Now I hate to be the one falling for stereotypes, but I have to call one when I see one and The Gotham arrival of the pink-clad, fussy and fastidious yet fabulously ferocious new bat-foe known as the Flamingo smacks of the “amoral aristocratic bitchy queen type.” I’m not sure if Morrison would be that obvious, but maybe. We haven’t had a good gay Batman villain in awhile (now that Captain Stingaree and the Cavalier appear to be out of commission), so its good to be part of Bat’s Rogues Gallery. I still prefer to see new LGBT characters pop up on the side of the angels, but I’ll take what we can get. Stay tuned to see what his story is… and where he got that awesome coat!
Sex and the Superhero is a new CBG Comics release from writer Brian Andersen (SoSuperDuper, Reignbow and Dee-Va), artist Neftali Centeno and colors, letters and logo by Celina Hernandez. The first issue introduces the exploits of a close-knit group of 5 gay and lesbian superheroes living and loving in San Francisco. Among other things, the issue takes a humorous look at the age old question of "exactly what DOES the Invisible Woman see in Mr Fantastic?" I also especially enjoyed the scene with Cosmic Man and Lady Web – poking fun at the use of impossible cheesecake ass-first battle poses (HE’S TALKING TO YOU BENES). Other topics touched on include rabid-vaginophopia, sexual slumming, how to bed your nemesis, how to graciously accept thanks from a damsel in distress and of course… true love.
Sex and the Superhero is an entertaining read. much less "cute" than I expected. As someone who grew up having to defend reading comics to a very educated set of parents, I always steered clear of anything too cute or cartoony and thus missed out on a lot of really good indie comics. So I’m glad I took a step out of my box to give this a read.
Since this is a first issue and it’s not really a BANG POW ZAP kind of story, it focuses more on character relationships than battle action, but goes further (from what I understand) than previous Brian Andersen gay titles. Sex and the Superhero is FAR from pornographic but DOES have some sex scenes (naughty bits are tastefully blocked with capes – See Edna was right – those capes really DO get in the way!).
But don’t just take my opinion on it. Here are some thoughts from fellow gay geek blogger… The Gay Comic Geek!
My only negative thoughts are that I know vaginophobia is rampant among gay men, but I’d rather see it examined in a humorous way than just repeated for laughs. That and I’d like to see more variance in line weight on the inking. I also could have used one more panel with Cosmic Man’s sister for a punchline.
