Writer Paul Jenkins explains how he and colleagues developed Chalice as the central character of Alters, a new series from AfterShock

Meet Chalice – the first transgender superhero. Though there have been minor trans characters in mainstream comic books in recent years, Chalice is the first to take centre stage.

Alters is written by veteran Marvel scribe Paul Jenkins, whose credits for the company include Inhumans, The Incredible Hulk, Spectacular Spider-Man, and the acclaimed series that delved into Wolverine’s past for the first time, Origin. The art is provided by Leila Leiz, with colours by Tamra Bonvillain.

The basic premise is that in the near future, people with special abilities begin to emerge – the Alters – whose mutations give them a “hyper-advantage”, not dissimilar to Marvel’s X-Men. And Chalice is the central character.

Writer Jenkins, British-born but now living in Atlanta, says: “Chalice is the framing character for the first arc, and will always be a central character to the series. I believe she is going to be very popular.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The cover of the first Alters comic

“She is living as Charlie Young, a middle brother of three who is worried that her transition is going to affect her family. Her folks are dealing with one son stricken with cerebral palsy. She has made the decision to begin her hormone therapy and is waiting for the right time to tell them – and this creates a clear ‘ticking clock’ for her.

“However, I have tried to be clear that our book is not solely LGBT-centric. We have other Alters dealing with disadvantages or being marginalised: a homeless character, a shape-changer who breaks his neck, a character with PTSD and many more.”

Publisher AfterShock is a relative newcomer to the comics market but it has good pedigree: it is run by Mike Marts, a former Marvel executive, and Joe Pruett, an editor, publisher and former Marvel writer. And it has assembled a team of top creative talent – Garth Ennis, Brian Azzarello, Ray Fawkes, Sam Kieth – who will be familiar to any comics fan. More than that, AfterShock has form with progressive titles, chief among them Marguerite Bennett and Ariela Kristantina’s beautifully realised Victorian erotic horror/fantasy series InSEXts.

AfterShock has made a point of mentioning that Alters comes from “a diverse team of creators composed of differing genders, gender identities, ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientations”, and Jenkins says this was a conscious decision.

“Our team members come from different ethnic backgrounds, genders and gender identities, sexual orientations, and so on. I felt this would be important to the various communities we are reaching: I send my scripts to at least three trans people every time, to make sure I am not speaking incorrectly, and that I am touching on points that would be realistic. It helps very much that our colourist, Tamra Bonvillain, is a trans woman,” he adds. “She has been very helpful on the story overall.”

Perhaps the most memorable of Chalice’s precursors are Alysia Yeoh, a roommate of DC’s Batgirl, whom writer Gail Simone revealed in 2013 was transgender, and Wanda in the 1993 A Game of You arc of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. But Chalice has moved beyond their secondary status into a comic’s central focus.

More generally, Jenkins feels diversity in comics is improving: “The mainstream publishers are making strides. I am sure the trans community is very frustrated by the speed of progress but I suppose these things take a certain amount of time..”

Jenkins himself has always explored diversity in his writing. And it’s true that it can be seen in his run on Marvel’s other, non-X-Men outsiders, The Inhumans, in which he focuses on each of the individual characters and their particular mutations.

He also has a novel out in August called Curioddity, which is “about embracing the unusual and the madcap, and never taking things at face value. That seems to be a recurring theme with me, which is OK because there are plenty of areas to explore in that space.”

• Alters, by Paul Jenkins, Leila Leiz and Tamra Bonvillain, will be out in September from AfterShock comics.