Stories That Make You Go "Awww!": Astonishing X-Men #51

[northstarfan]

My "awwwwww" entry for December is Northstar's wedding from Astonishing X-Men #51. (Six pages and a panel from Astonishing X-Men #51, one panel from #52.)






While I have a laundry list of complaints about how Marvel handled both the wedding itself and the relationship between Jean-Paul and Kyle leading up to the event, when all's said and done, I still wound up liking this a lot. (And it helps that Liu looks to be exploring the real-world hurdles that come after a same-sex marriage instead of treating it as an automatic happy ending once the couple says "I do".)

For one thing, I appreciated that, for the first time in years, Aurora got a character moment with her brother that wasn't ableist, victimizing, or involved her being physically abusive toward Jean-Paul. Writers have an unfortunate tendency to write Jeanne-Marie as the sort of character who is massively uncomfortable to read about and never seem to be able to show that she gives a damn about her brother unless it's life-or-death stakes, so, as long-time fan of the Beaubier twins, these pages were very welcome.








Then there's Kyle. Despite the fact that the writers keep putting him in the position of damsel-in-distress, I like the guy. He's trying to navigate the weirdness of the X-Men without pushing Northstar to reject it, a decent foil to Northstar's snark, as stubborn as his husband (although, blessedly, less abrasive), and a successful, queer, POC on top of it. And, although I still think that Jean-Paul would see marriage as too assimilationist, I can't deny that seeing the twice-orphaned, terminal loner who's lost so many of the people he cares about over the years get his guy made me wibble just a bit. (All right, a lot. There might have been sniffling involved.)








And then Marjorie Liu blew up Wolverine, and it was the best wedding ever.

Comments

[lucky_gamble]

Ah you jerk, you beat me to the punch. I was debating which scans to use when I saw this lol

It was a cute issue, especially that Rogue moment where she wonders out loud on whether Mystique and Destiny would still be family if they would've only made it official. That made me wibble.

Not the strongest story, or art, but enjoyed it immensely.

[auggie18]

that Rogue moment where she wonders out loud on whether Mystique and Destiny would still be family if they would've only made it official.

*wibble*


Oh man, right in my feelings.

Right in my feelings.

[northstarfan]

Hey, if you want to post the night flight from AXM #49, please don't let me stop you! ;)

[q99]

-
It was a cute issue, especially that Rogue moment where she wonders out loud on whether Mystique and Destiny would still be family if they would've only made it official. That made me wibble. -

Aw, they did that?

I'mma say 'aw' again.

Aw!

[drmcninja]

No, that Wolverine is an imposter. Looks, he's tall, handsome, and has no chest hair. It's just a cheap imposter.

[thistleburr]

Agreed! Some kind of tall, non-hairy doppelganger.

[shadowpsykie]

well in that scene he also has no chest so....

[raspberryrain]

So, it's Hugh Jackman?

[greenmask]

:']

[skemono]

*sniffs* Wolverine should blow up at every wedding.

[fiddlingfrog.livejournal.com]

It's like a pinata.

[northstarfan]

Made of meat and beer!

[bradygirl_12]

Aww, this is nice! I didn't get a chance to grab the issue so I'm happy to see these scans.

On the DC side, I'd love to see Dick and Roy tie the knot. Bruce and Ollie as in-laws would be just too grand! ;)

[raspberryrain]

Uhhh...

[auggie18]

Someone blowing up at a wedding? Are we sure Northstar isn't really Dick Grayson in disguise?

[northstarfan]

Let's see...white male, dark hair, blue eyes, orphaned, has a history of hanging out with circus folks, nice ass, ambiguous relationship with father figure...

And I am pretty sure we've never seen Northstar and Nightwing in the same place at the same time...

[bmaryott]

I wonder how long it will be before they're either shelved permanently, retconned, "revealed to have been mind controlled" or one of them is refrigerated as "it's too hard to write married heroes.

Dueling cyncism!

[northstarfan]

Considering all the fuss that Marvel made in the press about their FIRST GAY WEDDING, combined with the tendency of "it's too hard to write married heroes/married life ages heroes" to be weasel-speak for "we think marriage makes our A & B-List heroes less marketable" and Northstar is a seldom-used hero who's not likely to end up on a collectable Burger King glass anyway, I'd say they're safe for about five years.

Re: Dueling cyncism!

[bmaryott]

Depends who's writing/editing I supposed. The might decide to kill them both with "the AIDS" because you know all gays die of is "the AIDS".

I forgot for the the time honored "We forgot about it" trick of undoing things. Kind of like "Say, weren't you an elf at one point?"

Re: Dueling cyncism!

[northstarfan]

They tried that. It didn't take.

The elf business wasn't forgotten, it was explained away as Loki being (surprise!) a liar.

[janegray]

This was really a great scene :D

[northstarfan]

The twins or the wedding? Either way, yes! ;)

[janegray]

Both are nice, but I especially loved the twins one, it's so incredibly rare to see Aurora say "but you are my brother and I love you."

[selke]

I am not liking the art much, but the writing... The bobble head... So sweet. :D

[northstarfan]

I'm kind of relieved at that reaction, really. Liu's run isn't perfect, but there's been so much hate for this book that it's ridiculous.

[selke]

It's kind of hard to live up to the early run, I think. It's apples and oranges.

[northstarfan]

When the detractors are referring to Kyle as "the black grrfriend" and the "the black unwife", I somehow doubt that it's the fact that Liu isn't Joss Whedon is what these guys are unhappy with.

So yeah, just happy for a forum where people can be critical without being assholes (or trying to outdo the people who are being assholes).

[selke]

Ugh. Sometimes I hate people.