NORTHSTAR: Page 7 of 7

Publication Date: 18th Jan 2022
Written By: Peter Luzifer and Monolith.
Image Work: Peter Luzifer and Douglas Mangum.
Biography

BIOGRAPHY - Page 7

While Kyle became more comfortable with the fantastic world of the X-Men, the real world caught up with the Jinadu-Beaubiers. Kyle was an American citizen, but Jean-Paul was Canadian. Having the ability to fly at super-speed, he never bothered with airports or immigration certifications. ICE finally tracked down Northstar and cited him as a foreign national living illegally in New York without a visa. At the time, his marriage to Kyle was not recognized on a federal level and offered him no special spousal protections. The couple were forced to confront real life problems, as Kyle wanted to stay in the United States but Jean-Paul didn’t necessarily desire dual citizenship in the U.S., even if it were possible. [Astonishing X-Men (3rd series) #56-59]

Jean-Paul and Kyle made the decision that Northstar would seek American citizenship. Their friends attended Northstar’s deportation hearing in a show of support. The court would determine whether their marriage would be recognized legally in order to justify Jean-Paul’s immigration and naturalization status as Kyle’s spouse. [Astonishing X-Men (3rd series) #68] The outcome of the hearing was not specified but, since Northstar continued operating as an adjunct instructor at the Jean Grey School, apparently he was successful in receiving dual citizenship with America and Canada. He was part of a group of X-Men drawn into the afterlife where Nightcrawler fought his father Azazel on the shores of Heaven, before returning to life. [Amazing X-Men (2nd series) #1-5]

Northstar stayed active in New York at the Jean Grey School as an X-Man and instructor. He was called back to Canada during an emergency when the Wendigo curse went widespread in the country. The X-Men and Alpha Flight joined forces against Tanaraq of the Great Beasts and the infected hordes of cannibal monsters he had risen. Jean-Paul rescued a young girl named Amber and (to Jeanne-Marie’s amusement) showed a parental concern towards her while trying to reunite her with her family. [Amazing X-Men (2nd series) #8-12]

Jean-Paul found his teaching style to be at odds with the recently resurrected X-Man, Nightcrawler. Northstar had given Victor Bowkowski, also known as Anole, a pass into Manhattan, but Victor didn’t return to campus on time. Kurt thought Jean-Paul was being cavalier with Victor’s safety, and chided him for not being more sensitive to the dangers that faced a young mutant with obvious characteristics. Jean-Paul, who had taken Victor under his wing when Vic first admitted his homosexuality, balked at the idea that he didn’t understand how cruel people could be to those who were seen as different. Northstar and Nightcrawler both ended up pursuing Victor into the city, where he was being accosted by Lady Mastermind. The illusionist’s psychic images laid bare Jean-Paul’s fear about how Kurt, a devout Catholic, really felt about him. Kurt reminded Jean-Paul he had been to Heaven, and saw Northstar fighting there beside him. Together, the two X-Men combined their experiences to help shake Victor free from Mastermind’s assault. [Amazing X-Men (2nd series) #13]

Northstar remained with the X-Men for some time, but eventually he and Kyle relocated back to Canada. [Amazing X-Men (2nd series) #14-19] When Iceman came out of the closet, Northstar made a show of support for Bobby. He came to New York for a party in Iceman’s honor with Kyle, and they caught up on old times. [Iceman (3rd series) #9-10]

After American authorities started drumming up support for a vaccine designed to prevent the manifestation of mutant abilities, the X-Men were rightly concerned. Northstar returned to the team to evaluate this vaccine in advance of Canada potentially following suit with America if it was successful. Northstar and the X-Men were drawn into conflict with the unstable Omega-class mutants X-Man and Legion. As the crisis escalated, nearly every past and present X-Man was teleported into the fight against X-Man. Nate Grey used his vast Lifeseed enhanced abilities to end the fighting by casting Northstar and all the other participants into a pocket reality he grew from nothing, leaving the rest of the world thinking them dead. [Uncanny X-Men (5th series) #1-10]

In this new reality, Nate Grey crafted the reality he thought mutantkind deserved. All of humanity were now born mutants, but at the cost of family and human intimacy. New children arrived from genetic engineering hatcheries, and personal relationships and intimacy violations were strictly forbidden. Northstar, Iceman, Blob, Jubilee and Psylocke were cast into the role of Department X (known on the streets as X-Tremists), a secretive thought police who tracked down “retrogrades” and purged their memories and “unhealthy” tendencies from their minds. Jean-Paul and the others carried out this mundane, everyday fascism without realizing what they had been forced into. Even though he couldn’t remember Kyle, Jean-Paul did feel an absence in his mind and his heart. Eventually, the X-Men regained their memories and managed to return to their home reality. [Age of X-Man: X-Tremists #1-5]

In the weeks that followed, Charles Xavier and Magneto orchestrated a radical change in mutant-human relations, crafting an island nation-state for mutantkind on Krakoa. Through their efforts cultivating highly profitable pharmaceuticals, Krakoa gained international notoriety and influence, recognized as a member of the United Nations and granting citizenship and amnesty to all mutants on Earth. Krakoa was only accessible through Krakoan teleport gates (planted in major cities around the world) which in turn were only passable by mutants. Northstar and Aurora immigrated to Krakoa, and Kyle became one of the select humans also allowed residence on the island.

