# Impact (and placement) of gay male characters in comics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 21, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impact-and-placement-of-gay-male-characters-in-comics/313399 "2005-07-21T01:45:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impact-and-placement-of-gay-male-characters-in-comics/313399/21 "2005-07-22T15:44:36Z")
> [@ddgryphon](#): > > While it doesn’t “ruin” the character slapping something on a pre-existing character that isn’t an existing part of the continuity is bothersome and poor writing. And before I’m accused of being vile and whatever, I really had no problem with Northstar, or, in 1602 in which Warren (who is different than the Warren we know) was attracted to Jean Gray while he believed her to be a boy. Shit, man, I had Colossus pegged as gay by the third TPB. I don’t think it was any kind of a retcon - it was planned from the beginning of the Ultimate storyline. (Now, if only my gaydar worked as well in real life as it does on comic book characters…) ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impact-and-placement-of-gay-male-characters-in-comics/313399/22 "2005-07-22T16:14:17Z")
Northstar was queer as a three-dollar bill from the very beginning of Alpha Flight. **Reloy**. He wasn’t out, but he was obviously written to be gay. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impact-and-placement-of-gay-male-characters-in-comics/313399/23 "2005-07-22T16:27:09Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > Northstar was queer as a three-dollar bill from the very beginning of Alpha Flight. **Reloy**. He wasn’t out, but he was obviously written to be gay. > > –Cliffy Really, I gotta say I don’t see it. Not that I don’t believe you, but I must have missed it. But my problem with Northstar wasn’t his gayness (or lack of it) no matter when it was concieved by the writers. My problem is that, after Marvel announced it’s first major gay character (complete with press releases to newspapers across the country), they had to clean him up to ignore anything that made him slightly unpleasant. Heck, his meanness is waht made him interesting in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impact-and-placement-of-gay-male-characters-in-comics/313399/24 "2005-07-22T17:48:57Z")
> [@Reloy3](#): > > Really, I gotta say I don’t see it. Not that I don’t believe you, but I must have missed it. I don’t have my AFs in front of me, but there were a number of veiled references throughout the series. Off the top of my head I remember we met an older gentleman from Northstar’s past (killed by Deadly Ernest in about issue 10) and the implication was that they had been lovers, Aurora on at least one occasion made reference to Northstar’s not objecting to having scantily clad men about, and so on. Then of course there was the aborted AIDS storyline. Northstar exhibited a number of AIDS-like symptoms but the story got changed to he and Aurora were half-elves and he was developing an allergy to the Earth. Northstar ended up living in Asgard for a while. Yes, it was every bit as stupid as it sounds and was revealed to be a total lie about 20 issues later. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impact-and-placement-of-gay-male-characters-in-comics/313399.md?page=1)