Marvel initially kept its premier openly gay superhero, Northstar, closeted for 13 years because of a 1954 Comic Books Code forbidding “sex perversion.” Haha. But, after coming out in 1992’s Alpha Flight #106, Northstar became quite the proactive jet-setter— he adopted a HIV-positive orphan, beat up homophobes around the globe, mentored a gay mutant, started his own brand of snowsporting equipment, and even published his memoir, Born Normal. He’s like Elton John, but kick-assier. Nevertheless, the hero’s never even kissed a guy in his 18 years as an out superhero, but all that’s about to change.
Northstar (aka Jean-Paul Beaubier) dated Russian musclestud Colossus in Ultimate X-Men, but they never kissed and later, Northstar ended up being captured and OD-ing on mutant steroids—bummer. Before that, Marvel killed off Northstar in three separate storylines, staging one of his deaths around Pride month of 2005…quite the gay cultural faux pas! Northstar got stabbed to death by Wolverine, shot by Cable, and blown up by Skrulls—it seems that flying a super speeds and creating blinding flashes of light won’t save you from everything, eh Jean-Paul? But in true comic book fashion, they’ve resurrected Northstar yet again for Nation X, a series being handled by openly gay comic artist and writer Tim Fish.
Tim Fish is known for creating gay comics such as Cavalcade of Boys and Young Bottoms in Love, which are nightstand reading musts if we’ve ever heard of one. So it pleases us that his Nation X storyline will show how Northstar handles a long-distance relationship with his black San Francisco boyfriend, Kyle. “I think there’s a lot about Northstar that’s unexplored,” Fish tells Marvel.com. “He’s an arrogant jerk on the surface, but what’s underneath?”
Fish is right; Northstar’s a bit of a diva and maybe even a bossy bottom. When Wolverine asked him to rejoin the team, Northstar said “This isn’t a gay thing, is it, Logan? The idea of being your mutant queer mascot appeals to be not one bit.” Geez, Northstar, it isn’t always about you, be-yotch.
But because Northstar’s a “famous jet-setter involved in incredible X-adventures,” Fish sees “Kyle as a grounding influence on his life, someone to keep [Northstar] stable and reasonable.” Fish suspects Kyle’s used to Jean-Paul doing whatever he wants whenever he wants. Considering Jean-Paul’s skiing, business ventures, and the super hero bit, I would think Kyle’s got to be the easy-going type.”
So we wanted to have a bit of fun imagining just what Mr. Fish might do with Northstar’s storyline. We’ll leave costuming ideas to your in the comments.
Marvel initially kept its premier openly gay superhero, Northstar, closeted for 13 years because of a 1954 Comic Books Code forbidding “sex perversion.” Haha. But, after coming out in 1992’s Alpha Flight #106, Northstar became quite the proactive jet-setter— he adopted a HIV-positive orphan, beat up homophobes around the globe, mentored a gay mutant, started his own brand of snowsporting equipment, and even published his memoir, Born Normal. He’s like Elton John, but kick-assier. Nevertheless, the hero’s never even kissed a guy in his 18 years as an out superhero, but all that’s about to change.
Northstar (aka Jean-Paul Beaubier) dated Russian musclestud Colossus in Ultimate X-Men, but they never kissed and later, Northstar ended up being captured and OD-ing on mutant steroids—bummer. Before that, Marvel killed off Northstar in three separate storylines, staging one of his deaths around Pride month of 2005…quite the gay cultural faux pas! Northstar got stabbed to death by Wolverine, shot by Cable, and blown up by Skrulls—it seems that flying a super speeds and creating blinding flashes of light won’t save you from everything, eh Jean-Paul? But in true comic book fashion, they’ve resurrected Northstar yet again for Nation X, a series being handled by openly gay comic artist and writer Tim Fish.
Tim Fish is known for creating gay comics such as Cavalcade of Boys and Young Bottoms in Love, which are nightstand reading musts if we’ve ever heard of one. So it pleases us that his Nation X storyline will show how Northstar handles a long-distance relationship with his black San Francisco boyfriend, Kyle. “I think there’s a lot about Northstar that’s unexplored,” Fish tells Marvel.com. “He’s an arrogant jerk on the surface, but what’s underneath?”
Fish is right; Northstar’s a bit of a diva and maybe even a bossy bottom. When Wolverine asked him to rejoin the team, Northstar said “This isn’t a gay thing, is it, Logan? The idea of being your mutant queer mascot appeals to be not one bit.” Geez, Northstar, it isn’t always about you, be-yotch.
But because Northstar’s a “famous jet-setter involved in incredible X-adventures,” Fish sees “Kyle as a grounding influence on his life, someone to keep [Northstar] stable and reasonable.” Fish suspects Kyle’s used to Jean-Paul doing whatever he wants whenever he wants. Considering Jean-Paul’s skiing, business ventures, and the super hero bit, I would think Kyle’s got to be the easy-going type.”
