Progress Iowa Casts Antigay Conservative as Supervillain in Mighty Moxy Comic Book

Progress Iowa released a comic book Tuesday titled Mighty Moxy to help LGBTQ youth fend off conservative activists, reports The Des Moines Register.

The 28-page comic features the titular Moxy, a young superhero with two mothers, fighting against right-winger Bull Von Ploots. Von Ploots is a thinly veiled caricature of the president of Iowa's Family Leader, Bob Vander Plaats.

In 2010 Vander Plaats helped oust three judges from the Iowa Supreme Court for their support of marriage equality.

Moxy was presented during the "You Can Be a Superhero Standing Up to Bullies From the Extreme Right" workshop at the Ninth Annual Iowa Governors Conference on LGBTQ Youth, held in Des Moines's Iowa Events Center.

The idea for Mighty Moxy and the workshop came from Progress Iowa executive director Matt Sinovic. "Extreme conservatives like Bob Vander Plaats use their influence to marginalize the people they don't agree with, and that creates an environment for even more bullying to occur both in and out of the classroom. 'Mighty Moxy' teaches us all that we can use our voice to stand up to bullies at school, and in the political world," said Sinovic.