So the new issues of X-Factor and Wolverine: First Class are out. Might be some stuff there worth discussing.
PAD
90 comments on “STASH WEDNESDAY – June 24”
Hello Peter. I’ve got to say, I’ve been a fan of your work since your early X-Factor days. Since I got back into collecting comics 20 months ago I’ve tried to pick up every X-related book I could with your name on it.
I’ve got a dilemma though and you seem like the prime person to help me. I want to send in a question to your letters column for issue #46 of X-Factor but I can’t think of a suitable question to ask. Could you perhaps point me in the direction of a good question to ask? I’m sure something will spring to mind immediately after hearing your response.
Ok, after all that’s been said, I’m gonna ask a totally shallow question just for levity’s sake:
Does anyone here think Mr Jerry Smith would’ve minded as much if it were two chicks making out instead? 😀 lol
Hello Peter,
I can’t tell you how great it is that you FINALLY laid to rest a plot that other writers have had hanging for 19 years is always appreciated. And the fact you didn’t shy away from what some close-minded people might claim is ‘controversial’ makes it all the more sweeter to read.
Truth be told when I opened the issues and saw Shatterstar and Rictor kiss, my initial reaction was a simple ‘okay’. Not because of anything bad mind you. It was only because all I saw was two characters kiss. Good for them. Didn’t matter to me if they were a man and woman or two men. The only reaction I had was really in regards to Guido’s reaction, in which I laughed because… well lets be frank, we all saw it coming.
I’ve never been a huge fan of Shatterstar or Rictor to be honest, but I did follow them out of my love of all things X-Men. And although it was annoying to go through the ‘are they?’ ‘aren’t they’ stuff, I always enjoyed the sly way previous writers HINTED at something.
And while I wasn’t standing in the comic book shop screaming “no way! really! oh my god!” I was VERY happy with how you handled it. It was hardly the horrible brow-beating vulgar thing that Mr. Smith was spout about. No, what you did was simply lovely. It was simple, and it was sweet and romantic. You and the artist treated the scene and the audience with respect. You treated them like a loving couple, no matter their gender.
The thing I find horribly ironic about Jery Smith’s comments is that he’s reading a book series about ACCEPTANCE. The X-Men is about super-heroes, true. But their core story is about being different and trying to be accepted by the world around them despite that. If he’s claiming that this book is pushing a liberal agenda in regards to gays being accepted, then what the hëll is he doing reading a book that’s about ‘people who are different being accepted’? By his own flawed opinion, any comic associated with the X-Men is pushing some sort of ‘liberal agenda’ because the ideal about accepting mutants are exactly the same as the ideals about accepting gays.
Frankly, there is no telling how much you’ve helped an entire generation of kids by having that one simple panel appear in your book. As so many gay comic fans know, its hard growing up and knowing that they’re ‘different’ (whatever the hëll that is). It never hurts to have a role model. After all, so many kids in the past has Batman, Superman. Why can’t gays have some of their own?
There is one thing I’m curious about. Rictor’s ex-girlfriend Wolfsbane. She’s a hardcore devout Catholic. Does she know that her ex is bi-sexual? And if so, I wonder how she’ll react to it. Will she be okay with it or do we end up seeing you copy and pasting Jerry Smith’s response for Rahne’s dialog?
i just wanted to drop you a note to say “thank you” for giving it to Rob Liefield.
what an áššhølë.
he should be saying thank you to you. shatterstar will always be more popular now than he ever was. ever
This is sort of off topic, but when Lyla comes back is she still going to be all grown up, so to speak. I think she works so much better as a little kid. Yeah, yeah, she and Madrox want to have sex but forced aged Layla due to a convoluted time travel story with a permanent M over her eye isn’t as cool as creepy psychic-type kid that kills people by loosening a bolt in a bath tub.
One thing I’m curious about… did you always plan Layla to grow up in this fashion (I know the Rahne killing her on her wedding day prediction) or did you get hijacked by Marvel’s event demands with “Messiah Complex”, maybe forced you to hasten your plans?
