Northstar

This page relates to the fictional character. See also Cadillac Northstar engine

Northstar is a fictional character, a Canadian superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. He first appeared in X-Men (volume 1) #120, and more notably, in Alpha Flight #106 (1992), broke a longstanding taboo by coming out of the closet and annoucing that he was gay.

Nevertheless, Northstar was the first hero to openly state that he was gay. The story ended shortly after (at #130), and the revelation of Northstar's sexuality never figured in the remaining issues of the series. Nevertheless, the character consistently reappeared for the relaunch of Alpha Flight, and not long after that relaunch was cancelled, he joined the X-Men.

More recently, Northstar's sexuality has been dealt with in a more realistic way. In a recent (2001) X-Men comic, in which Jean Grey was forced to throw together a small team of mutants in order to rescue Xavier and the other X-Men from Magneto's Genosha, Northstar actually found himself face to face with a homophobe. Though the two began their mission as enemies, by the end of it storyline they were able to make peace with one another.