Judge Dredd is seen locking lips with a man in a gay club in the latest issue of the legendary comic book, titled 'Closet'. It shows Dredd - played on the big-screen by Sylvester Stallone - reprimanding a Mohican-haired man before grabbing him passionately and going in for a kiss!

The closing caption, according to The Sun, reads, "I guess, somehow, I'd always known I was gay. I was just too scared to admit it." Since the teaser was released online, regular readers have reportedly bombarded the writers with abusive messages and threatened to burn their back-issues of the comic. The Dredd creators - who release their latest issue in full next Wednesday (February 1, 2013), said, "We have had quite an extreme reaction.Dredd has always been satirical, while touching on serious issues. This is another example of this." Writer Rob Williams defended the move, arguing that it shouldn't be a huge surprise, "You can't look at the original costume design of leather and chains and not see a fetishistic edge there." He's got a point. He's got a very good point. Why didn't we think of that before?

Dredd is the latest comic-book hero to come out of the closet, with DC officially confirming Alan Scott - the original Green Lantern - as homosexual last year. "He's very much the character he was. He's still the pinnacle of bravery and idealism. He's also gay," DC writer James Robinson told the New York Post at the time.