@RedRobin
Wolfsbane being a devout Catholic has a lot more to worry about than Rictor being bi… like that time she enganged in a sexual relationship with an under-aged Elixir who was also her student. Plus you know casual sex and birth control don’t really go with devout Catholicism anyway. She’s kinda, sorta, a hypocrite.
But speaking of Rahne… is she coming back to the fold any time soon or does X-Force permanently have their hands on her (despite the fact that she’s appeared in like 1 page in the past 5 months). She was used much better in the Old X-Factor
So, here’s a big ol’ fat thank you from another gay geek (there are other gay geeks?)! Not only did you have a kiss, but you treated them like people. I didn’t even see any prancing, and no one talked about fashion, drugs, or drapes. If anything, Shatterstar looks “straighter” now than he did before.
Also, what’s up with Liefeld’s calling Shatterstar gay? Has it been said he’s gay? He’s at least bisexual. It’s a slap in the face to all the bi folks out there. Just cause you kiss another dude, it doesn’t mean you can’t kiss a girl too.
Peter,
I just wanted to weigh in and say congratulations on a well-handled storyline with Rictor and Shatterstar. I can’t wait to see it evolve and thank you for tackling the issue openly.
Rictor and ‘Star are the perfect characters for this “reveal” as it draws on a long history of character development with these two. Anyone who claims these characters are not “gay, bi or queer” fails to recognize not just your prerogative as a writer, but also the very nature of gay identity, which because of the structure of the closet can go unnoticed by straight people for years.
You already had my undivided attention with X-Factor, and this only cemented my commitment to the title.
Great job and thanks again!
beautifully handled and done without fanfare or publicity. Just two characters sharing a kiss – just as it should be
The Great healer
Mr. David,
THANK YOU. Is all I can really say. This story is bringing me back to Marvel Comics, and I’ll be here to stay now.
Guess I’m the only one who wants to mention I really liked First Class #16?
I didn’t love that it dated itself with the direct references to disco (there are kids who that will confuse right off the bat) but at the same time it delivered what Wolverine First Class has been giving me so far that I like: a self-contained book I can share with the youngsters who dare enter my house, worth every penny of the cover price because you know you’re buying a whole story when you get it.
I have to admit, I don’t read X Factor. I picked up one or two at the start and saw the characters in another X Title, during a crossover. It might have been Messiah Complex but I really don’t recall. I didn’t enjoy them, to be blunt. It wasn’t anything that hooked me. I didn’t feel any connection to the characters. Granted, I’d not read enough to possibly form a good enough connection, but I just didn’t feel like these were people I could enjoy.
And so, issue after issue of X Factor came out and I didn’t even read the solicts. Until one day recently, when I was browsing Twitter. Rob Liefeld had his ‘Liefeld Incident’ at a convention and I thought that people that are quick to insult his work are often fans of Deadpool – his own creation. I thought that, after many years, and many a cancelled series, Deadpool finally got to be recognised as a great character. If only Shatterstar would get the same kind of love from the fans.
So I google Shatterstar, and discover this current X Factor story.
Now, while the X Factor crew are not ones I feel I can form a connection to, I already have a good connection to the Shatterstar character. I’m quite invested on some levels with him. Longshot, too, naturally – and was also pleased to see him in this comic.
I’ve seen complaints about the kiss from people upset about the kiss. I’ve seen complaints about the kiss from people upset about Shatterstar being part of it. I myself do not mind. No, actually, that’s a lie. I do mind. But in a positive way.
Shatterstar is 18 and a half years old. What can you say about him? Swords, big hair. His biggest story point is that he possibly has something to do with Longshot. Okay, that’s being very simplistic about his character, but it’s also true. He doesn’t have depth. This will give him that needed depth. It’s been hinted at before, a few times, but it seems to be quickly forgotten and ‘Star goes back to being a growly swordwielder.
I welcome character growth and development. I welcome a relationship that I have seen grow and develop during their X Force days, when they would vaction together. I welcome the attention this brings to homosexuals in comicbooks.
Those that say it should not exist in comics are kidding themselves. Why not? It exists in real life – you can not simply wish it not to. Why should homosexuals/bisexuals not be represented in comicbooks?
