Posts Tagged ‘superhero’

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Hero

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

Review by Fred Towers

Perry Moore
Hyperion Books

At the same time that he’s coming to terms with his sexual orientation, basketball star Thom Creed is trying to figure out exactly what his untrained superpowers can do. In an attempt to break away from his seemingly non-understanding father (an ex-hero with something to hide) and homophobic community, Thom runs away, only to find himself in the middle of a multi-hero rescue operation. Using his ability to heal, he keeps an injured woman alive until the League superheroes arrive and impresses them enough to get an invitation to try out for a hero apprentice position. Thom is teamed with an old woman who can see into the future, a spiteful girl who unleashes her power through fire, a sickly boy who is able to inflict disease on anyone, and a demoted hero with insane speed. With superheroes dying in mysterious circumstances, Thom is forced to admit publicly that he is gay in order to prevent a miscarriage of justice, but finds himself cast out of the League. He organizes his ragtag team to figure out what is really going on and to fight society’s prejudices as well as the criminal element of the town.

Some reviews I’ve read have said that this book starts slow, but I found that not to be true. This novel packs in teen angst about fitting in, coming out as gay, coming out as a superhero and more. This novel packs in a great deal of story into 428 pages. Thom has to come to terms with his newfound realization of his sexual orientation as well as the fact that he has superpowers, which is made worse by the fact that his dad is a fallen superhero who is against super-powered people and gays, too. What a conflict for a young male teen? His mother abandoned him, so he has no one to turn to about these feelings he’s having. Except for maybe a villain in disguise. Or is he the villain? I won’t give it away. Read it to find out.

There’s also a lot of superhero action on top of that. The reader will find great, quirky characters to adore, be aggravated by, and befriend. Great action that goes out with a boom. Relationships of all types will be tested in this story.

I hope the rumors are true that this one will be turned into a movie for the big screen. I’ll be first in line for it.

I highly recommend this one for all ages, even though it’s considered a young adult novel. Don’t let that hold you back from diving into this one. It has action, adventure, friendship, and so much more.

This review was originally published by Fred Towers at his blog, fredtowers.blogspot.com, and is published here courtesy of the author.

Purchase this book from Amazon or preview it first.

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The Bonds of Love

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

Review by Fred Towers

J.M. Snyder
Amber Quill Press

Vic Braunson has a special kind of problem ~ his lover, Matt DiLorenzo, somehow imbues him with enhanced superpowers every time they have sex. It’s something Vic has learned to live with in the years they’ve been together, and something he won’t let stand in the way of their relationship. Matt hates the powers, however, particularly when they put Vic in danger, but what can they do?

When Vic stops an armed robbery at a local convenience store, his picture appears in the morning paper. Later that day, Matt receives a phone call at work from Jordan Dubrowski, a guy he knew in high school. Jordan was his first, in every way ~ it was through him that Matt discovered his ability to transfer superpowers to his lovers. Jordan had a taste of those powers, and after reading about Vic’s role in the hold up, he’s decided he wants those powers back. But Matt is in love … and Vic won’t let him go without a fight. Still, Jordan will stop at nothing to get what he thinks rightly belongs to him…

This novel is a gay erotica superhero story with plenty of action in the bedroom as well as in the streets. Vic saves the day, but when his picture ends up in the paper, the real intrigue begins. He has to save his relationship from being torn apart by Matt’s ex-lover.

For action adventure readers, there is plenty of intrigue and action to get their hearts pumping. They can live vicariously through the superhero adventure. This action adventure superhero novel takes the superhero novel to the next level. It doesn’t close the door on the relationship behind the hero.

The erotica reader will enjoy the sex scenes between Matt and Vic, but they will get more than their crotch throbbing. They’ll be on the edge of their seats wanting more. Snyder writes strong characters, plots and moves from the bedroom to the streets with ease. I believe all readers who enjoy erotica, action, and more will enjoy this gay novel. I highly recommend it, especially to the gay superhero geeks like me.

This review was originally published by Fred Towers at his blog, fredtowers.blogspot.com, and is published here courtesy of the author.

Visit the Vic and Matt website and Amber Quill Press.

