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I was recently reading through the latest issue of New X-Men when I discovered something that made me literally gasp. I gasped not because it was shocking, but rather because the scene in question would provide excellent material for my Thesis. In this specific scene, the character Victor attempts to explain the concept of the team Young Avengers to another character Rockslide. The dialogue is exceedingly similar to something I had read in a much earlier comic. Compare the two panels below:


Sound familiar? The first panel is from New X-Men, issue 34 (Marvel, February 2007), pg. 9. The bottom panel is from Northstar issue 1 (Marvel, April 1994), pg. 1. Both of these are attempts to discuss the sexuality of other comic book characters, and yet both sentences cut off, leaving the reader to only image what might have been said instead. While nearly fourteen years have passed between these two issues, why are their dialogue choices so exceedingly similar?

I am not trying to make this article into an overview of gay characters in Marvel Comics, but to answer the question I have posed, it is necessary to briefly look into the history of the character Northstar. From his earliest appearances in the 1983 series Alpha Flight, author John Byrne always wanted to make Northstar a gay character. This was prevented by the editors and the comic code (which still contained a clause against "sex perversion"), and so was accomplished through various hints and subtle references. In 1992 Northstar was finally allowed to officially "come out", and he did so in Alpha Flight #106. After this landmark issue, his sexuality was almost completely ignored. The four issue Northstar mini-series followed in 1994, and this is from where I took that second image.

Many fans who read this mini-series have attacked it for not mentioning Northstar's homosexuality at all. However, I have also read it and have come to a different conclusion. The entire series is about his homosexuality. Although there is a basic plotline about Northstar being involved in a series of Canadian terrorist bombings, the main villain of this mini-series is clearly attacking him for being gay. It is true that he is never actually described as being gay, and this is where the fans critique lies. However, the references and hints are so overwhelming that there is no other possible conclusion. Clearly Simon Furman, the author of this mini-series, wanted to write a story about Northstar's homosexuality and was prevented at explicitly saying Northstar was gay, perhaps by editors who were scared at reigniting controversy.

Fast forward thirteen years to that first panel from New X-Men. The character Victor is talking about two unidentified members of Young Avengers. Two of those characters, Tommy and Billy, are gay. (Victor himself is also gay, which only adds to the interest). This cut-off sentence is clearly about them. (Which other two members would have something in common that he would mention?) So why the subtlety? Why the hints and oblique references?



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