I am taken back [many years, to 1992] to Uncanny X-Men #294. In this issue Xavier addresses a crowd. More important is a letter in the letters column that followed a few issues later. A letter by Jami Johnson.
In it, he expressed his disgust at Marvel for having Xavier list homosexuals amongst men, women, black and hispanics. Mr. Johnson expressed his intense dislike of Marvel becoming ‘politically correct’ by including homosexuals. Indeed, it read very much like complaints about an ‘agenda’ from a man with an agenda. It smacked of homophobia hidden in complaints of something else.
This person, presumably never read X-Men, or any Marvel comics, again. I recall the same outcry following the release of Green Lantern 151-154 in which Kyle Rayner’s homosexual assistant Terry Berg is violently assaulted for kissing his boyfriend outside a club. The letters columns that followed were full of people saying they would never read it again, and would never allow their children to read anything DC again.
It’s both a shame, and a blessing. A blessing in that we no longer have to worry about their ranting and raving about what may happen, but also a shame because they will no longer read the opinion of a differing nature. Whether they agree with it or not, they read a different point of view that they won’t forget. It will pervade their thoughts and, hopefully, make them reconsider. It more than likely won’t, but if it even changes the mind of 0.001% of homophobes that read it, that isn’t a bad thing.
I am going to pick up X Factor upon the next issue being released, not only because Longshot and Shatterstar are in it [though that helps], but in full support of a writer that writes. A writer that, knowing full well he would have people criticising his choices, does it anyway. A writer that will cross the line because that line shouldn’t even bloody exist in the 21st century.
Thank you, PAD, for just being yourself and doing what you do best.
I am fretting and have no idea how else to easily drop you a line… but since I didn’t see your Wolverine: First Class in the latest Previews — it hasn’t been cancelled, has it? It’s one of my favorite Marvel books hands down… (I wanted to ask you in a comment on a post which is at least somewhat relevant to my question, and I hope you’ll see this!)
By the way, wholly unrelated (well, I’m sure I could find a way but I won’t try!) but I missed ConGaloosh last month, and have heard that this one-time event was indeed the last gasp of our beloved Adventurers’ Club… sigh!
• 
Hello Peter. I’ve got to say, I’ve been a fan of your work since your early X-Factor days. Since I got back into collecting comics 20 months ago I’ve tried to pick up every X-related book I could with your name on it.
I’ve got a dilemma though and you seem like the prime person to help me. I want to send in a question to your letters column for issue #46 of X-Factor but I can’t think of a suitable question to ask. Could you perhaps point me in the direction of a good question to ask? I’m sure something will spring to mind immediately after hearing your response.
Ok, after all that’s been said, I’m gonna ask a totally shallow question just for levity’s sake:
Does anyone here think Mr Jerry Smith would’ve minded as much if it were two chicks making out instead? 😀 lol
Hello Peter,
I can’t tell you how great it is that you FINALLY laid to rest a plot that other writers have had hanging for 19 years is always appreciated. And the fact you didn’t shy away from what some close-minded people might claim is ‘controversial’ makes it all the more sweeter to read.
Truth be told when I opened the issues and saw Shatterstar and Rictor kiss, my initial reaction was a simple ‘okay’. Not because of anything bad mind you. It was only because all I saw was two characters kiss. Good for them. Didn’t matter to me if they were a man and woman or two men. The only reaction I had was really in regards to Guido’s reaction, in which I laughed because… well lets be frank, we all saw it coming.
I’ve never been a huge fan of Shatterstar or Rictor to be honest, but I did follow them out of my love of all things X-Men. And although it was annoying to go through the ‘are they?’ ‘aren’t they’ stuff, I always enjoyed the sly way previous writers HINTED at something.
And while I wasn’t standing in the comic book shop screaming “no way! really! oh my god!” I was VERY happy with how you handled it. It was hardly the horrible brow-beating vulgar thing that Mr. Smith was spout about. No, what you did was simply lovely. It was simple, and it was sweet and romantic. You and the artist treated the scene and the audience with respect. You treated them like a loving couple, no matter their gender.
