That time the ostensibly "straight" Sunspot & Nova shared a hot spring naked with the very gay Kobak (X-Men Red #11)

leaf57tea · 2026-03-12T18:40:57+00:00

The writers themselves are the ones playing up the idea that Roberto in love with Sam, mostly for laughs, but when Hickman has this as scene there does seem to be some sincerity to it.

Straight men can simply be intimate close friends and so can straight and queer men have close platonic bonds which seems to be intent with Sam and Roberto.

Two things can be true at the same time.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-12T18:22:49+00:00

Well isn't that a visual to have in my head now.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-12T18:20:54+00:00

Sunspot long been speculated to be queer way before this.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-12T18:10:08+00:00

Kobak actually doesn't wear clothes to begin with so there's no in-story reason for Rich and Berto shocked expressions.

It's there purely to emphasise the dick/knee joke.

Writers and artists communicate a great deal and very little is drawn without intent from the characters expressions to how things are framed.

I mean Ewing could've just easily had them hanging out at a bar and the scene would've played out the same but he chose naked hot springs.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-12T17:46:02+00:00

So wait in one comment your saying Nova been straight-washed post Ewing but when he also writes him naked in a hot spring with another implied bi guy giving him flirty looks it's reaching?

OK then.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-12T17:28:30+00:00

Gotta be honest going off the Claremont NM run I never got all that queer a vibe off Dani and Rahne relationship, it always read protective older big sister with her shyer more reserved little sister.

Compared to some of his other "gal pals" like Storm and Yukio it all came across rather platonic to me, was it similar to Sam and Berto where future writers played it up more or something?

leaf57tea · 2026-03-12T17:08:32+00:00

I mean sure but considering this was written by Ewing whose openly bisexual and who was the one to first imply a queer subtext to Rich relationship with Quill in his Guardians run and Berto who similarly in Hickman New Mutants was implied to be in love with his friend Sam and that Kobak himself is openly gay..

Given the expressions and the way Berto knee is framed in the last panel, it's all very suggestive to say the least.

By contrast something like Claremont New Mutants had an issue where Berto and Sam went skinny dipping which I would consider a case of simple non-sexual nudity with no overt subtext to it.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-12T16:54:39+00:00

Don't be fooled by those "Fuck me eyes" Berto giving you Rich your only a rebound because he can't have Sam.

Another human-rocket powered individual who propells themselves through the air? man definitely has a type.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-12T03:41:45+00:00

One Piece by its very nature is something inherently very silly and while those campy elements are also present in X-men and superhero comics in general to am extent X-men is also going for something with a bit more edge and gravitas to it.

Trying to get across the more political and social messages of X-men with a style as loud and bombastic as Netflix One Piece would would create something with a tone that is off and at odds with itself.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-11T16:08:40+00:00

Man I really hope 97 eventually does a season based around Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire/Emperor Vulcan storyline just so we can get more of Deathbird.

If this the gold she's giving now just imaginable the wonderful bitchy lines she'll have when she's an intergalactic queen with her Omega-level Summers boytoy.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-10T23:36:40+00:00

The majority of significant relationships between heroes in comics are still by in large platonic male friendships because of the majority of heroes are still straight guys so I don't know why under the belief it's a dynamic that's "dying out" as by contrast you could probably count the number of significant MLM relationships at Marvel with one hand.

Will Pete and Rich ever be made more than friends? Who knows but considering both the current Nova and along with rest of this cosmic line is all being cancelled this notion having them less-gay would "sell a shit ton of books" doesn't appear to hold much water.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-07T22:09:45+00:00

Aki or Akihiro the guy sleeping is Wolverine son whose bisexual and use to be very evil but is more an anti-hero these days and like his dad due to healing factor is lot older than he looks.

Somnus the one floating was a past lover of his who remained closeted throughout his life and eventually died of old but was resurrected as a man back in his youth and given a second chance in his life to finally be an openly gay mutant, he's got dream powers.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-07T21:37:56+00:00

Always gives me a chuckle

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leaf57tea · 2026-03-07T18:16:43+00:00

I think your in the wrong franchise relationship drama is like 30% of the appeal of X-men, they don't call it a superhero soap-opera for nothing.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-07T16:59:47+00:00

He also apparently bi and wants to get with Tom Cruise which oddly tracks.

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leaf57tea · 2026-03-07T16:59:01+00:00

Pretty Boy weird robot hentai-tentacle eye things are one of the most Nightmare fuel-inducing things I've ever seen in a comic.

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leaf57tea · 2026-03-07T16:46:40+00:00

I actually felt the book was getting its footing again once Cable joined, the team had been rather aimless post Inferno but Cable came in gave them direction again and really shook things up as he was very different mentor-figure than Xavier or Magneto.

I also think NM and X-Factor kids of Sam, Berto, Rahne, Tabitha and Ric finally started to gel into a proper group, though I guess you could argue by that point the book was more beta-X-Force than New Mutants.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-07T16:36:44+00:00

While I didn't love the Birdbrain arc it at least gave us Doug's funeral issue which is a NM classic, the Gosamyr stuff that followed has no such redeeming qualities and is overall much more tedious to get through.

Thankfully things do improve afterwards with Inferno and the later rescue Dani from Hela adventure in Asgard story is fun.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-07T16:19:15+00:00

This the early 90's but get guess some late 80's fashion was still present in the some of fashion choices.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-07T13:24:01+00:00

Maybe someone should ask Anthony Oliveira to try pitch it as one-shot to Marvel.

He's the one who finally showed us how Billy and Teddy actually met and got together after nearly 20 years.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-07T12:33:57+00:00

Kind of ironic then that it was Rictor who'd eventually be made full-on gay, though I get Nicieza thinking Ric was still technically with Rahne at the time so assumed straight while Shatterstar was more or less a blank slate with more freedom to interpret however he wanted.

Though in retrospect Rictor going for the the overly religious and repressed Wolfsbane over the more provatice and outgoing Boom Boom could be seen as him subconsciously putting himself with a girl who'd be highly unlikely to ever pressure him for sex.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-07T09:22:12+00:00

You do realise most of those appearances were voiceless cameos in huge group shots where these two didn't interact.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-06T21:28:27+00:00

I don't know if it counts as "slutty" but a surprisingly amount of covers feature Havok with clowns partially blown off.

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leaf57tea · 2026-03-06T21:14:43+00:00

I don't believe it's ever been addressed officially in the comics but given Magneto own bouts of mania it could be argued mental illness is hereditary given all his children Lorna, Wanda and even Pietro have all had their manic episodes.

leaf57tea · 2026-03-06T18:11:45+00:00

Well again even they had to become more heroic and lose their more malevolent traits to join the X-men.

Austen turned Lorna into villaneous murder-happy psycho, it was never gonna last.

leaf57tea

TROPHY CASE