Coagula is a character from DC Comics' '' Doom Patrol'' series, the first transgender superhero by the publisher.

Character

Coagula is a transgender lesbian, former prostitute and

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. After having sex with former Doom Patrol member Rebis ("an alchemical

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...

"), Coagula gained " alchemical powers ��the power to dissolve things on the one hand and coagulate them on the other hand." She tried to join the Justice League, but "it's implied that she was rejected in part for being an out transgender lesbian activist"; she instead joined the Doom Patrol. Coagula first appears in issue 70—"The Laughing Game"—defeating The Codpiece, a spurned man-turned-villain with a multifunctional, mechanical codpiece. After her introduction in the next few issues, Coagula takes center stage in "The Teiresias Wars", a five-part story combining " Greek mythology with ollack'stwisted retelling of the Tower of Babel". The character last featured in . In ''

DC Pride 2022 ''DC Pride'' is an annual LGBTQIA+ themed comic book anthology first published by DC Comics in June 2021. The second anthology was published in June 2022. Content 2021 ''DC Pride'' was released on June 8, 2021 and consisted of the following s ...

'', Coagula cameoed in the stories "Super Pride" and "Up at Bat".

Development

Coagula was created by Rachel Pollack. The synergy of Coagula's name and powers are derived from the Latin phrase la , text=solve et coagula , label=none. Pollack wrote Coagula's past to include prostitution and programming because those were the most-common professions for trans women in the early-to-mid 1990s. Pollack coopted Coagula's real name (Kate Godwin) from

Kate Bornstein Katherine Vandam Bornstein (born March 15, 1948) is an American author, playwright, performance artist, actor, and gender theorist. In 1986, Bornstein started identifiying as gender non-conforming and has stated "I don't call myself a woman, ''and ...

and

Chelsea Goodwin Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament c ...

. The Coagula character allowed Pollack to expose readers to transgender topics before being killed off, garnering positive feedback from readers who finally saw themselves represented in the pages of comics. , Coagula was DC Comics' first and only transgender superhero, and had not yet been reused or reprinted since its original run; DC's first transgender superhero on television was Nia Nal ( Nicole Maines) who premiered in ''Supergirl'' on October 14, 2018.

Character

Development

References

Further reading