Better Than Human: The Northstar Appreciation Thread

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(Alpha Flight #24 - John Byrne, July 1985)

I’m not a fan of Bill Mantlo’s stint on Alpha Flight, but there’s one thing I absolutely respect him for when it comes to his time on the book: he didn’t drop the subtext. All references to Jean-Paul’s homosexuality could have easily ended with Byrne’s last issue of Alpha Flight, but Mantlo had enough respect for what had come before to take up what was essentially a thankless task and continue dropping hints (or anvils, as the case may be).

One of Byrne’s underlying story threads that Mantlo made explicit concerned Northstar’s attraction to Sasquatch. Yeah, Byrne had even more soap opera going on than met the eye – both twins were conflicted about Sasquatch for different reasons. Jeanne-Marie was disgusted with him for using her body without permission, Aurora adored him as her lover. Jean-Paul despised him for intruding on his sister’s affections, but was attracted to him as a man. And we get the first real indications of the latter in AF #24.

The lead up to this was that Walter “Stupidest Smart Guy in the MU” Langkowski – aka Sasquatch – had finally had his personality subsumed by the evil god Tanaraq, the actual the source of his superpowers, and Snowbird had to put him down. But his friends weren’t going to be so quick to give him up, so they decided to hike into the realm of the Great Beasts to get his soul back.

Jean-Paul still wanted nothing to do with Alpha Flight at this point, but he didn’t have much choice: first Shaman’s daughter magically compelled him to show up for the field trip, then Snowbird mind-snared him when he told them to piss off and tried to leave. (Again, is it any wonder he was never enthusiastic about this team?) Once inside the spirit realm, Shaman revealed that part of the ritual to revive Walter required someone who loved Walter to participate, which would be Aurora, and also someone who hated him, which accounted for Jean-Paul’s presence.

And then we get the panel above, where Jean-Paul starts sputtering and tripping over his denials.

Further hints of his feelings for Langkowski are displayed when Alpha Flight believes that their mission has failed, and Walter is lost to them. Unnoticed by the rest of the team, Jean-Paul mourns in the background. This is unexpected given the blatant animosity between him and Walter and Jean-Paul’s general unwillingness to spare the feelings of those around him with polite pretense. And when there’s a chance to restore Walter to the world of the living by transferring his soul into Roger Boch’s advanced armor, Jean-Paul is the one who dashes forward, rushing to get Bochs clear so Shaman can perform the transfer.

(Though I suppose that does raise the question: did things fall apart because of the nature of the Great Beasts’ realm, or because Shaman got the mix of love and hate wrong?)

Mantlo all but confirms what Byrne hinted at later in AF #28, when the twins thought Walter had been killed for good, and then actually does confirm Jean-Paul’s attraction after Walter’s return as “Wanda” in AF #46.

This is not particularly subtle writing on Mantlo’s part. Jean-Paul’s confession in AF #46 is probably the closest we get to explicit assertion of his homosexuality prior to Lobdell penning his infamous coming-out scene some years later in AF #106. It’s a bit surprising that Mantlo was allowed to get away with either scene, especially the last bit. Of course, it’s also possible the difference between how blatant Mantlo was vs Byrne’s more subtle hints was less a matter of editorial interference - or oversight - than it was just a difference in writing style. But more thoughts on that later.

Next time: The Gift!

(Previous entries are here)

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Northstar and Kyle in Dueling Geek Shirts by Jerry Loomis. Jerry's DA gallery is very NSFW (hence no link), but his contact info is on the art.

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Transplanting an older post since I'll probably need to expand the ToC soon.

Major Spoilers posts a list of Top 10 Northstar moments.


An addendum/minor rebuttal to the list.

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Northstar doodle by carolyaza

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Northstar by Dima Ivanov. The artist has commissions open at the moment, with reasonable rates.

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That time Northstar got name-dropped in the Scottish Parliament (c. 2012):

“That the Parliament welcomes the news that the Marvel comic, X-Men, will feature its first same-sex marriage, which will feature Northstar, believed to be the first openly gay comic superhero; understands that, in 1992, Marvel was the first comic publisher to reveal a gay superhero; notes that Northstar is not the first gay character to have had a same-sex marriage in the comic book world, and agrees that same-sex marriage should not be restricted to the world of literature and fantasy.”

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Nation X #2: LDR by Tim Fish

When Marvel finally figured out that the world wouldn’t end if two men were implied to have sex. With each other.

Shocking, I know.

So Northstar finally got laid. Tim Fish apparently got some notes back on the size of his bulge, though.

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In response to whether or not any of Iceman's LGBT friends would be showing up in the solo:



I'm really, really, really hoping Jean-Paul and Kyle are on that list. There are so many ways that interaction could go. Reassuring, humorous, painfully awkward... XD

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So that's why Northstar was hardly in the "Frozen" arc... he would have solved the problem way too quickly.
(Panels from Astonishing X-Men #65 and #51, respectively.)

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Northstar by Mike Perkins

I never was the biggest fan of that costume. It seemed way too busy.

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Northstar by Sean Izaakse

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Northstar by dalish-ious

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Incredible Hulk #418. One of the only times we got to see Jean-Paul showing interest in another guy before he joined the X-Men.

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Northstar and Aurora’s Age of Apocalypse designs.

This gets my vote for the most ridiculous the Beaubier twins have ever looked, and that’s including any X-babies incarnations, 90’s Alpha Flight, and that issue spent fighting a giant NA stereotype.

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Northstar and Aurora’s Age of Apocalypse designs.

This gets my vote for the most ridiculous the Beaubier twins have ever looked, and that’s including any X-babies incarnations, 90’s Alpha Flight, and that issue spent fighting a giant NA stereotype.

To be fair, almost everyone looked like this in the 90's... super thin legs, massive hair, pouches, etc...