Well, right on cue for sales and ratings heaven,
the second big-deal gay marriage in comics (Kevin Keller's
in "Life with Archie" # 16 sold out earlier this year)
will be celebrated in
Astonishing X-Men # 51 in a few months.
(In case you've been living under a rock.)
Not exactly the eye-opener or the standard-setter
Marvel would like folks to believe with their Lee-styled
self-promotion. If the 'Kevin Keller' Archie character
hadn't been sales GOLD last year, this would surely
not have happened.
(And, if I seem nonplussed by the 'achievement,' forgive me.
I'm painfully aware of how quickly the pendulum can shift
in comics. I was there for dreadful years of avoiding
the matter in the 1980s, the bullshit homophobic-decree from
Shooter that made Northstar a friggin' 'faerie' to
avoid a gay character, the 'AIDS-like' disease they
struck him with, his death, etc. Yeah, yeah...Alpha Flight # 106.
I know.)
But, just as everyone from TV execs to car makers
have discovered, gay content is a big seller now.
And, also, not the social stigmace was,
since youth--those with the more expendable income--
are less concerned about such things.
Now, I like Jean-Paul (Northstar,) but have not found
an X-Men comic worth reading for some time. So,
his boyfriend Kyle, steady dating, the engagement,
etc. were not known to me. But the wedding, while
not completely inconceivable, does seem far-fetched
and very conveniently-timed. (DOMA, DADT, Presidential
proclamations, North Carolina--and every other state
in the Union-- Prop 8, election year, etc.)
This is not so much a supportive gesture from the
suits as it is a desire to ride the gravy train, I'm sure.
(Controversy and sensationalism sell;
there really is no such thing as bad publicity, especially
in a sagging sales market. Well, except maybe hanging
out with Trump, but I digress.)
Still,
hopefully it will be done tastefully and well, and will give
some exposure/education to those in need.
And, thanks up front to the One Million Morons for
boycotting the issue, making certain it will become
an even more phenomenal sales success.
Learn much, bitches?
****************************
