Better Than Human: The Northstar Appreciation Thread

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Cross-posted from my blog:



(Alpha Flight #1 (v.1) - John Byrne, 1983)

Good morning friends and gentlefolk. I thought I'd start doing light dissections of the various allusions to Jean-Paul Beaubier's homosexuality, because that's the kind of thing that I do when my adoration for a character outstrips my ability to mind-control editors into giving him a solo series. Let's start from the top, shall we?

Jeanne-Marie, on being caught having Jean-Paul up to her room for tea, tries to explain why the rule about men in the nuns' living quarters don't apply to him. Her first approach is to deny that Jean-Paul is a man, then to say that he's her brother. This could just be a stuttering redundancy on Jeanne-Marie's part. It's also possible that her first instinct was to deny that her companion could have interest in any woman before realizing that 1) telling the nun that Jean-Paul is queer won't go over any better than his being a potential lover and 2) framing her brother's sexuality in terms of his not being a complete man probably isn't a statement she wants to finish when he’s standing right there. Hence switching gears and revealing that they're family. (And, really, given some of the attitude she and Aurora display toward Jean-Paul's sexuality later, I'm guessing more the former than the latter.)

Credit where credit is due, this isn't a reading I latched onto myself. I was clued into this one by Ben Bolling, a UNC professor who penned "The US HIV/AIDS Crisis and the Negotiation of Queer Identity in Superhero Comics, or, Is Northstar Still a Fairy" (full text available in this volume). I'm really very fond of this interpretation because I like the layers it gives the conversation. The twins have only known about each other for a relatively short time at this point, less than two years, and they still wind up hurting each other on a regular basis, even when they're sincerely trying to be supportive. So Jeanne-Marie being so unused to having family that it's not the first explanation she goes for and Jean-Paul undercutting her unintentional insult by showing he's man enough to get a nun twitterpated, merci very much, is both in-character and, from my POV, a lot more fun of a read. Plus it's a decent explanation for Jean-Paul’s transition in attitude from when he arrives, all tolerance and autograph signings, to just after, where he’s in a considerably worse mood.

[Anduinel]

Next up, Alpha Flight #7.

This installment got a lot wordier than I had intended, so I'm afraid I'll just have to link it.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Northstar and Aurora by Mike Deodato Jr.

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Northstar and Aurora by Mike Deodato Jr.

Very nice!

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David Yardin, SDCC 2009

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Amazon.com currently has the John Byrne Alpha Flight Omnibus up for pre-order. This collection will feature some of Northstar's very early adventures. We're not just talking about the UXM #120 stuff, the author list suggests we'll be getting reprints of stuff like the Beaubier twins and Sasquatch making a guest appearance in Machine Man.



So this should be interesting. I wonder if they'll correct the coloring on the twins' hair.

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Northstar papercraft by yutaan

[kevlon]

I miss Northstar. Another mutant amongst the legions that left the X-men because they couldn't stand Storms leadership.

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I miss Northstar. Another mutant amongst the legions that left the X-men because they couldn't stand Storms leadership.

Well, we don't necessarily know that it's Storm's fault he's not around. He might have thought Cyclops had a better point. He might have thought they were both idiots and distanced himself from the X-Men in general. Jean-Paul has a history of deliberately putting himself on the outside of any group he's a part of; even though he seemed to get along pretty well with the X-Men, it wasn't that long before he moved out of the school. (Of course, being killed by one of his co-workers might also have had something to do with that.) But I guess we'll find out if he ever shows up again.

[Anduinel]

Cross-posted:



Alpha Flight #8 (1984) - John Byrne

Here we have another potential reference to Jean-Paul's sexuality. This is the second time this we've seen the insinuation come from Jean-Paul's sister, though in this case, it's the Aurora aspect, not Jeanne-Marie, the core personality.

On first read, it's easy to take this as Aurora berating her brother simply for being a shit, except that she's emphasizing that he's a hypocrite specifically for looking down on her choice lovers. ("You of all people DARE to pass judgement on MY love life?!") This is the first hint we've even gotten that Northstar has a love life at all, and for Aurora, a free-spirited flirt, to get her hackles up about her brother's hypocrisy in this particular area implies a few possibilities:

1) Jean-Paul has no room to judge her because he's just as bad when it comes to romancing his way out of difficult situations. That one's quite unlikely. We've seen that Jean-Paul can be charming, but by and large, his personality leans toward battering ram.

2) Jean-Paul has no room to judge her because he's just as loose with women as he claims she is with men. This gets shot down in Alpha Flight #10, when Hudson notes that Jean-Paul doesn't seem to have any interest in his female groupies (more on that later).

3) Jean-Paul has no room to judge her because whatever his love life is, it's by nature more scandalous than hers could be. This is the strongest possibility we’ve got, if only because there's nothing in Jean-Paul's personality or the text that refutes it. And given that the first part of this story contained a bucket of queer subtext, there's certainly a strong hint as to Aurora's meaning.

Something else I'd like to address about this panel is the amount of shit Aurora gets from readers because she lashes out at Northstar, while Northstar’s own poor behavior gets largely smoothed over. Yes, Northstar did have a rough time in this story. His father-figure was killed in front of him, and, for extra guilt, the death can partially be laid at Jean-Paul's feet because he kept his speed under wraps in front of Danielle. His sister was kidnapped and he was powerless to stop it. He got concussed two times in ten pages when he tried to rescue her and didn't even get to avenge Raymonde at the end of it all. So yes, my boy's had a shitty day and probably needs a hug.