So we wanted to have a bit of fun imagining just what Mr. Fish might do with Northstar’s storyline. We’ll leave costuming ideas to your in the comments.
WEAPONS OF ASS DESTRUCTION: As an angry and rebellious young adult, Northstar joined the Front de Libération du Québec, a separatist terrorist organization fighting for Quebec’s secession from Canada. Oooh la la! Northstar and his fellow X-men will be caught with their pants down when his old lover from the Front shows up wielding an extra-large missile, bent on destroying all the San Francisco homos, especially Northstar’s boyfriend! Will Northstar render his old friend’s assault impotent, will he be faced to take the payload full force, or is Kyle’s ass toast?
SERVING HARD-TIME: When Northstar gets wind of Magneto’s plot to spring the villainous Mercury from Utopia’s prison, Wolverine puts Northstar, Nightrcrawler, and Colossus on guard duty. Northstar says, “You’re not my mother, Logan!” and begins pouting in private. The boredom almost drives him back to using Banshee, the mutant steroid he once OD’ed on. But Nightcrawler and Colossus start really living up to their names by letting their hair down and show Northstar that serving time with a hardened felon can be more fun than the law allows. Soon after, Magneto shows up, utterly destroys them and frees Mercury without even breaking a sweat—bitch, please.
scott ny'er
this sounds cool. I remember Northstar back in days of Alpha Flight. And back then he was annoying. Hopefully, they’ll make this character more appealing, cooler and have him kissing and such.
ksu499
Maybe a panel or two with legs in the air?
puck247
I remember a Marvel storyline (Alpha Flight 48-50) explaining Northstar’s origin as he was a member of a fairy clan and he was whisked away to fairyland. UGH ! I love comics, but….UGH!
CHIP1218
Speaking of gay mutants, there’s a couple in another X-book – Rictor and Shatterstar in X-Factor. For over a decade the 2 were shown in the comics as “best bros” and Shatterstar hasn’t been seen in years. When he returned to comics a few months ago, Rictor and him reunited with a passionate kiss.
http://www.afterelton.com/blog/lylemasaki/xfactor-45-ends-on-a-gay-cliffhanger-shatterstar-rictor
And yes, if you do a web search, you will read all about how the creator of Shatterstar is pissed and can’t wait to undo this gay thing…
Maybe Northstar/Kyle and Rictor/Shatterstar can double date in an issue?
REBELComx
I was never a fan of Northstar. And despite being the token queer in Marvel’s line up for a while, they treated him horribly.
It’s great they have more open and positively portrayed LGBT characters now… like Hulkling and Wiccan. Though I admit I’m a little pissed that Doc Strange didn’t make Wiccan the new Sorcerer Supreme. Would have been an awesome opportunity for Marvel to create an incredibly powerful, prominent, influential and complex and interesting character out of a young gay man who has a relatively steady following and is increasingly popular. Instead, they gave the position to a character nobody’s really read or cared about for nearly 30 years.
Wow…I’m such a nerd.
scott ny'er
@ No. 4 · CHIP1218
yeah, I heard that Rob Liefeld was pissed and said Shatterstar wasn’t gay. Whatever. I still don’t get that character and his powers nor any of Rob’s creations.
I’m still surprised that Rictor was gay. But, more representation is better for us. So cool beans.
james_cambridge
nerds. i feel like taking away all of y’all’s lunch money.
Dave
As a collector of allt things X-Men since I was a wee lad…I’ve always felt that Marvel has mishandled the gay characters. Always thrown to the rear…written in typical cliche standards. Just read XFactor: Nation X and although getting better at it, there were still a lot of cliche gay sterotypes with Northstar, Shatterstar and Rictor. Hopefully someone can properly write these characters. I am thinking X-Factor series will end up touching more on it since the new status quo gay couple, Shatterstar and Rictor are in that title
Dasher
With this talk of a gay mutant hero, I thought you were referring to a young cast member of Twilight New Moon…
FakeName
I remember a Marvel storyline (Alpha Flight 48-50) explaining Northstar’s origin as he was a member of a fairy clan and he was whisked away to fairyland. UGH ! I love comics, but….UGH!
Originally the storyline was that Northstar was gay and going to die of AIDS. Editor in Chief Jim Shooter (who infamously declared that there are no homosexuals in the Marvel universe) got wind of the storyline and forced the writer to change it to the ludicrous “Northstar is an Asgardian half-elf and dying from exposure to Earth” business. About 30 issues later, with a new writer and a new EIC, that storyline was repudiated.
yeah, I heard that Rob Liefeld was pissed and said Shatterstar wasn’t gay.
Marvel’s current EIC has stated unequivocally that under his watch Liefeld will never get his hands back on Shatterstar.
dontblamemeivotedforhillary
Why are bottoms (like Queerty editors) so prickly with each other like two bitches fighting over a pit bull! Oh, that’s why!
