LGBT Character Of The Week: Arnold Astrovik

This week we look at not a hero or villain, but the father of a hero. A man who wasn't exactly heroic himself.

Arnold Astrovik, the father of mutant superhero Justice, (Vance Astrovik, formerly Marvel Boy), couldn't accept that his son was becoming a "freak" when his mutant powers developed. He began to physically abuse his son, (the hitting kind, not the pedophile kind), and his son eventually lashed out with his emerging powers and accidentally killed his father.

This wasn't the end of Arnold's story however. When the Sphinx sent members of the New Warriors back in time to various points in history, Vance discovered that as a young man, Arnold was a homosexual, in love with a man named Bradley. Not only that, he was being bullied and abused by his own father into fitting into the heterosexual norm of the time. Vance saw clearly the cycle of abuse and fear that was perpetuated down his family line, and attempted to encourage Arnold to follow his heart, but failed. Arnold suppressed his true self and started a heterosexual life. Sad, isn't it.

The story outing Arnold appearing in New Warriors #48.