Musing on Gay Characters in Marvel Comics... part 1

[fajrdrako]

There have been hints lately about an upcoming X-Men story in which Northstar (Jean-Paul Baubier) will marry his boyfriend Kyle.

Which is a cool idea. There are a lot of things I like about it. Gay marriage in comics? Yup, I'm there.

But that's in principle. In practice... Kyle just isn't interesting enough. Nothing against Kyle, but he suffers from the syndrome of human partners of mutants and superpowered heroes: so often they come across as sidekicks. The Beast's girlfriends in particular always have this problem. Mary Jane Watson managed to escape it entirely by being full of personality; that's rare, and breaking up her marriage to Peter Parker is one of the worst continuity moves Marvel has made.



So I'm glad if Northstar and his boyfriend are marrying, but... Northstar himself has yet to make the first rank of superheroes. His own book was short-lived and unmemorable, and he hasn't been a focal point of the teams he's on. He's had some great moments, but not enough of them.

Perhaps better use will be made of him in future, but as it stands, his relationship with Kyle isn't nearly as interesting as Shattarstar's with Rictor, or Hulkling's with Wiccan.