DR
Ultimate Northstar didn’t OD. In one of the last issues of the Ultimate X-Men run, he was shown sitting with Colossus watching the sun set. Actually, it was Northstar who kept Colossus from killing Wolverine. He was depowered, but wasn’t one of the mutants slaughtered at the end of the run, which was good. But it took both of them out of the book.
As for the current run, Northstar did make room in the Marvel Universe for Karma, Anoli, Wiccan, Hulkster, and Greymalkin.
BUT… quite frankly, despite the good, Northstar and the openly gay Karma are relegated to the bench most of the time, only to be dragged out of the closet when it serves the writers and sells books. Then back in they go.
scott ny'er
what?!?! Karma is gay?
I still remember her first issue where she was introduced. That writer made her so powerful. She possessed all of the FF and kicked Spidey’s ass. And then they never made use of her like Dazzler. Now that was back in the day, so I don’t know if she has been used or not in the last 10-15 years since I stopped collecting X-titles.
Anyway, funny. I can see Karma being a lesbian I guess. Rictor, IDK. Northstar, yeah, I guess. Doug Ramsey, absofuckinlutely.
Dave
Oh yeah…what did they do with Greymalkin? And there is also the lesbian diamond chick that Emplate almost ate.
chris
I don’t know, Billy and Teddy from the young avengers are still my favourites
DR
Karma was outed a few years back in the Mechanix limited series starring her and Kitty. The current run of Uncanny X-Men even introduced her one issue as “Karma: Psychic Possession, Digs chicks”, and another issue saw her in bed with another woman when San Fransisco was psychically attacked by one of the Mastermind daughters. She’s running with Cannonball, Magma, Magik, Mirage, and Sunspot in the newest incarnation of the New Mutants, but I don’t know how long the series will last. the first 4 issues were a rehash of the Legion story and the next few were a rehash of Warlock/Doug Ramsey. But Karma can still possess a slew of people.
Greymalkin faded out with the Young X-Men. He was around during Utopia, but not much has been done with him after he came out to Anoli in the Young X-Men. That was one of the reasons I stopped reading; between the regularly rehashed story lines and failure to actually do anything substantive with it’s gay characters, it got old.
scott ny'er
thanks for the update DR.
I stopped reading x-titles because it was too many titles and I felt greedy on behalf of Marvel. 10-15 years later, it seems there are more X-titles and more characters so Marvel must be doing something right.
i had thought about picking up the new mutants but am waiting for the TPB, methinks. IDK.
I just saw the preview for Nation X. And man, that artwork is TERRIBLE!!! I could never purchase a book unless the artwork and writing is up to snuff. Well, that’s not exactly true, I kept on with Liefeld back in the day of New Mutants but that was when I was a completist. And needed every issue. Now I just don’t care.
mm
was this character foreseeing ashton kutcher for inspiration?
scott ny'er
No. 18 · mm
Ahhh. That’s who that is. If I’m not mistaken that’s Land’s artwork, and Land is infamous for tracing over celebs. I knew it was someone famous. I just couldn’t place it. So Ashton is Northstar. LOL.
Lee in Micco
What effect will the Disney buyout have? Disney certainly employs a lot of us and they _love_ all the folks that turn up for Gay Days but will they put up with gay characters?
An article about the aquisition (at http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20100104/NEWS03/1040324/1004/NEWS03) says, in part:
“Disney’s biggest challenge in acquiring Marvel Entertainment will be to get people enthused about second-string superheroes to justify the price.”
and
“5,000 characters
Although Disney is constrained by the fact that big-name Marvel superheroes such as Spider-Man already are locked up in long-term deals with rival movie studios, Disney has had a history of successfully turning unknown talent such as Miley Cyrus, the actress behind “Hannah Montana,” into multibillion-dollar enterprises.
“With Marvel, it’s not just about ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Hulk,’ ” Caris & Co. analyst David Miller said. “It’s all about the other 5,000 characters that you and I don’t even know about yet.”
Disney shares already are being helped, having risen more than 20 percent since the deal was announced, partly on the hope for new character development and better use of Marvel heroes in movies, stores and theme parks.
The deal closed Thursday after Marvel shareholders gave final approval.
The deal already has spawned a bout of speculation in the comic book world about who will be the next big Thing.”
“The next big Thing.” um, well, I’m sure everyone above has their own suggestion…..
Yatsura
YES! I have been hearing and seeing this for a YEAR!! He has been brought back from the wielders of ink and graphic novels as I know it. I swear if Jean-Paul is ‘killed’ or ‘disappears’ again…I don’t even know. Anyway, I am looking forward to purchasing this and taking in how he and his boyfriend are developed, and whether he his character will be given a fuller body
Juqbc
seems like an awesome hero, i think i will star reading those comics. also it’s not secession, it’s Independence… american should know that feeling…