The thing I find horribly ironic about Jery Smith’s comments is that he’s reading a book series about ACCEPTANCE. The X-Men is about super-heroes, true. But their core story is about being different and trying to be accepted by the world around them despite that. If he’s claiming that this book is pushing a liberal agenda in regards to gays being accepted, then what the hëll is he doing reading a book that’s about ‘people who are different being accepted’? By his own flawed opinion, any comic associated with the X-Men is pushing some sort of ‘liberal agenda’ because the ideal about accepting mutants are exactly the same as the ideals about accepting gays.
Frankly, there is no telling how much you’ve helped an entire generation of kids by having that one simple panel appear in your book. As so many gay comic fans know, its hard growing up and knowing that they’re ‘different’ (whatever the hëll that is). It never hurts to have a role model. After all, so many kids in the past has Batman, Superman. Why can’t gays have some of their own?
There is one thing I’m curious about. Rictor’s ex-girlfriend Wolfsbane. She’s a hardcore devout Catholic. Does she know that her ex is bi-sexual? And if so, I wonder how she’ll react to it. Will she be okay with it or do we end up seeing you copy and pasting Jerry Smith’s response for Rahne’s dialog?
i just wanted to drop you a note to say “thank you” for giving it to Rob Liefield.
what an áššhølë.
he should be saying thank you to you. shatterstar will always be more popular now than he ever was. ever
This is sort of off topic, but when Lyla comes back is she still going to be all grown up, so to speak. I think she works so much better as a little kid. Yeah, yeah, she and Madrox want to have sex but forced aged Layla due to a convoluted time travel story with a permanent M over her eye isn’t as cool as creepy psychic-type kid that kills people by loosening a bolt in a bath tub.
One thing I’m curious about… did you always plan Layla to grow up in this fashion (I know the Rahne killing her on her wedding day prediction) or did you get hijacked by Marvel’s event demands with “Messiah Complex”, maybe forced you to hasten your plans?
@RedRobin
Wolfsbane being a devout Catholic has a lot more to worry about than Rictor being bi… like that time she enganged in a sexual relationship with an under-aged Elixir who was also her student. Plus you know casual sex and birth control don’t really go with devout Catholicism anyway. She’s kinda, sorta, a hypocrite.
But speaking of Rahne… is she coming back to the fold any time soon or does X-Force permanently have their hands on her (despite the fact that she’s appeared in like 1 page in the past 5 months). She was used much better in the Old X-Factor
So, here’s a big ol’ fat thank you from another gay geek (there are other gay geeks?)! Not only did you have a kiss, but you treated them like people. I didn’t even see any prancing, and no one talked about fashion, drugs, or drapes. If anything, Shatterstar looks “straighter” now than he did before.
Also, what’s up with Liefeld’s calling Shatterstar gay? Has it been said he’s gay? He’s at least bisexual. It’s a slap in the face to all the bi folks out there. Just cause you kiss another dude, it doesn’t mean you can’t kiss a girl too.
Peter,
I just wanted to weigh in and say congratulations on a well-handled storyline with Rictor and Shatterstar. I can’t wait to see it evolve and thank you for tackling the issue openly.
Rictor and ‘Star are the perfect characters for this “reveal” as it draws on a long history of character development with these two. Anyone who claims these characters are not “gay, bi or queer” fails to recognize not just your prerogative as a writer, but also the very nature of gay identity, which because of the structure of the closet can go unnoticed by straight people for years.
You already had my undivided attention with X-Factor, and this only cemented my commitment to the title.
Great job and thanks again!
beautifully handled and done without fanfare or publicity. Just two characters sharing a kiss – just as it should be
The Great healer
Mr. David,
THANK YOU. Is all I can really say. This story is bringing me back to Marvel Comics, and I’ll be here to stay now.
Guess I’m the only one who wants to mention I really liked First Class #16?
I didn’t love that it dated itself with the direct references to disco (there are kids who that will confuse right off the bat) but at the same time it delivered what Wolverine First Class has been giving me so far that I like: a self-contained book I can share with the youngsters who dare enter my house, worth every penny of the cover price because you know you’re buying a whole story when you get it.