But what about Aurora? She watched someone die and was kidnapped by his murderer, a man who could kill with a touch. She kept her head long enough to figure out what his scheme was, she kept him talking while she waited for back-up, and she kept him from killing Jean-Paul when said back-up charged in without a plan. She also figured out Danielle's part in Raymonde's murder and brought her to justice. And what does she get at the end of it all? Her brother calls her a slut.

Sorry, but if Northstar gets a pass for his misogyny due to the turmoil of the day, Aurora doesn't deserve any less of one for her homophobia.

Next time: James MacDonald Hudson is a jerk!

[Anduinel]

"All work and no play, Kyle..." A commission by Adelruna. The image cropped to make it more on the SFW side.

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Cross-posted:



Alpha Flight #10 - John Byrne (1984)

Ah, yes. The Northstar origin short, AKA “James MacDonald Hudson and The Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Sales Pitch”.

The hint regarding Jean-Paul’s homosexuality this time around is pretty straight forward: he’s not interested in women. What I find more interesting is where that takes the scene when the exchange is read in-context.

Just about everyone else in Alpha Flight has Mac come to them about joining the team or gets the offer on neutral ground, and it’s always framed in terms of there being some benefit to the recruit. The Beaubier twins are the exceptions. Aurora is brought in by Wolverine, but still always sees AF as a rescue from the drudgery and abuse of Madame DuPont’s. Jean-Paul, however, gets a summons to Parliament Hill, where he’s met by an underling. He’s then escorted to Mac’s office in the super-secret Dept H section below the building. Mac then brings up Jean-Paul’s recently-revealed heritage (note that despite “recently” being two months prior, the fact that JP has a sister has been withheld), questioning his choice to accept it so quickly. Basically, everything Mac does seems designed to make Jean-Paul feel at a disadvantage going in. (Bravo to the speedster for zero fucks given, tho’.) Then he reveals just how much digging he’s been doing into Jean-Paul’s past and pairs it with an offer that has no question mark in it – it’s an “I want” not “would you?”

Essentially, Mac’s approach is to make it clear that he has all the power in this encounter, he lets Jean-Paul know he has the means to out him as a mutant and end his career, then he makes his pitch. Putting all that together, “…the women don’t seem to have interested you overmuch” comes across less as an idle observation and more as added pressure. Mac wouldn’t need to out Jean-Paul as both gay and a mutant, as either one would sink him, but given how Mac has been stacking the odds in his favor, he probably wouldn’t be above dropping a hint about just how thoroughly he’s done his research. So it’s a small wonder that Jean-Paul blows him off without evidencing the slightest bit of interest in Alpha Flight before Aurora comes into the picture. Why in the world would he want to work for someone who had just no-so-subtly threatened to out him on multiple fronts?

Now, I don’t think that’s how Byrne intended this scene to be read. He thought that Mac was boring (hence killing him off within a year of the series’ launch), but seems to present him as the well-meaning heroic sort, and heroes don’t go in for blackmail. Northstar is probably intended to come off looking the worse of the two for being unpleasant and self-interested. But as a queer reader, I remember that my reaction after reading through this story a couple of times was, “JFC, did Hudson just threaten to out Northstar if he didn’t join up?! No wonder he has a chip on his shoulder.” So yeah, between that and Mac’s decisions about Aurora joining the team, I usually give Mac Hudson’s overall leadership capabilities some serious side-eye.

ETA: Adding commentary from a Canadian buddy of mine for cultural context:

"Essentially, Mac’s approach is to make it clear that he has all the power in this encounter, he lets Jean-Paul know he has the means to out him as a mutant and end his career, then he makes his pitch"

This is so right. There is an excellent possibility that Byrne did mean for that to come across though.

Byrne wrote this in the aftermath of the patriation and amending of our constitution where Quebec was (most likely) excluded from key negotiations that provided the final draft. The relationship between Quebec and the rest of Canada was at the forefront of Canadian consciousness and that relationship had often been a shitty and oppressive one for Quebec. Since confederation, ‘proper’ Anglophone Protestant Canada had often viewed Roman Catholic Quebec with contempt and outright hate, and the province was often treated like a lesser partner.

So James summons the French-Canadian to Ottawa, denies him the dignity of a fair offer he gave all the English-speaking Canucks, gives him a lecture that belittles JPs accomplishments, and then makes it clear Jean-Paul needs to prove his worth to him and to Canada. Blech. It’s Canadian Anglo/Franco relations writ small.

So maybe Byrne intentionally reflected that dynamic?

Of course, Byrne could honestly been of the view that James WAS being well-meaning and heroic. But if that’s the case, it doesn’t mean any of the above is isn’t still a part of the scene as Byrne might have been subject to a lot of the same prejudices many anglophone Canadians have regarding Quebec and those from Quebec.

Not quite sure where I’m going with this except to say that you’re reading of James as dishing out threats is spot on. He’s an ass.

Such a shame he didn’t stay dead.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Northstar by Phil Jimenez http://www.comicsreporter.com/index...._phil_jimenez/

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That first one is by David Yardin. But yes, many happy returns to a talented AF fan!

[MasterOfMagnetism]

I read the short Northstar origin story years ago. I remember being shocked when Northstar thought to himself that he never thought he'd come to Parliament unless he had a bomb with him, I wasn't aware that he had been a member of the FLQ. It's so stupid when you think about how the character was allowed to be a terrorist but couldn't be openly gay.