Purchase this book from Amazon or search for other sellers with the ISBN: 978-1-60272-202-6

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The Positions of Love: Book 1

Saturday, September 18th, 2010

Review by Fred Towers

J.M. Snyder
Amber Quill Press

When Matt diLorenzo gives his lover, Vic Braunson, a copy of the Kama Sutra for Gay Men as a Christmas gift, they find it doubles as a handy reference guide to Vic’s super powers. All they have to do is test out the positions to see which one gives him what ability …

Matt and Vic have been living together almost a year now, and this is their first Christmas. Not a big fan of the holiday, Vic is unsure what to buy his lover. Matt gives him two guidelines to go by ~ the gift must be under $50, and must be something sexual, because Vic has some time off during the holidays and Matt plans to spend that time together.

I may be a little biased because I’m a superhero freak, and I crave more gay superhero fiction. There just isn’t enough. This installment of Matt and Vic is more erotic than superhero. At this point, they are exploring what lovemaking positions gives him what powers, instead of how his powers can help other people. I can’t wait for future installments to see how that side of the story develops.

I did get Matt and Vic confused at times, but the writing was so crisp I didn’t worry about it. I just continued reading, figuring that it’d work itself out. The characters are distinctly different in the descriptions, so I don’t know why I’d get bumped in who was who. Despite this minor confusion, I fell in love with the characters.

The author does seem to love the word “bulbous” when describing the cock’s head. It was used at least twice to describe it in two different sex scenes. Since I wasn’t sure what the word meant, it jumped out at me.

One phrase that I fell in love with was “A cutting wind pulled at his robe like a hungry lover.” The language in this story is smooth and captivating.

I highly recommend this book to all erotica lovers, romance lovers, and superhero freaks. I can’t wait to see how his superpowers manifest themselves in future installments, such as what happens when the top and bottom flip in bed.

This review was originally published by Fred Towers at his blog, fredtowers.blogspot.com, and is published here courtesy of the author.

Visit the Vic and Matt website and Amber Quill Press.

Purchase this book in print or for the Kindle from Amazon or search for other sellers with the ISBN 978-1-60272-173-9

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Boy Meets Hero

Friday, September 17th, 2010

Review by Fred Towers

Chayne Avery & Russell Garcia
Bruno Gmunder

I absolutely loved this graphic novel. The illustrations really popped. The colors in the illustrations were magnigicient. The story was well thought out and had several twists. Even though this graphic novel wasn’t as sexual as Dick Master by Roy Klang, but I liked it that way. I think the lack of explicit sex in this graphic novel will make it more appealing to heterosexial superhero fans than Dick Master. I really liked the profiles of the characters at the end describing their abilities and their biography. I recommend this to readers who love gay romance fiction, gay superhero stories, and graphic novel readers of all sexual orientations and ages above 13. The superheroes and supervillians have great powers.

This review was originally published by Fred Towers at his blog, fredtowers.blogspot.com, and is published here courtesy of the author.

Purchase this book from Amazon or search for other sellers for its ISBN 978-3-86187-891-9

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Unmasked: Erotic Tales of Superheroes

Friday, September 17th, 2010

Reviewed by Fred Towers

Eric Summers, editor
Starbook Press

BOOK BLURB: Next time you are rescued from a burning building by a tall, hung, muscle-bound man in tights, will you offer your services in appreciation? Why not? Superheroes have needs just like everyone else. All you have to do is promise to protect his secret identity and try not to damage the spandex! Some things just won’t wash out. With any luck, you might become a sidekick. Every superhero has a super ability, and this latest Eric Summers collection of erotic short stories highlights those incredible talents that seem to come out when the sun goes down and the bedroom door closes. But, every superhero also has a weakness. Be careful because one such superhero in Unmasked: Erotic Tales of Gay Superheroes loses his powers if he has an orgasm. What is a boy to do?

“Unmasked: Erotic Tales of Gay Superheroes” tells the stories of those hot men who are powerful in a dangerous situation and equally powerful under the covers. Try not to fall in love because the life of a superhero can be a lonely one, and the life of a heart-sick admirer can be even lonelier. Just lie back and enjoy the moment as a man with a cape and a mask takes you to new levels of ecstasy.

This is a hot collection of erotica, and for the superhero freaks like me, it’s an amazing collection. The stories are great superhero fiction as well as hot erotica. I didn’t want to like this collection, since my story was accepted at first, but was cut at the last minute. But this collection is too great to pass up.

