To the world at large Sebastian Harlow deals in antiquities which seems to be a normal career path trajectory for a former archeology student to take. The type of antiquities Harlow is most interested in are ones of an occult or magical nature and when the situation warrants or simply strikes his fancy Harlow will don his Black Flamingo guise to steal the object. For the right price Harlow’s thievery skills can be bought.
Self confident, narcissistic, and jaded are fitting descriptions for Harlow but as a summa cum laude student he was naive and trusting and also the object of lust and desire for archeology professor Hugo Tarn. After seducing Harlow, Tarn became Harlow’s introduction to the occult and ritual sex and t he pair frequently traveled abroad to plunder museums and defile dig sites. On the last of these trips Harlow encountered an artifact which cursed him with a second sight, the ability to see behind the veil of mundane human perception to see the evil that exists.
Harlow is a radical queer anarchist. In short, queer liberation comes through the use anarchism and social revolution to dismantle oppressive socio political hierarchies (queer phobia, transphobia, transmisogyny, patriarchy, heteronormativity, and the gender binary). In a call out to cis white gay men who do, writer/creator Andrew Wheeler gives Harlow a staunch principle regarding sex. To quote: “I don’t fuck racists.”
An abrasive personality does not lend well to making or keeping frienships. The one person in Harlow’s life who could be considered a friend is Ofelia Grace. Being a fellow radical queer as well, Grace is the only person who can call out Harlow and hold him accountable.
Harlow’s firmly held belief that there is no God and that humanity is solely responsible for every evil act and idea is challenged by an encounter with an otherworldly being whose existence defies his creed.
Please read other profiles of characters from Sins of the Black Flamingo: Ezekiel, Abel & Zayde Steinem, and Ofelia Grace.
Sebastian Harlow first appears in Sins of the Black Flamingo #1. Harlow was created by Andrew Wheeler and Travis Moore. Art by Moore and Bonvillain.
All rights reserved Andrew Wheeler and Travis Moore.