Kid Cosmic: Why is "Fry and Hamburg are gay!" big news? So are Craig and Eric, Nergal and Irwin, George and the Secret Keeper....

Kid Cosmic, on Nickelodeon, stars Jack Fisher (left) as "Kid," a comic book-obsessed orphan boy  living in a desolate world consisting of his trailer, his Grandpa's junkyard, a retro 1950s diner, and an endless desert.  

Suddenly, for reasons, everyone who happens to be in the diner develops superpowers, and is tasked with finding the Rings of Power.  Stuck Chuck, a gay-stereotype alien baddie, eventually joins the team.

Just before Season 3 dropped, on February 2nd, 2022, showrunner Craig McCracken announced in a Twitter post that Fry and Hamburg are a romantic couple.

Who?

 

They're the diner cooks, visible on the right of this character photo.

 Fry (voiced by Eric Bauza, below) is a skinny, tattooed Italian guy  with super-stretching ability, and Hamburg (voiced by Fred Tatsciore) is a blond German hunk with the ability to exude multiple arm

On February 5th, McCracken further specified on his Instagram "how they met and fell in love": Hamburg graduated from a top culinary school in Europe, but wanted to cook "real food," so he got a job at the dingy diner in the endless desert, and fell in love with his coworker, Fry. 

They are very minor characters.  They didn't even get superpowers until Season 2, and even then, they were #10 and #11 in the superhero list, with no lines in most episodes.  I saw no gay hints about them in Seasons 1 and 2, but then, I wasn't looking closely: they were mostly background.  

So, on to Season 3.  I'll check every appearance of Fry and Hamburg, looking for holding hands, hugging, dancing together, a shared apartment, any hint, however minuscule, that they are being presented as a canonical romantic couple.

Back Story: In Season 2, the Galactic Heroes worked at an interplanetary diner as a cover while they tried to track down the missing Rings of Power.   When the Rings were all accounted for, they used them to defeat the Planet Destroyer, a planet-sized Big Bad.  In the fracas, the Rings were scattered all over Earth.

More after the break

Kid Cosmic: Is Stuck Chuck Gay?

 I reviewed the first season of  the Nickelodeon cartoon  Kid Cosmic early in 2021.  The premise: the retro comic-book- obsessed Kid (Jack Fisher) finds Stones of Power, which give him and his friends superpowers, but also make them the targets of various alien bounty hunters.  I hated the awful, low-budget animation -- unchanging background, all in washed-out yellow -- and found the setting claustrophobic: a junkyard, a diner, and the endless washed-out yellow desert.  

 I liked Stuck Chuck, the alien who got stuck in Kid Cosmic's trailer (and lost his legs), and spent several episodes making sarcastic comments before becoming an ally.  He had that "oh, snap!" fabulosity that often signfies gay identity, but there was no one around for him to become interested in: the Local Heroes consisted of Kid Cosmic (too young), Papa G (too old), Jo (a waitress at the diner), Rosa (a toddler), and Tuna Sandwich (a cat).  

The second season has just dropped.  I'll review another episode to see if "the gay problem" has been solved.  Episode 3: "Kid Cosmic and the Heist of Fire and Ice"

Scene 1:  The diner has been zapped into space, and the Local Heroes are now intergalactic heroes, retrieving lost and stolen Stones of Power under the direction of the jellyfish-being Queen Xhan, with the ultimate goal of saving the galaxy from Erodus the Planet-Killer.  Jo is now the leader.  There are two new superheroes: Jo's Mom, who runs a catering business, and the hunky multi-armed Hamburg.

For this mission, they dress in fancy clothes and prepare canapes and cupcakes.  Stuck Chuck appears briefly, working in the kitchen.

Turns out that the campy voice was just his universal translator.  When he loses it, he sounds like a duck.

Scene 2: Their boss, Queen Xhan, explains the mission.  The evil crime lord Madame Fiona, who has two heads, wears two Stones of Power around her necks.  They will infiltrate her birthday party, held on a space station orbiting an uninhabited planet,  as invited guests or caterers.  Then they will perform a meticulously-choreographed caper, steal the stones, and replace them with fakes before Madame Fiona notices.  Mom hugs Queen Xhan, whom she calls Xhanny.  Is there a lesbian romance going on?

Scene 3:  The mission goes perfectly.  Afterwards Jo asks if they want to return to the party to celebrate, but the team is tired and wants to go home.  Queen Xhan takes Jo aside -- Mom looks jealous -- and explains that leaders don't ask, they command. So she commands them to celebrate.  Wait -- if Queen Xhan goes along on every mission, why isn't she their leader?

Scene 4:  Back at the party, Jo meets Madame Fiona, who is very interested and drags her onto the dance floor.  Maybe Jo is a lesbian?

Kid Cosmic argues that they shouldn't be mingling with the guests at a crime boss's party, since they are all criminals, but the team members are having fun.  Papa G is at the blackjack table; Rosa is arm wrestling; the hunky blond Hamburg is listening to the band; and the cat Tuna Sandwich has hooked up with an alien cat-being (probably female). 

Scene 5: Fantos, the "super-powerful, super-nerdy man-boy" who stole one of their Stones of Power in a previous episode, arrives.  Kid Cosmic suggests repeating the caper to retrieve it, but Jo refuses: missions take weeks of recon and practice.  Besides, if Fantos recognizes them, he'll alert  Madame Fiona   They need to leave! Kid Cosmic ignores her order and attacks.

Fantos easily defeats Kid Cosmic, and blows their cover:  "A team of superheroes has infiltrated your party and stolen the two Stones!" 

Scene 6: The Local Heroes have failed the mission and been captured, due to Kid Cosmic's reckless behavior.  But Queen Xhan tells Jo that it's her fault for being a bad leader.  Um...Kid Cosmic disobeyed a direct order.  What was she supposed to do?

Suddenly Erodius the Planet-Killer arrives to destroy the planet.  Joe is shocked to discover that Erodus is an actual planet-sized being!  How are the Local Heroes supposed to defeat that?

The space station is disintegrating.  What should they do?  The team waits for Jo to issue an order, but she freezes, so they use their superpowers to get everyone into escape pods.

Scene 7: Back at headquarters, Queen Xhan yells at Jo.  "What kind of leader freezes during a crisis?"   Jo retreats to her room to watch alien tv in the dark.  

Later, Queen Xhan and Mom discuss Jo's depression, and her chances of becoming a competent leader.  Acting like Jo's parents?  Romantic couple!  

How can Jo be sure that she won't freeze again?  Suddenly she sees a commercial on alien tv for an upcoming MMA tournament: all comers against a lady warrior named Krosh.  Hey, maybe Jo can prove herself by defeating Krosh?  The end.

Animation:  Better this season.  The background is no longer a washed-out yellow. 

Beefcake: None.

Heterosexism: No one expresses any heterosexual interest except for Tuna Sandwich the Cat.

Gay Characters:  Mom and Queen Xhan seem to have a romance going on, but it's very understated.  Jo may be a lesbian, or not.  Nothing is specified, but the fan wiki tells us that "The Local Heroes are allies to the LGBTQ community."  

My Grade: C.

See also: Kid Cosmic Season 3: Fry and Hamburg are Gay.