The reader will enjoy the superheroes and the super villains in this anthology. The short stories have fully developed characters and plots, which go beyond the erotic elements. The erotica is a bonus for battling the bad guys.

I recognized some of the authors, such as Jay Starre and my friend, Stephen Osborne. You can’t read an erotica anthology without coming across one of these guys. There are probably more authors that others would recognize. Whether they are known or not, all of these stories are topnotch.

I highly recommend this to superhero freaks and readers of smut. Don’t miss this one!

This review was originally published by Fred Towers at his blog, fredtowers.blogspot.com, and is published here courtesy of the author.

Buy this book from Amazon or search for other sellers for its ISBN: 1-934187-20-8

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Batwoman

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

Over at The Source, Alex Segura breaks some exciting news about the upcoming Batwoman series. Enjoy the alternate cover image drawn by Amy Reeder Hadley (whose last project was Madame Xanadu) to November’s Batwoman #0 and read the rest of the news here.

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Dawnstar

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Art by Ed Benes

According to the DC Who’s Who entry, Dawnstar is a mutant born on the planet Starhaven. Aside from the obvious power of flight, Dawnstar is able to fly through space at high speeds (without need for protection), and has an uncanny ability to track people or objects. Dawnstar became the driving force behind a business venture started by her parents, Mistrider and Moonwalker. She guided spacecraft through dangerous sections of space, thus securing safe passage and delivery of goods. Greybird and Greatfire are her younger brothers. She came to the attention of R. J. Brande because of her work as a bounty hunter. He offered her a place in the Legion Academy where she was trained by Wildfire, and soon after joined the Legion. The entry also states that she had a crush on Wildfire that developed into a “romantic but platonic (of necessity)” matter. On a mission (circa 1985) she found herself attracted to man named Jhodan. More research will need to be done on this matter.

In the Five Years Later version, Dawnstar was possessed by Bounty, a malevolent being, who cruelly cut off her wings and coerced to work as an assassin. Zero Hour came along and erased Dawnstar (and Bounty) from continuity.

Dawnstar has reappeared in post Infinite Crisis continuity, first as only a statue (one of many depicting the Legion) in Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, a scene in which Superman acknowledges having had adventures with the Legion. (Justice Society of America #5) Karate Kid, Wildfire, Timber Wolf, Dream Girl, Star Man, and Dawnstar have come to the 21st century on a mission to bring someone back from the dead. Who this person, aside from it being a male, the reasons and the circumstances remain a mystery. Power Girl, Hawk Girl and Red Arrow travel to Thanagar to find Dawnstar. They track down a lead and find a woman wearing fake wings but who has Dawnstar’s flight ring. The unnamed woman implies she and Dawnstar (who she calls Neela) have had a romantic relationship, and knows Dawnstar is not returning because she has “[felt] her friends from this far away–” The last page reveals Dawnstar has tracked down and joined her fellow time traveling friends, and will lead them to where they need to go to accomplish their mission.

Dawnstar appeared in issues #1 – #5 of Crisis of Infinite Earths. After Legion of Three Worlds it now seems these appearances may have been of an alternate Dawnstar.

The original version debuted in Superboy #225, volume 1 and this version is outed in Justice League of America #9 (2007) as part of “The Lightning Saga” story in #8 – 10 by Brad Meltzer.

© and ® DC Comics. All rights reserved.

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Sasquatch

Monday, July 5th, 2010

Art by John Byrne

By Ronald Byrd

As part of Department H’s efforts to create Canadian super-agents, Walter Langkowski subjected himself to a gamma-radiation treatment designed to give him super-powers similar to those of Bruce Banner,a.k.a. the Incredible Hulk,with whom Langkowski attended college. Unknown to Langkowski, his experiment briefly established a mystic link between himself and the extradimensionally exiled Great Beast named Tanaraq, enabling him to assume the form of an incarnation of the Beast, which Langkowski mistook for a transformation similar to that of the Hulk’s.

