What Was the First Man on Man Kiss in Mainstream Comic Books?


I have researched this a bit but I do not know when we first saw a man on man gay kiss in mainstream comic books. Women have been kissing each other since forever apparently, but man on man is a bit more rare. We have probably seen some comical kisses between male characters like when Bugs Bunny constantly kissed his male enemies in any Looney Tunes cartoon. But when did we get our first actual romantic kiss between two men?


Wolverine and Hercules first kissed in Marvel’s 2013’s X-Treme X-Men #10. But that could not have been the first kiss in mainstream comics, right?


Before Logan and the son of Zeus kissed, Shatterstar and Rictor locked lips in X-Factor #45 in 2009. Technically both are bisexual or pansexual, but it counts as a nice romantic kiss between two male characters that had been hinted at being involved with each other all the way back to the 1990s.


You probably already know about Hulkling and Wiccan being a couple. They are arguably one of the most famous comic book couples of all time. But did you know they were together and published from 2009 to 2013 before readers got to see them kiss in 2012’s Young Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #9?


Midnighter and Apollo are one of DC Comic’s most famous couples- gay or straight. They were originally meant as badass re-interpretations of Batman and Superman who do not have the same moral implications as their source material. But they have since then changed to become their own unique characters. They were originally introduced back in 1998’s Stormwatch #4.


Bloke kissed his unnamed boyfriend in X-Force #118. This was way back in 2001. That may not seem like a big deal, but not a lot happened in that year with gay comic books at all. Unfortunately this was a really unmemorable series. I had to go back and read this series and I personally did not like this interpretation of X-Force and its art. But it did count as two men that were kissing.


I do not know if Image’s Savage Dragon #49 counts or not. I have always thought of Image as being the 3rd mainstream comic book universe. This issue was in May 1998 and the issue featured a character known as Super-Tough kissing his former sidekick Young-Tough. They locked lips after being separated for years. The writer is Erik Larson and he made it seem as though this was no big deal at the time. I mean wow, in 1998 that must have been a huge deal.


Was there a kiss that happened before this? Poor Kevin was introduced into Archie Comics back in 2010 and made out to be openly gay but did not get to kiss his boyfriend until 2013. It seems unfortunate that gay men get the short end of the stick in the comic verses everywhere. But it is our fate. Was there a gay man on man kiss that I am unaware of? Let me know. I cannot find more that has happened before that date. My comic book knowledge is limited, so I am not sure.

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3 thoughts on “What Was the First Man on Man Kiss in Mainstream Comic Books?

  1. I think the Savage Dragon kiss between Super-Tough & Mace (Young-Tough) might be the first. I’ve read comics for decades and I can’t remember one that came before that.

  2. I would have guessed Northstar rated the first the first man on man kiss… have no proof.

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