Figuring it out: 'confusing' non-binary gender in Runaways and The Order of the Stick

In this article we engage with the representation of non-binary gender in two sci-fi/fantasy comics (Runaways and The Order of the Stick), and metatextual discussion surrounding them. In our analysis we focus on how non-binary gender is represented, and ways in which the comics reveal implicit anxieties around non/human characters who are non-binary. The idea that non-binary gender is 'hiding' a true, binary, gender is present within and beyond the text: rather than accepting these characters' non-binary gender as a fact of their species within the narrative, it is treated a puzzle to be solved. We explore how texts, and fans, focus upon the body and subsequently sexuality as a locus of gender 'truth', even though as drawings these bodies cannot be further revealed beyond the page or screen. We argue these comics 'confuse' gender in different ways: at times by purposefully confounding the possibility of pinpointing a 'true' binary gender for non-binary characters, while at others taking a more conservative path of displacing such 'confusion' onto the non-binary characters themselves to imply that it is they who are 'confused' - while reflecting broader social patterns, this characterizes non-binary gender as though it were not a valid way of being.

Automated summary

This article examines the representation of non-binary gender in two sci-fi/fantasy comics and the meta-textual discussions surrounding them. The analysis focuses on how non-binary gender is portrayed in the comics and the implicit anxieties revolving around non/human characters who are non-binary. The article argues that the notion of non-binary gender concealing a true binary gender is present in and beyond the text. It further explores how the comics and fans often emphasize the body and sexuality as the locus of gender "truth", despite the limitations of drawings in revealing the characters' identities. The article suggests that these comics confuse gender in different ways, either by intentionally obscuring the true binary gender of non-binary characters or by displacing the confusion onto the non-binary characters themselves, which undermines the validity of non-binary gender.