As Sasquatch, Langkowski became a member of the Canadian super-team Alpha Flight, but his career took a dramatic turn when the efforts of Tanaraq and his fellow Great Beasts resulted in the expulsion of his soul from his body, which was possessed by Tanaraq and subsequently destroyed; temporarily inhabiting the robot Box, his soul was later transferred to the body of his female teammate Snowbird (whose own soul was at the time believed to be dead; she has since returned, although precisely how she obtained a new body is as yet unrevealed), which was itself in bestial form at the time. Sasquatch was surprised when his transformation back to human left him in Snowbird’s female body (a turn which, unsurprisingly, had a detrimental effect on his relationship with female teammate Aurora), in which form he used the name Wanda Langkowski. Sasquatch eventually regained his male form and evidently never explored any romantic possibilities while in Snowbird’s form, but his experience remains relatively unique in the annals of Marveldom. Temporarily replaced on the team without his knowledge by a genuine sasquatch while he was conducting scientific research, he is an active member of Alpha Flight to this day.

Sasquatch has the ability to change into a large, shaggy, bestial form (actually an incarnation of the Great Beast Tanaraq) in which he possesses immense super-strength, durability, and reflexes; when in human form he retains none of these abilities. It is possible that, considering that he occupies the body of the demigoddess Snowbird, he may have the potential to utilize her own more extensive shape-changing abilities and other powers, but this is unclear.

Sasquatch first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #120. The character’s gender transformation happened in Alpha Flight #45.

© and ® Narvel Comics. All rights reserved.

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Anole

Monday, July 5th, 2010

By Eric N.

Born and raised in small-town America, Victor Borkowski is a sixteen year old mutant who grew up despite his mutation and appearence. The neighborhood he grew up in a small community that accepted him for who he was until Anti-mutant feelings spread and threatened his safety, as a result Victor was sent off to Xavier’s school where he quickly excelled academically and made close friends with Northstar who subsequently helped him come to terms with his sexuality.

When advisors were being assigned, Victor at first chose Karma but was reassigned to Northstar where he was friendly towards Julian Keller of the Hellions but now seems closer towards his own teammates. When news spread of Northstar’s demise Victor was deeply affected. At the time he as well as the rest of the New Mutants were unaware of Northstar’s resurrection via the Hand.

It is unknown if he has chosen to come out to the rest of the school. Victor’s chosen foreign language is French.

In the wake of the House Of M more than 90% of the mutant population lost their mutant powers, however, Anole was spared and his team Alpha Squadron along with the Hellions and New Mutants were all merged into one team.

Shortly after that Emma Frost called for an all out brawl to decide who would lead this new mutant group, though Anole was not selected and still remains at the Institute to further his training.

Anole’s reptilian mutation grants, green skin, a spiked carapce instead of hair, enhanced agility and a prehensile tongue. A chameleon like ability allows him to blend with his surroundings to become nearly invisible, though he seemingly has trouble controlling his powers if too emotionally unstable.

[This profile may require updating. Please contact me at glajoe at gayleague dot com if you'd like to update this entry.]

Anole’s first appearance is New Mutants #2, vol 2.

© and ® Marvel Comics. All rights reserved.

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Xavin

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
Art by Michael Ryan and Mike Norton

Art by Michael Ryan and Mike Norton

Contributed by Hope

Xavin is a Skrull in the Marvel universe, an extraterrestrial species with the ability to change form as they choose. As such though Xavin’s natural gender began as male, it remains fluid, much to the frustration of some of his teammates on the Runaways. Xavin first came to earth  in order to marry Karolina Dean, a fellow alien on the Runaways team. When Karolina insisted she couldn’t marry Xavin because she was a lesbian, Xavin quickly changed genders to a female, and explained that it wasn’t an important issue for him. While in the Runaways Xavin usually appeared as a black female, but changed into a male occasionally when needed. Karolina eventually grew to resent this, and felt that she didn’t know whether she was dating a male or female. When Xavin revealed that under times of stress she automatically reverts to female form, the Runaways and Karolina took this to mean that Xavin was now fully female-identified.

Xavin is often argumentative and questions Nico’s, the Runaways leader, decisions. She has a tendency to rush into situations without thinking them fully out and reverts to Skrull customs when at times, it is inappropriate. Despite this, she shows a strong loyalty to the other Runaways, due to her being an orphan herself, and takes their side even over her own species.

During an invasion by Karolina’s species, Xavin shapeshifted into Karolina and took her place in order to take Karolina’s punishment on her home world.

Xavin was previously seen in The Runaways and is currently not in any active series. Xavin first appeared in Runaways # 7, volume 2.

Read Karolina’s profile.

© and ® Marvel Comics. Used without permission.

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