It was likely no coincidence that the character Marvel chose to come out was a mutant. The storyline of Alpha Flight #106 revolved around a baby dying of AIDS, and it felt relevant that a superhero would hold a press conference to discuss his sexuality. ACT UP activists had tried to hijack the set of the CBS Evening News the year before. The early '90s were also the peak of ACT UP ( AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) generating its own headlines. (That's right, ink-this was 1992.) Advertisement Comics like Frank Miller's Batman: Year One or Neil Gaiman's The Sandman were slowly breaking down the popular perception of comic books as purely a children's medium, but the notion of a gay hero was still one that generated plenty of ink and controversy. At this time there was no Will & Grace putting gay characters into the mainstream and Ellen DeGeneres hadn't made television history by coming out (in character) in an airport. This storyline appeared a year before Don't Ask, Don't Tell-the United States policy on gay men and women serving in the military-a particularly relevant piece of real world legislation when it comes to talking about someone who isn't straight putting their life on the line to save people, be they fictional or otherwise. This wasn't exactly a shock to anyone who followed the character-there had been sly nudges and winks aplenty for a while (including a strangely aborted AIDS storyline), but a comic book hero holding a press conference (the action takes place in Alpha Flight #106) to announce his sexuality generated plenty of real world press, as, one imagines, Marvel would have hoped. The spotlight fell on mutant hero Northstar, a member of Canadian team Alpha Flight, and an on-and-off-again X-Men teammate. Alpha Flight #106Looking to stir up some of that juicy publicity again in 1992, Marvel skipped the marriage route, let the tired, massive character crossover events take a break for once, and instead decided to out one of its characters as gay.