Queer Superhero History: Mystique | Book Riot

Jessica Plummer has lived her complete life in New York City, however she prefers to think about it as Metropolis. Her day job is in books, her facet hustle is in books, and she or he writes books on the facet (together with a brief story in Sword Stone Table from Vintage). She loves operating, knitting, and desirous about superheroes, and is aware of an pointless quantity of issues about Donald Duck. Follow her on Twitter at @jess_plummer.

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In latest years, mainstream comics publishers like DC and Marvel have made nice strides in growing the LGBTQ+ rep of their universes, although they nonetheless have an extended technique to go. But getting right here was a gradual and gradual course of, with many notable landmarks — and a few admitted missteps — alongside the way in which. In Queer Superhero History, we’ll take a look at queer characters in mainstream superhero comics, in (roughly) chronological order, to see how the panorama of LGBTQ+ rep within the style has modified over time. Today: Mystique!

There is a well-known line within the 2003 X-Men film, X2, by which Iceman’s dad and mom uncover that their teenage son is a mutant. “Have you tried…not being a mutant?” Iceman’s mom asks him. It’s clearly meant to evoke its real-world equal: “Have you tried not being gay?” The mutant rights battle within the Marvel Universe was most likely most generally understood as a metaphor for civil rights and racism earlier than X2, however this mainstream, blockbuster film clearly — if delicately — tied it to LGBTQIA rights as effectively. Mutants, and the X-Men, are a metaphor for queerness (amongst different issues).

This wouldn’t have been information to longtime X-Men readers. Chris Claremont, the author of Uncanny X-Men from 1975 to 1991 and doubtless the only most essential X-creator to today, is understood for a lot of issues, however amongst these is, uhhh…shut relationships between feminine characters. Storm and Yukio, Kitty and Illyana (okay, Kitty and everybody)…and, after all, Mystique and Destiny.

Two panels from Ms. Marvel #2.

Panel 1: Mystique is shifting out of her disguise as a white woman with dark hair.

Mystique: Lord, you are a fool. So long as Ms. Marvel lives, the — Mystique in *Ms. Marvel* #18, the primary subject to point out her true look.

Mystique, AKA Raven Darkholme, truly first appeared in Ms. Marvel #16 (April 1978) by Claremont and David Cockrum, although she shortly grew to become a significant X-Men villain (and occasional ally). Anyone who solely is aware of Mystique through the films, the place she is generally a henchwoman for Magneto with little dialogue and fewer company, has been misled: Mystique henches for nobody. (She additionally often…wears garments.)

Mystique’s biography is lengthy and concerned, however to hit a number of the highlights: nobody is aware of precisely how previous she is, however she’s been round since not less than the 1800s. She has taken various lovers and had various kids. Her oldest son, Graydon Creed, was conceived with the villain Sabretooth; when Graydon turned out to not be a mutant, Mystique misplaced curiosity and deserted him, leaving him to develop as much as change into an anti-mutant politician who was ultimately assassinated. Her subsequent son, Nightcrawler, was conceived with the mutant Azazel (revealed to be The Actual Devil in presumably essentially the most hated X-Men story of all time); Mystique deserted this little one as effectively. The solely little one she truly bothered to increase was Rogue, who she adopted at age 14, however, you realize, raised to be evil and inducted into the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and stuff. It wasn’t neglect, however it wasn’t nice, both. And after all, there are many years and many years of schemes, machinations, double-crosses, and flat-out murders. Suffice it to say, Raven Darkholme isn’t an excellent particular person.

But then there’s Destiny.

Destiny, whose actual identify is Irene Adler, was launched in Uncanny X-Men #141 (January 1981), by Claremont and John Byrne (one other pioneer in introducing queer characters to superhero universes). She is blind, with highly effective precognitive skills. She has additionally, like Mystique, been round since not less than the late 1800s. In truth, they met when Irene encountered a sure “consulting detective” across the flip of the century. (For these of you who’re placing two and two collectively: sure, because of this within the Marvel universe, Sherlock Holmes was an actual particular person, and that actual particular person was Mystique.)

For years, Mystique and Destiny have been depicted as…shut. While different members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants have been barely tolerated colleagues at greatest, Mystique cared deeply for Destiny, and the 2 girls had clearly co-parented Rogue. When Destiny was killed in 1989 (sacrificing herself for Mystique), Mystique was devastated, and her descent into unrepentant villainy after Destiny’s loss of life is usually chalked as much as grief and the lack of Destiny’s stabilizing presence.

A page from Marvel Fanfare #40, taking place in a nightclub. Destiny is an older woman in dark glasses and a purple dress and hat.

Panel 1: Destiny brings Mystique's hand to her cheek.

Destiny: Wheels within celestial wheels, Raven. By saving Rogue today, we may condemn her tomorrow. By condemning Storm...we may doom the X-Men...and thereby save the world.

Panel 2: A closeup of Destiny. Mystique's face is reflected in the right lens of her glasses.

Mystique: Worse fates. Worse outcomes. Can you tell for sure?

Panel 3: Now a white man with a mustache is reflected in the left lens of Destiny's glasses.

Destiny: Nothing is certain...until it happens.
Mystique: Then let the future...

Panel 4: Mystique, now the man seen in Destiny's glasses and wearing a suit, stands and takes Destiny's hand.

Mystique: ...take care of itself. For the present, my love...Raven Darkholme and Iren Adler...

Panel 5: The couple begins to dance.

Mystique: ...have more important concerns.