I have to admit, I don’t read X Factor. I picked up one or two at the start and saw the characters in another X Title, during a crossover. It might have been Messiah Complex but I really don’t recall. I didn’t enjoy them, to be blunt. It wasn’t anything that hooked me. I didn’t feel any connection to the characters. Granted, I’d not read enough to possibly form a good enough connection, but I just didn’t feel like these were people I could enjoy.
And so, issue after issue of X Factor came out and I didn’t even read the solicts. Until one day recently, when I was browsing Twitter. Rob Liefeld had his ‘Liefeld Incident’ at a convention and I thought that people that are quick to insult his work are often fans of Deadpool – his own creation. I thought that, after many years, and many a cancelled series, Deadpool finally got to be recognised as a great character. If only Shatterstar would get the same kind of love from the fans.
So I google Shatterstar, and discover this current X Factor story.
Now, while the X Factor crew are not ones I feel I can form a connection to, I already have a good connection to the Shatterstar character. I’m quite invested on some levels with him. Longshot, too, naturally – and was also pleased to see him in this comic.
I’ve seen complaints about the kiss from people upset about the kiss. I’ve seen complaints about the kiss from people upset about Shatterstar being part of it. I myself do not mind. No, actually, that’s a lie. I do mind. But in a positive way.
Shatterstar is 18 and a half years old. What can you say about him? Swords, big hair. His biggest story point is that he possibly has something to do with Longshot. Okay, that’s being very simplistic about his character, but it’s also true. He doesn’t have depth. This will give him that needed depth. It’s been hinted at before, a few times, but it seems to be quickly forgotten and ‘Star goes back to being a growly swordwielder.
I welcome character growth and development. I welcome a relationship that I have seen grow and develop during their X Force days, when they would vaction together. I welcome the attention this brings to homosexuals in comicbooks.
Those that say it should not exist in comics are kidding themselves. Why not? It exists in real life – you can not simply wish it not to. Why should homosexuals/bisexuals not be represented in comicbooks?
I am taken back [many years, to 1992] to Uncanny X-Men #294. In this issue Xavier addresses a crowd. More important is a letter in the letters column that followed a few issues later. A letter by Jami Johnson.
In it, he expressed his disgust at Marvel for having Xavier list homosexuals amongst men, women, black and hispanics. Mr. Johnson expressed his intense dislike of Marvel becoming ‘politically correct’ by including homosexuals. Indeed, it read very much like complaints about an ‘agenda’ from a man with an agenda. It smacked of homophobia hidden in complaints of something else.
This person, presumably never read X-Men, or any Marvel comics, again. I recall the same outcry following the release of Green Lantern 151-154 in which Kyle Rayner’s homosexual assistant Terry Berg is violently assaulted for kissing his boyfriend outside a club. The letters columns that followed were full of people saying they would never read it again, and would never allow their children to read anything DC again.
It’s both a shame, and a blessing. A blessing in that we no longer have to worry about their ranting and raving about what may happen, but also a shame because they will no longer read the opinion of a differing nature. Whether they agree with it or not, they read a different point of view that they won’t forget. It will pervade their thoughts and, hopefully, make them reconsider. It more than likely won’t, but if it even changes the mind of 0.001% of homophobes that read it, that isn’t a bad thing.
I am going to pick up X Factor upon the next issue being released, not only because Longshot and Shatterstar are in it [though that helps], but in full support of a writer that writes. A writer that, knowing full well he would have people criticising his choices, does it anyway. A writer that will cross the line because that line shouldn’t even bloody exist in the 21st century.
Thank you, PAD, for just being yourself and doing what you do best.
I am fretting and have no idea how else to easily drop you a line… but since I didn’t see your Wolverine: First Class in the latest Previews — it hasn’t been cancelled, has it? It’s one of my favorite Marvel books hands down… (I wanted to ask you in a comment on a post which is at least somewhat relevant to my question, and I hope you’ll see this!)
By the way, wholly unrelated (well, I’m sure I could find a way but I won’t try!) but I missed ConGaloosh last month, and have heard that this one-time event was indeed the last gasp of our beloved Adventurers’ Club… sigh!