thelostpassenger's Astonishing X-Men #51 review

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    My First Introduction to Northstar

    Prior to reading this comic book, I had never read a comic book featuring Northstar, nor had I seen any kind of X-Men adaptation featuring him, but I had definitely heard of him, as my boyfriend, who is an X-Men fan, was familiar with him, and Northstar was one of his nicknames for me. Astonishing X-Men #51 is, however, my first foray into experiencing the character for myself, and I have to say that I already really like him and want to read more of his stories. The wedding scene, even though, again, this comic book was my first official experience of Northstar (as well as his husband Kyle), was beautiful and made me tear up a bit. I don't understand what is up with Warbird, though; I am not very familiar with the character and have not read the fifty preceding issues, but she seems to be heterosexist, as she refuses to attend the wedding, saying that she cannot and will not regard the ceremony vows as legitimate. Other than that particular scene and the scene in which Havok says that he is really happy for Northstar and Kyle but can't help but think what his grandmother would have to say about the wedding, however, neither Northstar's nor Kyle's sexualities are problematized at all; the other X-Men are completely supportive of Northstar and are happy for him, which is something that I deeply appreciate, especially since one can draw a lot of parallels between X-Men and the struggles of the gay and lesbian community.

    Even though I would have appreciated it if the comic book had been a one-shot comic book rather than as part of a series since it ends with a cliffhanger, I still very much appreciate this comic book. The writing is dramatic and beautiful and really gives you in-depth views of its most prominently featured characters; the fact that I felt teary-eyed during the wedding scene even though this is the first in the series that I have read really says something. The art isn't the worst that I have seen, either, but I can't say that it is the best, either, because there are scenes in which it is kind of difficult to make out who is at the wedding. I know that there were a lot of people there, so that is to be expected, but I found out after having read the comic book that Spider-Man was apparently at the wedding, and I can only imagine that that was something that went unnoticed because he was not featured prominently enough, and if Spidey was at the wedding, that should have been something that I immediately noticed while reading the comic book for the first time. I reiterate that I have not read the preceding fifty comics, but I noticed a lack of characters such as Professor X, Jean Grey, and Cyclops, so I am guessing that this story takes place after their deaths; my ignorance longs to be forgiven since I read this comic book on its own and not together with its series. All in all, Astonishing X-Men #51 leaves little to be desired; it is a comic book that makes me feel really proud to be a fan of Marvel Comics.

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