FIRST MAINSTREAM GAY COMIC KISS

Marvel’s X-Men spin-off comic X-Factor has featured what is said to be the first male on male romantic kiss in commercial comic history.

In issue #45, the characters Rictor and Shatterstar finally express their feelings for each other after a long-hinted at romance between the two men.

Assuring us it’s the real deal, creator Peter David commented on the kiss:

“No, it’s not a fake out. A number of people seem to be concerned that Star is still under Cortex’s control. Or that Rictor is going to freak out the next panel and say, ‘Dude, what the hell?’ That would be cheap. I don’t do cheap. Okay, sometimes I do, but not this time. I’m not interested in having people say, ‘Peter David introduced this and then chickened out.'”

Marvel comics introduced their first gay character Northstar in the early 90s, and since then there have been several more. These include Victor Borkowski and Jonas Graymalkin from Young X-Men, Karolina Dean from Runaways, and the gay teen couple Hulking and Wiccan in Young Avengers.

DC Comic’s Batgirl has also come out the superhero closet as lesbian.