The New X-Men Series Has Two Gay Characters ... Will It Amount to Anything?

-- Lyle Masaki from AfterElton.com

 

For anyone who has been reading superhero comics, complaining about the abundance of comics tied to the X-Men franchise is a familair pastime. However, for gay readers, there just may be reason to pay attention to one new series, Young X-Men.

Young X-Men is the latest X-book to focus on younger mutants and one of the heroes featured in Young X-Men is Anole, a gay character whose outing was nixed in 2003 but was eventually outed in 2006. Anole isn't the only gay mutant in Young X-Men, however.

Find out about the new gay after the break!

 

One of the new characters in Young X-Men is Jonas Greymalkin, a character whose history was revealed with a story in X-Men: Manifest Destiny #3. It turns out that Greymalkin is over 200 years old and his powers were activated soon after his father realized that Jonas was gay. Furious, Jonas was beaten unconscious by his father and buried alive. Fortunately for Jonas, his powers (which include invulnerability) work best in darkness and, therefore, were well suited to surviving being buried alive. Jonas spent the last 200 years in a state of suspended animation, a time that ended when Jonas' grave was disturbed and he was thrown back into the modern world.

 

Greymalkin and Anole

 

The Manifest Destiny story where we learn of Greymalkin's sexual orientation ends with his teammate Anole offering a few understanding words. This could definitely be interesting, even if we're not headed towards a romance between the two. With the small number of gay superheroes out there, camaraderie between gay characters is as rare as same-sex couples.

Back when the X-Men first made their move to San Francisco, there were rumblings about a new gay character coming, though I admit I was hoping that would happen in one of the more prominent X-Men titles.

What do you think? Does this make Young X-Men a title to check out? Also, after Young Avengers, is "Young" on the verge of becoming code for gay-inclusiveness, much like "Adventures" became a sign of an all-ages comic? If so, sign me up for a Young Justice revamp at DC.