Shortly after DC’s kerfuffle regarding a gay character reveal, Marvel announced, by way of Whoopi Goldberg on ABC’s The View Tuesday morning, that Northstar, a member of the X-Men in The Astonishing X-Men line, will soon propose to his longtime partner.
It should be noted that Disney owns both ABC and Marvel, so the placement of the announcement is clearly not coincidental.
The timing is not really coincidental either, as the earlier announcement Marvel made hinting at this news is likely what spurred the question asked at Kapow, which sparked the DC reveal and subsequent media storm thereof.
Northstar is well-known as being the first gay super hero in a major comics line, having been introduced as openly gay in the early 90’s. Now he will be half of the first gay super hero wedding – not the first gay wedding in a comic book, however, as some media outlets are incorrectly reporting.
The panel above depicts Northstar’s civilian identity, Jean-Paul Beaubier, kneeling before a clearly surprised Kyle Jinadu with a ring box. And here is the wrap-around cover from next month’s issue, which will include the wedding itself (Seems like a very short engagement):
One thing is certain – the proposal and subsequent wedding has prompted quite a lot of discussion. Not everyone agrees on the meaning, of course, and I don’t just mean that it’s not getting support from people who don’t think that same-sex marriage should be allowed.
Even among supporters of same-sex marriage rights, there are those condemning the move as pandering or as a sensationalist, while others find it a beautiful and moving revelation and exploration of the social issue.
As expected, fans of the Astonishing X-Men comics line seem rather unconcerned and unsurprised, judging from comments on articles and forums around the web. It’s mostly non-fan commentators with political agendas who feel strongly one way or the other about this particular union.
The Astonishing X-Men #50 is available now wherever you get Marvel Comics, and #51 will be in stores June 20th, 2012.
