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philcoulson:

_{Marvel’s First Male Pin-Up: Noh-Varr}

_{Marvel Boy, aka Noh-Varr, was introduced to Young Avengers readers in the first issue of the series with a scene that made an explicit statement about the team’s resident spaceboy. Dancing around in black square-cut boxer shorts to “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes, he put himself on display for the benefit of both fellow hero Kate Bishop and the audience. It was sexy, but not calculated, at least not by him. Like a thousand female superheroes before him, happenstance conspired to strip him down and make him gyrate. On Gillen and McKelvie’s part, it was very calculated. Putting a male sex symbol in a superhero comic sends a clear message to the audience: “We’re not going to sell you the same old thing. We’re not going to pander to the usual crowd.”}