Shatterstar & Rictor together again for the 1st time
This week in X-Factor #45 Shatterstar and Rictor FINALLY share an on-panel gay kiss. I’ve been raving about Peter David’s brilliant run on X-Factor. His take on Madrox the Multiple Man and pals is probably the most interesting X-Title right now (and that’s saying a lot as I’m enjoying Uncanny, Legacy, Astonishing and even X-Force). Not only is the future story arc moving along and telling us a story I just cannot anticipate, but also we get the long-awaited revelation of Shatterstar’s true feelings for Rictor. I hope Ric doesn’t break Shatty’s heart 
Well first I hope they can keep Cortex (who is in communication with the future of the Summer’s Rebellion – WHAT WHAT?). If I had to put money on it, the divided storylines will probably all come to a boil about issue #50.
If you know your original X-Force, you might remember subtle innuendo that sparked a fair amount of speculation about the nature of the close friendship between two of the male characters. At the time, Marvel supposedly said they were not gay. In a recent article, creators said that Shatterstar and Rictor WERE planned to become involved romantically, claiming the subplot wasn’t dropped “Marvel pressured to keep Shatterstar and Rictor from becoming a couple” but because “when the creative team changes, things get dropped”.
From the looks of the big reveal above, Peter David has picked up that dangling sub-plot and is really running with it. It’s about time! As far as I can count, both Shatterstar and Rictor are now ahead of Northstar, although he was the first out -and-proud superhero, he still hasn’t had a kiss onscreen (or has he – if he has – send me a pic).
