In a first for Marvel Comics, the latest issue of an X-Men spin-off comic features a gay pash.
The scene is the surprise cliffhanger ending to X-Factor issue #45, continuing one of Marvel's most critically acclaimed series.
The relationship between the two characters - Rictor and Shatterstar - had been a mystery until now, and writer Peter David hints that the smooch doesn't necessary been they are both gay.
"I certainly don't think we could say at this point that Rictor is definitively gay," he said on his blog. "I think we could make the argument that he's bi, but I don't see the point at this juncture in spelling it out - not because of any sense of homophobia or anything like that but out of a sense that I think it's more entertaining and more thought-provoking if we keep it ambiguous."
Meanwhile, a new lesbian Batwoman has been introduced in the latest issue of DC Comics.
