Better Than Human: The Northstar Appreciation Thread

[Cold Water]

Going to be ordering some Northstar-specific reads today (or tomorrow), besides Alpha Flight, where should I start?
I've seen the list, but what is the most vital, BEST, and most specific reads I should start with? Doesn't have to be in order, exactly, unless that is most important, I just want his best reads.
Anyone wanna help a girl out?

[Anduinel]

Going to be ordering some Northstar-specific reads today (or tomorrow), besides Alpha Flight, where should I start?
I've seen the list, but what is the most vital, BEST, and most specific reads I should start with? Doesn't have to be in order, exactly, unless that is most important, I just want his best reads.
Anyone wanna help a girl out?

I guess it depends on what you're looking for? For my own taste, if you want to get the best overall sense of Northstar's core character, Alpha Flight (v. 1) #1, 7 & 8, 10 (for his origin), 21 & 22, X-Men/Alpha Flight: The Gift, and Marvel Fanfare #28. I think that runs the full gamut of snarky, arrogant, and spiteful but also loyal, determined, and vulnerable. Plus it gives a lot of his background. I think you've read most of those, though, so is there anything else you're curious about?

[Cold Water]

I guess it depends on what you're looking for? For my own taste, if you want to get the best overall sense of Northstar's core character, Alpha Flight (v. 1) #1, 7 & 8, 10 (for his origin), 21 & 22, X-Men/Alpha Flight: The Gift, and Marvel Fanfare #28. I think that runs the full gamut of snarky, arrogant, and spiteful but also loyal, determined, and vulnerable. Plus it gives a lot of his background. I think you've read most of those, though, so is there anything else you're curious about?

I don't think I've read the Marvel Fanfare #28 with him. I will try to get that.

Was it his solo/mini you said was really bad?

I will look at the list again. Thanks!

I thought there were more specific, character-telling reads for him than that.
I know there is Astonishing X-Men, which I have digitally (but haven't read yet), so I may order that in paper.

[Anduinel]

Was it his solo/mini you said was really bad?

Well, it might be good for a laugh. But so far as character development goes, it's largely trash. The TL;DR version is that it is simply backwards on every level -- it makes Northstar's already Very Comic Book past even more convoluted and, despite the fact that this is post AF #106, we're back to mincing around his sexuality, even though the main bad guy's motivation is to kill Northstar for being an "unclean abomination". Toothless, spineless, and only worth picking up if you can get it very cheap.

I thought there were more specific, character-telling reads for him than that.
I know there is Astonishing X-Men, which I have digitally (but haven't read yet), so I may order that in paper.

For more recent character development, there's the Chuck Austen era, which really only includes the "Hope" and "Day of the Atom" tpbs if you're looking for Northstar to get to do much. "Wolverine: Enemy of the State" has some bits with him brainwashed, so don't know how far you'd count that toward character development. Academy X #13 is probably worth a look for the aftermath of his death. He has a significant (though not large) role in Mike Carey's "Supernovas". There's Alpha Flight v.4, which treats Northstar pretty well (and everyone else horribly). Astonishing does concentrate heavily on his relationship with Kyle, so that's worth grabbing the "Northstar" and "Weaponized" trades there, but there's not a lot for him to do outside of the wedding storyline.

[Cold Water]

You know...since the X-franchise refuses to use Quicksilver for anything other than X-Factor, I really think they should utilize Northstar more. Instead of just tossing him in to be of help for 5 seconds to some other important character, why don't they make him a super huge player on some x-team?
He's a freaking air speedster.
I really hope K/Y make great use of him in their Amazing run.
I really hate that he's been just a team face, mostly, so far in it.

And thanks again, I'll be checking out quite a few of those.

[Anduinel]

You know...since the X-franchise refuses to use Quicksilver for anything other than X-Factor, I really think they should utilize Northstar more. Instead of just tossing him in to be of help for 5 seconds to some other important character, why don't they make him a super huge player on some x-team?
He's a freaking air speedster.
I really hope K/Y make great use of him in their Amazing run.
I really hate that he's been just a team face, mostly, so far in it.

And thanks again, I'll be checking out quite a few of those.

I think Northstar's powers are a large part of why he doesn't get used. You'll see in most of his appearances that writers have to come up with reasons for him not to just end the fight by speed-punching half of the opposition -- even in the Byrne run, he seems to pick up a lot of convenient concussions. That is one good thing I can say about the Austen run: the characterization was sometimes very WTF, but he rarely jobbed the speedster in terms of powers. For example:

[Cold Water]

I know, it's the very same reason, I believe (for the most part, anyway, they don't hesitate to make him a bad guy in all things) they don't use Quicksilver.

It's nice to know that our favorites can bash the ever loving HELL out of bad guys with their awesome powers, but at the same time, limits might be a must. At least in some way. But I would think limits could be written for powers that don't resort to just not using a character. They could be creative and come up with a weakness.
It's not THAT difficult to do, I wouldn't think (but then again, I'm not a writer, so there's that).

And I cannot believe you have me tempted to get something Austen wrote! :P

[Anduinel]

I know, it's the very same reason, I believe (for the most part, anyway, they don't hesitate to make him a bad guy in all things) they don't use Quicksilver.

It's nice to know that our favorites can bash the ever loving HELL out of bad guys with their awesome powers, but at the same time, limits might be a must. At least in some way. But I would think limits could be written for powers that don't resort to just not using a character. They could be creative and come up with a weakness.
It's not THAT difficult to do, I wouldn't think (but then again, I'm not a writer, so there's that).

It can be difficult to write a threat that can post a challenge to a character who's operating on one scale of power without making the fight seem hopeless for everyone else (see also: Jean, Rachel, Legion, etc.). But yeah, so many of the X-Men are powerhouses, you'd think a little creativity could get around that.

And I cannot believe you have me tempted to get something Austen wrote! :P

Austen deserves the reputation he has, both for what he wrote and his attitude toward critical readers. But I do think it's pretty much impossible to find any X-Men run that has absolutely nothing to recommend it.

[Anduinel]

Part two of Kistler's LGBT comic characters retrospective is up.

[Project Initiative Cascada]

Northstar appearance in "No More Humans".





Tempus, I know pickings are slim in your corner of the woods, but seriously, he's gay and married.

Lol, love what a faghag Tempus is!

[Project Initiative Cascada]

I love that Star is happy but the way Kyle has been written makes him sound like a self centered idiot. JP could do so much better with a certain severely closeted otterpop

Agreed. JP can do much better than that racist jerk. He's definitely weighing Star down as a character. Had Christian Frost still been alive, I would've shipped those two.

[Anduinel]

Agreed. JP can do much better than that racist jerk. He's definitely weighing Star down as a character. Had Christian Frost still been alive, I would've shipped those two.

How is Kyle racist?

[Cold Water]

I totally missed something in this thread.

[Anduinel]

I totally missed something in this thread.

You didn't. I think I know which story PIC is referring to, but I want to be sure.

[Cold Water]

I CANNOT find New X-Men: Academy X in stock anywhere, and the cheap in me will NOT pay $40-$50 for it.
However, I'm breaking down and buying "The Hope". But not in TPB. I'm buying it in singles. So much cheaper.

I just ordered so many Northstar reads. And Alpha Flight things to gift people.