Lumineux Pouvoir

I was at a comic book store with some friends today and they had these flyers that were invitations. I picked it up to see two men surrounded by the x-men, holding hands and exchanging vows. A gay wedding? Could this be real? I then had to look it up and came across this:

Marvel Comics Hosts First Gay Wedding in ‘Astonishing X-Men’

Back in 1992, Marvel Comics made headlines by revealing that Northstar, a Canadian superhero associated with Alpha Flight and the X-Men, was gay. Twenty years later, the character is back in the news as he is set to wed his longtime partner Kyle in Astonishing X-Men #51, in stores on June 20th.

“When gay marriage became legal in New York State, it raised obvious questions since most of our heroes reside in New York State. Northstar is the first openly gay character in comics and he’s been in a longterm relationship with his partner Kyle so the big question was – how would this change his relationship?,” says Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Axel Alonso. “Our comics are always best when they respond to and reflect developments in the real world. We’ve been doing that for decades, and this is just the latest expression of that.”

As an X-Man, Northstar routinely fights against bigotry, as he is a mutant, and mutants are the most feared minority group in the Marvel Universe. Astonishing X-Men writer Marjorie Liu looked to Northstar’s relationship with Kyle as a way to write an inspiring story about characters who feel like outsiders even among outsiders. “Here are two people, trying to live their lives – mutant and gay, black and gay – empowered in their own ways, but also fringe-dwellers,” says Liu. “And they’re making it happen. They’re living life on their own terms. It doesn’t matter that it’s a superhero comic, the message is: You can do the same thing.”

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