. “Listen to Bash Back, A Story of the Queer Mafia Chat With Graphic Policy Radio on Demand.” Interview by Graphic Policy. Audio blog post. Graphic Policy: Where Comic Books and Politics Meet. N.p., 16 Jan. 2016. Web. (1 Sept. 2016). <https://graphicpolicy.com/2016/01/26/listen-to-bash-back-a-story-of-the-queer-mafia-chat-with-graphic-policy-radio-on-demand/> (10:50-12:50)

37. Gullo, Lawrence (w, i), Kelsey Hercs (w) and Fyodor Pavlov (i). Bash Back: A Story of the Queer Mafia #0 (30 March 2015-28 March 2016). Webcomic. Blog. Web. 31 August 2016. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/116335937212/issue-0-page-3-edit-font-changed-to-be-more> (3:2).

38. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/118699070811/bash-back-issue-0-page-7-edit-corrected-some> (7:4-7)

39. Ibid. <http://bashback.tumblr.com/post/122821370767/just-under-the-wire-some-women-welcome-dead.> (14:1-7)

40. Gullo, Lawrence, Kelsey Hercs, and Fyodor Pavlov. “Listen to Bash Back, A Story of the Queer Mafia Chat With Graphic Policy Radio on Demand.” Interview by Graphic Policy. Audio blog post. Graphic Policy: Where Comic Books and Politics Meet. N.p., 16 Jan. 2016. Web. (1 Sept. 2016). <https://graphicpolicy.com/2016/01/26/listen-to-bash-back-a-story-of-the-queer-mafia-chat-with-graphic-policy-radio-on-demand/> (14:03-15:22)

41. Ibid. (14:08-15:13)