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Here’s Marvel’s official PR and artwork for the gay marriage storyline, and you know…well, who doesn’t cry at a wedding? (Click for larger version)

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The X-Men, one of the world’s most popular super hero teams, have always been at the forefront of the biggest stories in comic history; and today is no different as Marvel is proud to announce the wedding that has everyone talking! Today, fans worldwide learned on ABC’s The View, that Jean-Paul Beaubier, AKA Northstar and a popular member of the X-Men, proposes to his boyfriend Kyle Jinadu in Astonishing X-Men #50, on-sale tomorrow in comic stores, on the Marvel Comics app and at the Marvel Digital Comics Shop. The creative team of New York Times best-sellers Marjorie Liu (X-23¸ the urban fantasy Hunter Kiss series and the Dirk & Steele paranormal romances) and Mike Perkins (Stephen King’s The Stand) have put Northstar and Kyle’s relationship to the test—and now they’re about to take their biggest step yet. But will their path to wedded matrimony in New York City be smooth or are there hidden dangers around the corner?
 
“The Marvel Universe has always reflected the world outside your window, so we strive to make sure our characters, relationships and stories are grounded in that reality,” said Axel Alonso, Marvel Editor in Chief. “We’ve been working on this story for over a year to ensure Northstar and Kyle’s wedding reflects Marvel’s “world outside your window” tradition.”
 
Then, on June 20th, don’t miss the wedding of Northstar and Kyle in the pages of Astonishing X-Men #51! This unforgettable issue features covers by Dustin Weaver and Marko Djurdjevic, along with a special “Create Your Own Wedding” blank variant cover! Select comic book retailers nationwide will host wedding parties at their stores  to celebrate this joyous occasion, with special items exclusively available at participating stores!
 
“The story of Northstar and Kyle is universal, and at the core of everything I write: a powerful love between two people who have to fight for it against all odds,” said Liu. “This is the quintessential Marvel story, one that blends the modern world with the fantasy of super heroes in order to tell an exciting story that begins with a wedding—and continues in ways you can’t imagine.”
  
Northstar was first introduced to comic fans in the pages of 1979’s Uncanny X-Men #120, a member of the super hero team Alpha Flight and antagonist to the popular super heroes. A gold medal winning Olympian and successful businessman, the French-Canadian super hero quickly became one of the most popular members of Alpha Flight when its ongoing series launched in 1983. In 1992’s historic Alpha Flight #106, Northstar became the first openly gay super hero when he announced his sexual identity through national media. Since then, Northstar has not only joined the X-Men but become one of their most popular new members. Northstar and Kyle have been a couple since 2009, garnering a large fan following since their first appearance together.
 
“As a long-time fan of the X-Men, it’s not only a true honor to be part of such a historically significant story but also a complete joy,” explained Perkins.
 
Don’t miss the proposal everyone’s talking in Astonishing X-Men #50, available tomorrow in comic stores, on the Marvel Comics app and at the Marvel Digital Comics Shop. And then save the date for June 20, as Northstar and Kyle tie the knot inAstonishing X-Men #51
 
ASTONISHING X-MEN #50 (MAR120623)
Written by MARJORIE LIU
Art by MIKE PERKINS
Cover by DUSTIN WEAVER
Variant Cover by JOHN CASSADAY
Sketch Variant Cover by JOHN CASSADAY
Rated T+ …$3.99
ON SALE 5/23/12
 
ASTONISHING X-MEN #51 (APR120665)
Written by MARJORIE LIU
Art by MIKE PERKINS
Cover by DUSTIN WEAVER
Variant Cover by MARKO DJURDJEVIC
Create Your Own Wedding Variant also available
Rated T+ …$3.99
FOC—5/28/12, On-Sale—6/20/12

1 COMMENT

  1. Marvel must be a little put out over the fact that DC has all the press.

    Drudgereport.com has the DC story up and nothing about poor Marvel’s gay wedding.

  2. So how long before this Kyle fellow is dead or the marriage just ceases to exist through reboot/retcon/some nonsense involving Mephisto? That is what happens to every marriage in superhero comics, isn’t it?

  3. That’s the funniest part of it, Nick – there’s not a single straight superhero in the Marvel universe who’s married to a non-superhero!

  4. Why does the guy being proposed to have that expression on his face? Take out the dialogue and wedding ring and you’d think he was being offered a beer enema or something.

  5. @Ron That’s not Storm on the cover. I don’t know who it is, as I haven’t read X-Men in quite a while, but if you look at the wrap-around cover, Storm can clearly be seen on the far right, and that other character is on the left next to the grey rocky dude.

  6. X-MEN: STILL, WHAT THE HELL? may just be the best idea for an X-title miniseries in years, Ron.

    Here’s my elevator pitch; Calvin Rankin, the Mimic, from X-MEN #19 (1966) is being courted by both Professor Xavier and Magneto as fodder for their different approach to the mutant race war the strip was born in. Both are very clearly laying out the politics of being a mutant as it was stated when X-MEN was first published. Boring for him and boring for us.

    “Something happens” and Calvin gets unhinged from the Marvel continuity in the midst of this original argument. He passes through numerous incarnations of the books long and confused continuity trying to sort out “WTF this whole thing is about” through time-travel, ret-cons, galactic battles and recurring genocides with no clear idea of who’s the good guy or who’s the bad guy. He spends like a day, invariably a pivotal day, in every odd branch of the X-continuity and still he can’t figure out why any of them bother.

    But Calvin is a Mimic and he wants very much to be on the winning side. Yet everywhere he goes the whole purpose for either of the teams just gets blurrier…

    X-MEN: STILL, WHAT THE HELL?

  7. Of course in the Marvel Universe, I think people would be more worried about mutants marrying than gays…

  8. “But will their path to wedded matrimony in New York City be smooth or are there hidden dangers around the corner?”

    $50 says “hidden dangers around the corner.” Any takers?

  9. @JamesT: “Drudgereport.com has the DC story up and nothing about poor Marvel’s gay wedding.”

    You just made me realize that the DC story (their first hero-out-of-the-closet) is a full 20 years late. That’s . . . that’s a lot of years.