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X-Factor and RicstarSo, for those not following, X-Factor celebrated its 50th issue last week, and will be jumping up to issue 200 in December with a new direction. This is if interest to AE, of course, because of Rictor and Shatterstar, two bisexual men who were finally confirmed as having had- and restarting- a romantic relationship. There wasn't much about them in this issue, since it focused on the lead character trapped in the future. But it included a preview of the new direction in #200, and Shatterstar has been made a permanent cast member, with his and Rictor's relationship prominently displayed. (For those confused by the numbering, the original series ran for 149 issues, the new one for 50. So they're combining the numbering to give the new direction a big, shiny #200 to bring attention to it.) Also, an interview question for the author, Peter David, snagged from http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=23573 3) Strong Guy's issues with Rictor's bisexuality were major fun! (And, as a gay man, I didn't find them offensive at all.) Are we going to see more of this in the future? I hope Guido doesn't get over it yet, because so far he's been comedy gold! Oh yes, definitely. I particularly like the notion that Guido considers himself to be very liberal. He would think he wouldn't be bothered by someone's sexual preferences. So he's as annoyed with himself to discover he's uncomfortable with Ric and Star's relationship as Rictor is with him because of his attitudes. It's kind of a learning experience for both of them. Submitted by Dave Doty (5089 points) (1110 posts) on Fri, 2009-11-06 06:29. |
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I might have to start
I might have to start picking this up again if 'Star is gonna stick around. I dropped it a few years ago when they just kept joking about Julio being bi.
Though to be honest, I actually prefer Julio/Jamie's gay dupe. :)
#200
I always wondered why they jumped to #200 after #50. This may be a good time to start reading it. Thanks for posting!!!
I'm kind of worried about X-Factor
I've read every issue of X-Factor since Peter David took it over and it has been one of my favorite series with or without the gay storyline.
I've been kind of annoyed with the way this has played out for Rictor and 'Star so far. Mostly just Guido (Strong Guy) making dumb straight-guy jokes and even a hint that Shatterstar might not be gay. In issue #49, when 'Star meets Val Cooper for the first time he says "I am Shatterstar" and kisses her on the mouth for no obvious reason. I'm afraid this is leading to some sort of "I'm an alien and on our planet we show love to all, be it boy or girl" type of thing. Just struck me as odd he'd kiss a female stranger on the lips for no obvious reason :-/
Having said that, I commend PD for taking up this dangling storyline and running with it, wherever it goes. I love his work on Hulk and especially X-Factor and hope he stays with the book! It deserves to have an issue #200-#400!
Shatterstar and Val Cooper
I agree that Val Cooper kiss was awkward, forced, and unfortunate, but I don't think it was for the reasons you fear. I think that was a ham-fisted and clunky way to establish Shatterstar as bisexual. (Both Rictor and Shatterstar are bi, I believe, but Rictor's romantic pursuit of Rahne earlier in the series already esptablished that for him.)
It's a poor choice of how to introduce it, but I think it's good that we're having some deliberately bi characters in comics, since they're even rarer than gay characters. (Unless we count the "accidentally" bi characters created as a byproduct of degaying gay characters with straight love interests.
It's in the nature of Strong Guy's character to play comic relief, and only have his serious side come out slowly or obliquely. He was in the original series for over a year before we learned that his powers cause him pain, but he hides that behind a cheerful facade. So I think his "straight guy humor" hides a more serious issue that will come out in time. (PAD pretty confirms in the quote above that there's more serious thought behind Strong Guy's jokes than has been stated outright on the page.)