Warning: SPOILERS for Crypt of Shadows #1!For the first time in years, Marvel Comics' first lesbian character has stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight. In recent years, Marvel and other mainstream comic publishers have steadily made efforts to increase queer representation among their characters. However it's also important to honor the trailblazing LGBTQ+ heroes who came before and ensure they don't fall by the wayside. This could have been the fate for Victoria Montesi, the first lesbian character to ever come out in a Marvel comic. However, a new entry in Marvel's 2022 horror anthology sees Vicki's return to the spotlight.
Created by writer Chris Cooper and artist Richard Case for their early '90s Darkhold series, Vicki Montesi's debut in Marvel canon turns 30 this year. The lead character of a team who set out to prevent Chthon's demonic powers spreading on Earth, she came out to the audience and her teammates during their ongoing adventures and her queerness ultimately plays a crucial role in the larger arc of the book. Unfortunately, Vicki rarely appears outside of her debut series. Most recently appearing in a supernatural Carnage storyline, this was the first indication in years that Vicki Montesi was still alive and active in the Marvel Universe. Notably, Vicki's original story entangled her with a medieval translation of the Darkhold, rather than the original Book of the Damned seen in the Scarlet Witch's Darkhold crossover last year.
Victoria Montesi returns to center stage in Marvel's horror anthology one-shot. Crypt of Shadows #1 features Vicki in "Skin Crawl" by her co-creator Chris Cooper, Ibrahim Moustafa, Neeraj Menon, Travis Lanham, and Sarah Brunstad. Some anthology entries pull from ongoing Infinity Comics or tease upcoming series, like Blade's daughter Bloodline. However, this does not seem to be the case for "Skin Crawl." It's a brief snapshot of where Vicki finds herself these days. Vicki has a partner, she misses her mentor, and she's still stomping demons as needed, even if that means saving someone like Morbius. Vicki even gets to reconnect briefly with her colleague Jinx from the old Darkhold days. The story is one that is sure to spark feelings of nostalgia for longtime Montesi fans, as well as working as a solid introduction for newer readers.
Marvel Can't Forget Its Trailblazing Queer Characters
Alongside introducing new queer characters, many long-established figures have been allowed to come out in Marvel's recent history. Famously, Mystique and Destiny's romance was always hinted at, but has only recently become explicit canon. But Vicki still remains the first out lesbian major character at Marvel, even if she's been long overlooked. Hopefully, "Skin Crawl" is a sign that Marvel cares about the trailblazing roles that characters like Northstar, Jessie Drake, and Vicki Montesi have played and is consciously working to save them from falling into obscurity.
Having been around for 30 years at this point, its obvious that Vicki is criminally underused, despite being a badass, a half-human/half-chaos demon, and Marvel's first openly lesbian character. Per her last appearance, she's assumedly still an operative of the Children of the Midnight Sun, but the possibilities of where the character could go are truly endless. Maybe she'll have an opinion about the Scarlet Witch absorbing her father. With any luck, Marvel will continue to spotlight Vicki Montesi as well as her fellow LGBTQ+ trailblazing characters as the Marvel Universe's queer community grows larger than ever.
Crypt of Shadows #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.