A Token Effort

Let’s play a game.  I’ll show you a preview page from Young Avenger’s Presents #3 (of 6), and you tell me what’s wrong with it.  The answer may surprise you.

Click here for the page, courtesy of Newsarama. 

Done?  Good.  Now, if you said “Hulkling does not look anything like Hulk in his battle form,” I am sorry, but that is not the answer we were looking for.  Please tune in at a later date for our discussion on Hulkling.  No, the answer we were looking for was “Hulking and Wiccan do not kiss good-bye as Wiccan is leaving.”  If you don’t think there’s anything wrong with two people not kissing each other, then bless you.  You are too pure to be reading about comics on the internet.

This, of course, ignited a hellstorm of accusations and deprecations on the Newsarama message boards.  How dare two gay men in a relationship not kiss on panel.  Now, I’ll admit, I, too, thought is was a bit strange.  But that’s as far as it went, just a bit strange.  My second thought was of how offended people would get over this omission.  I didn’t have to wait long for vindication.  Soon, shit was flying on both sides, despite early attempts by Newsarama moderators to defuse the situation.  No.  The lack of a kiss, coupled with the fact that Wiccan and Hulking do not explicitly say that they love each other, enraged some people.  Marvel was homophobic and trying to repress gay couples in comics.  Marvel was portraying gay men as sluts.  Wiccan and Hulkling were marching right back to tokenism.

This article will not change any of their minds.  Logical arguments do not end situations like these.  All I want is to explain why the absence of a kiss makes Wiccan and Hulkling more believable to me than most comic book couples.

Top Six Reasons Hulking and Wiccan Do Not Kiss Each Other Good-bye

6. Skrulls do not brush their teeth, as shape-changing makes them immune to plaque and the gum disease gingivitis.

5. Speed, Wiccan’s brother, is fast enough to zoom in at any time unnoticed.  PDAs in front of family are always awkward.

4. Hulkling goes from his battle form to looking just like Wiccan.  I imagine both of those would be awkward to make out with.

3. Wiccan’s mom is literally banging on his door calling for him.  Wiccan doesn’t have much time to make good his escape.

2. Wiccan is distracted by the serious nature of the quest he is about to undertake, which is one to find out where he truly comes from.  Daunting for anyone.

1. Wiccan and Hulkling are simply still adjusting to their relationship.  They’re still awkward around each other, despite their feelings.  They are *gasp* acting like teenagers, still wondering what is appropriate and when.

If you want to get upset because Wiccan and Hulkling don’t act lik the heroes  from your favorite yaoi manga, that’s fine.  It must be frustrating not to see all your desires made real on the page.  But don’t try to tell me that it makes them any less believable as characters, or, in fact, makes them tokens.  The simple act of not kissing has made them real to me than all the graphic lust could achieve.