Today marks the day that Astonishing X-Men #51 lands on comic book store shelves, and while comic book weddings are a typical event in fiction, this issue marks an important point in comics history for more than just a typical “a character marries their long-term steady” kind of way. It’s the first gay wedding from a major comic book company on a major team. There has been a lot of debate and discussion on this subject in the news, the blogosphere, heck, even the comments section and facebook page for our own site here, all covering various points of view. Some see the X-Man Northstar’s wedding to his boyfriend Kyle as a sales stunt, some see it as asinine. Others view it as brave and others still view it as terrible and immoral. Even though all of these points of view have been expressed, at the end of the day the fact that this is happening, stunt or not, does matter and it matters to more than just gay adults and gay teens. It matters to everyone.In the practice of full disclosure, I have to confess a personal interest in this. As a gay man myself, comic books were my escape as a child. It was comforting and exciting to dive into a world full of costumed heroes, bigger than life villains, and problems that helped me get away from the harassment and teasing that for some reason found me as a gay middle schooler, not sure back then what made me different. Batman, the Flash, Wonder Woman, the X-Men, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four were my favorites then, and many of those are still now to this day. I see them in a different light now as an adult, and I can’t help but see the political elements that have always been present in comics, not just where gay characters are concerned.
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