Panel 6: Mystique, in her natural form, throws her head back with a vicious smile on her face and her hands curved into claws.

Mystique's Narration Boxes: We're both hunters, Storm and I. But she hunts - and fights - solely to survive. Whereas my goal's always been to win. Challenging me is like dueling the devil. No quarter asked, and less given. And tonight - despite Destiny's misgivings - I feel that I've won everything! — Mystique and Destiny share a dance in *Marvel Fanfare* #40.

Comic e-book relationships are usually intense, and as such, same-gender friendships are sometimes learn as homoerotic, often unintentionally. At least, I don’t suppose we’re purported to imagine that Batman is desperately pining for Superman. But Claremont and his varied collaborators crafted Mystique and Destiny’s relationship with intent. In Marvel Fanfare #40 (October 1988), Mystique and Destiny are proven dancing, with Mystique in her male “Eric Raven” type, and Mystique refers to Destiny as “my love.” In Uncanny X-Men #265 (August 1990), the villain Shadow King refers to Destiny as Mystique’s “leman,” an archaic time period for a lover, notably a bootleg one.

Why the coding? Well, do not forget that the Comics Code forbade queer characters till 1989. More importantly, Marvel’s then editor-in-chief, Jim Shooter, allegedly had a “no gays in the Marvel Universe” coverage that saved the equally closely coded Northstar within the closet till 1991. DC was flouting the Code by the late ’80s, however there was no such freedom at Marvel. Claremont was left with hints and implications, realizing most readers — and editors — would chalk it as much as simply “gals being pals.” His makes an attempt at extra overt references have been shot down, like when he tried to disclose that Mystique and Destiny have been Nightcrawler’s organic dad and mom, with Mystique having taken a male type for the conception.

But that was then. The Code is not any extra, Northstar is married, and generally the MCU even lets unnamed characters be queer onscreen for a complete 10 seconds. (Ahem.) And Mystique and Destiny lastly had the romantic subtext of their relationship change into confirmed textual content in 2019, in History of the Marvel Universe #2, after they shared a kiss.

Three panels from History of the Marvel Universe #2.

Panel 1: Mystique embraces Destiny from behind. They are both wearing late Victorian/early Edwardian clothes and hairstyles, and Destiny is clearly young. Mystique is transforming from a blonde woman into her true form. They are both smiling.

Narration Box: Two mutants, an Austrian precognitive named Irene Adler and the shape-shifting Raven Darkholme, embarked upon a quest for wealth and influence under the names Destiny and Mystique.

Panel 2: A closeup of the two women kissing.

Panel 3: A wider shot of them gazing into each other's eyes. Framing panels 2 and 3 are figures of Destiny and Mystique gazing back at their past selves. They are both wearing their typical costumes: Mystique's white dress and gloves, and Destiny's blue bathing suit and hooded cape and gold face mask. — Confirmation in the end in *History of the Marvel Universe* #2.

In retrospect, that appears…awfully late. Yes, Marvel lagged behind DC by way of queer rep again within the ’90s, however they’ve loads of queer characters now, together with extraordinarily standard ones like Hulking and Wiccan and America Chavez. Northstar acquired married in 2012. Iceman, of “Have you tried not being a mutant?” fame, got here out in 2015. Mystique and Destiny have been intentionally coded as lovers a decade earlier than Northstar got here out, so why did it take one other 28 years after that to verify what everybody already knew?

Maybe it was as a result of it was so broadly understood that Mystique and Destiny have been in love that Marvel didn’t discover it essential to make it apparent. After all, a relationship can nonetheless be each queer and deeply dedicated with out bodily intimacy. Maybe Marvel wished to take care of believable deniability for the sake of the cinematic Mystique, who tends to be depicted as a heterosexual male fantasy at the start. Or perhaps they simply thought it didn’t matter since Destiny was lifeless. I don’t know.

Whatever the rationale, Destiny was resurrected in 2021’s Inferno #1, and she or he and Mystique have been collectively ever since. (It was additionally revealed round that point that they have been married earlier than Destiny died.) At the time of this writing, Marvel appears to be hinting that November’s X-Men Blue: Origins #1 will even retcon Claremont’s authentic plans for Nightcrawler’s parentage into canon, with Destiny as his mom and Mystique as his organic father.

On the floor, Mystique embodies various adverse tropes about queer characters, notably bisexual ones: she’s closely sexualized, she’s untrustworthy, she’s misleading. (“Queer, arguably nonbinary shapeshifter” is a cliche all by itself, although not essentially a adverse one; we coated two of them simply final month.) She’s additionally, frankly, a horrible particular person, stereotypes apart; abandoning 66% of your kids doesn’t a very good samaritan make.

But she’s a nice villain. And her love story with Destiny isn’t just compelling and transferring; it’s, in some ways, essentially the most iconically queer love story in all of comics. The many many years of hiding and censorship and coded messages to readers who understood are all too actual, even at present. Interestingly, they stand in marked distinction to Mystique herself, who might so simply disguise her mutant standing, however has been out and proud about it since her debut. But it isn’t a contradiction — or whether it is, it’s a contradiction that matches completely with the character: mutable, changeable, genderfluid; mom and monster, villain and ally, femme fatale and devoted lover. If the X-Men are a metaphor for queerness, nobody embodies that extra utterly than Mystique, in all her problems.

So right here’s to you, Mystique and Destiny, and to a different 42 years collectively. Just…perhaps don’t have any extra children, okay?

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