Jean-Paul was changed by his experience with Department X, haunted by the loss of those he loved, even for a short period. Mutants had conquered death on Krakoa, but that didn’t make the loss any less real. So, when Northstar thought he sensed the death of his twin through their link, he immediately flew to the Arbor Magna hatchery to demand his sister be resurrected by the Five. Jean-Paul faced doubt and red tape from the Five, as he only had his own feelings to affirm Aurora’s passing. While trying to get a lead on Jeanne-Marie’s last known activities from Blob at the Green Lagoon bar, Jean-Paul encountered Lorna Dane, Polaris. Previously a private detective with X-Factor Investigations, Polaris helped Northstar assemble a posse to learn what happened to Aurora.

Northstar and Polaris brought together an effective team of investigators including the telepathic chrono-skimmer Prestige, the psychomimetic knowledge sponge Prodigy, and Eye-Boy with his multi-spectral vision. Jean-Paul was quite hesitant about their last volunteer, Daken, son of Wolverine. Still, their investigation quickly discovered Aurora had been the victim of a car crash in Washington state. The Five placed Aurora in Resurrection Protocols and appeared with X-Factor before the Quiet Council of Krakoa. It was agreed that Krakoa needed an investigative agency to provide proof of death and help regulate the resurrection queue for the Five. Polaris was offered the position of team leader by the council, but she deferred to Northstar, who hesitantly accepted the role. [X-Factor (4th series) #1]

X-Factor Investigations established themselves at the Boneyard, a new building on Krakoa raised through the power of Polaris and Krakoa together. Jean-Paul and Kyle adopted the spiral office’s penthouse as the others moved in as well. Jeanne-Marie came to the team after her resurrection and Jean-Paul quickly made room for her in X-Factor. Their first mission after forming was to investigate the apparent death of a mutant in Mojoworld. Northstar remained uncertain of Daken as an asset (especially after Daken started hitting on his sister), and he relied upon Lorna’s encouragement as second-in-command. X-Factor located the body of the depowered Wind Dancer in Mojoworld, but were forced to leave in a hurry before Mojo could livestream her autopsy and feed her body to his clone vats. Still, they determined others like Shatterstar, Adam X and Spiral were being used against their will for Mojo’s entertainment, and vowed to return and free them. [X-Factor (4th series) #2-3]

Northstar and Aurora were able to reconnect as never before while Jeanne-Marie grew more comfortable with her inclusion on X-Factor. Walter Langkowski’s old genetic modifications to Aurora (and everything that followed with Weapon X and the Children of the Vault) no longer applied with this new body. And so, Jean-Paul and Jeanne-Marie were able to generate light naturally while touching for the first time in years, without any outside forces distorting or acting upon their connection. As protective as he was towards his sister, Northstar made allowances for her flirtations with Daken and stayed back so Aurora could make her own choices. He became more accepting of Daken’s help as a teammate (even if he still threatened him if he ever hurt Jeanne-Marie).

X-Factor’s next major case involved X-Factor’s former member Siryn, who died multiple times in rapid succession in unusual, perhaps preventable ways. They discovered the Celtic death goddess the Morrigan was still connected to Siryn, and wanted mutant sacrifices to feed her power. Daken was left for dead by the Morrigan after tracking Siryn to Canada, and it was Northstar who sought out his teammate and brought Daken back to Krakoa to heal properly. Nevertheless, Northstar and several other members were killed by the Morrigan when she haunted the Boneyard. They had to be resurrected again before launching a siege to reclaim their office from the goddess. [X-Factor (4th series) #5-8]

X-Factor’s outstanding cases ended up complimenting each other, for Siryn’s ties to the Morrigan were held by a geas that could only be broken by Shatterstar. Northstar recruited Wind Dancer and a number of Krakoan allies to return to Mojoworld and free the live-streaming mutants from Mojo’s influence. Shatterstar then returned and severed the connection between Siryn and Morrigan. During all this, however, Eye-Boy had been instrumental in his ability to detect the Morrigan even outside the normal range of human sight. The Quiet Council showed interest in Trevor’s developing abilities and Northstar’s paternal instincts led him to protect his young teammate. Jean-Paul reached out to his former colleagues Karma and Mirage about how appropriate it was to keep secrets from the Krakoan government, if it meant protecting those young mutants under his care from exploitation. [X-Factor (4th series) #9]

X-Factor was placed on the front lines of a scandal and political nightmare when the Scarlet Witch was found dead at Krakoa's Hellfire Gala. [X-Factor (4th series) #10] Northstar's team performed the forensics report of her death and determined she had been strangled by a form of metal. Krakoa's Quiet Council had to balance the watchful eyes of Wanda's grieving teammates from the Avengers with the precedent of accusing one of their own, Wanda's former father Magneto. Jean-Paul did what he could to provide comfort to Quicksilver, for he knew intimately the pain of losing one's twin. Magneto violently rejected the accusations against him and nearly attacked Kyle while making his escape, something Northstar took immediate retribution for.

Matters were complicated when the Five resurrected Wanda using an old Cerebro back-up from when she was still registering as a mutant. The sudden return of a partially amnesic Wanda only made the Avengers ask more questions, though. Furthermore, Wanda's son Wiccan arrived and added to X-Factor's forensic report that he sensed magic had enchanted the metal that attacked Wanda, neutralizing her magic and making Magneto a less likely culprit. In fact, Wanda had arranged for her own murder and the mystery surrounding it in order to access and pass through Krakoa's Resurrection Protocols. Once her mind was restored, the Scarlet Witch was then able to create the Eldritch Orchard, a point in space-time where all mutant souls could be reached by the Five. This meant mutants who died before Cerebro's back-up system came on line or latent mutants who died before their powers registered could also be resurrected. For Jean-Paul, this brought a heart-warming surprise. Joanne, the baby he once adopted before she passed away, had registered as a latent mutant through the Orchard. Jean-Paul and Kyle were now expecting their first child, as Joanne was added to the resurrection queue. [X-Men: Trial of Magneto #1-5]