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X-Men same-sex wedding announced
Marvel Comics announces ‘X-Men's’ Northstar to have same-sex wedding; DC Comics to out super hero as gayIn wake of President Obama's change on issue, comic book companies are diversifying By Ethan Sacks / New York Daily News Published: Tuesday, May 22, 2012, 2:05 PM Updated: Tuesday, May 22, 2012, 6:39 PM
The four-color panel world of comic books is getting an infusion of rainbow pride.
Marvel Comics announced Tuesday that the “X-Men’s” openly gay member, Northstar, will propose to his boyfriend in “Astonishing X-Men #50”, which hits stores Wednesday. It’s the latest in a trend of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-friendly storylines in the medium.
The pair will make it official in the next issue, in a same-sex wedding in Central Park that has a who’s who of super heroes on the guest list. Northstar, aka Jean-Paul Beaubier, already became one of the first openly gay super heroes in mainstream comics, having come out in a 1992 issue.
"When a major comic publisher like Marvel not only includes, but publicly celebrates, the legal wedding of two of its gay characters, it reflects how supporting same-sex couples has become the new normal," said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick. "Readers expect to see their realities portrayed in these fictional worlds and today that includes married gay and lesbian couples."
Marvel senior vice president and exectutive editor Tom Brevoort says the company was planning Northstar’s nuptuals long before President Obama’s move on same sex marriage earlier this month.
“The real event that put the qustion on our radar was a year ago in June when New York state legalized gay marriage,” says Brevoort. “A lot of our Marvel super heroes live in and around New York City so it just immediately became an issue we started thinking about."
Marvel’s bombshell news comes just days after Dan DiDio, the editor in chief of rival DC Comics, made the cryptic disclosure at a London comic convention that one of DC’s characters would soon bust his or her way out of the closet. The secret identity of the gay hero will be shrouded in mystery until the company unveils it next month, but its not expected to be one of the publisher’s top tier that includes Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman.
There, however, is already an openly gay crime fighter patrolling Gotham City — Batwoman — who has her own ongoing series.
The real pioneer of this latest wave of pride, though, is none other than New York’s own Archie, says Mike Cotton, editor in chief of the iPad magazine, Champion!
In 2010, Archie Comics opened the doors of Riverdale High School, the stomping grounds of comic books' favorite teen and his friends, to an openly gay student — a first in the seven decade history of the character.
“I think every one saw how much attention was drawn to that story, which was a really bold move for a kids comic,” says Cotton.
But don’t expect diversity to make any huge leaps in a single bound, he cautions.
“I think it’s very unlikely you’ll see Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Captain America come out because of the licensing deals, the toys, all of that stuff that goes along with those characters,” he said.
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I'm the mistake you wanna make | |
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Fun.
I wanted to be Storm when I was a little girl. | |
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People are gonna fume at this. | |
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I don't think so. Nerds won't care and no one cares about nerds....so, you know... | |
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Nahhh, Northstar has been out for many years. So has Rictor and Shatterstar, who are an actual couple and have been a couple in the books for a long time.
Mystique is also a lesbian and has been dating Destiny for like decades at this point.
Edit: Correction, Mystique is bisexual. She also had a romantic relationship with Nightcrawler's dad and Sabretooth and others. But she is known for having fostered Rogue with her longtime lover Destiny. [Edited 5/22/12 17:13pm] | |
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Northstar coming out of the closet was front page news 20 years ago. If people are going to be upset about seeing a gay superhero, they are a little late. | |
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awwwwww I'm the mistake you wanna make | |
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The original story was supposed to be that Destiny is Nightcrawler's biological mother and Mystique Nightcrawler's father. But Marvel said NO WAY to that idea back in the 80s. | |
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Yeah, I remember reading that. Shame they didn't go with it.
Although I do admit to thinking the origin they have now (with the angel/demon mutants) is pretty cool. | |
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I didn't like that demon story at all. I wish it could be retconned away. | |
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That's kind of how I feel about the third Summers brother, Gambit's origin, Mr. Sinister's origin, Apocalypse's origin, etc... | |
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Oh okay. Carry on then. | |
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I used to have a comic crush on Northstar. I didn't know he was into brothas. I actually had a chance.  Ὅσον ζῇς φαίνου
μηδὲν ὅλως σὺ λυποῦ πρὸς ὀλίγον ἐστὶ τὸ ζῆν τὸ τέλος ὁ χρόνος ἀπαιτεῖ.” | |
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Lammastide said: I used to have a comic crush on Northstar. I didn't know he was into brothas. I actually had a chance.  I'm the mistake you wanna make | |
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Were you already living in Canada at the time? | |
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No. This was waaaaay back in the 80s. If I'd known, I'd have made it up here much sooner. Ὅσον ζῇς φαίνου
μηδὲν ὅλως σὺ λυποῦ πρὸς ὀλίγον ἐστὶ τὸ ζῆν τὸ τέλος ὁ χρόνος ἀπαιτεῖ.” | |
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So does this mean that my Alpha Flight #1 comicbook is worth more $$$ now?
By St. Boogar and all the saints at the backside door of Purgatory! |
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Ugh. Thank you for reminding me why I don't like you. | |
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Actually, when I read an interview with some DC people the other day regarding retconning a character to be gay I thought that was just as offensive as ignoring the issue for as long as they have. What? Now they've decided it's OK, so they're just going to pick a character and decide they've been in the closet all along? Utter silliness. Address the issue properly or go on ignoring it. | |
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"Properly"?
For many people, their homosexuality is a revelation. I see little wrong with retconning someone into homosexuality as long as the story fit well. And, really, you can't complain much about retconning in comic books considering everything is retconned. | |
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Which is exactly why my online name is Cerebus and I'm as vocal as possible regarding my hatred of tired ass, retread heavy, lets reboot - again!, hey! how about another crossover?, I know - we'll call his coming out an "event", super hero books.
Yes, properly. Like addressing the issue within the confines of the ongoing books, thereby causing the current characters to reacte to/interact with said issue. Possibly going to so far as have an ongoing story bring in, or create, a NEW hero who represents/stands up for the issues and people being discussed/represented.
That took as long for me to come up with as it did to type it. Just having an old character (who will most likely be second or third tier) all of sudden come out of the closet because they think people will accept it now is the easy way out. | |
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His husband is hot...comicbook wise of course! | |
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Oh please, you don't need any reminding. | |
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Well, I agree with your sentiment, but in the cases of Rictor, Shatterstar, and Northstar... Their sexuality is not news. I've known of Northstar's homosexuality since I started reading comics. | |
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For sure. I was strictly referring to the DC announcement. They're already on notice with me because of the whole "New 52" nonsense. | |
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gay and mixed a double header i am KING BAD!!!
you are NOT... 
STOP ME IF YOU HEARD THIS BEFORE... | |
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Oh. Duh. There I am, prattling on, I didn't even realize this article had a part about DC. That is really strange. Just outing someone who was never rumored to be gay is kinda weird.
Marvel has done a good job at foreshadowing and I think that is why their situation is so natural. | |
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Man or woman, why would anyone want to marry Northstar? His superpower is speed. | |
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