This week X-Men (and Alpha Flight) fans celebrate Northstar’s wedding to his boyfriend in Astonishing X-Men #51. Northstar and the newly outed Alan Scott/Green Lantern of Earth 2 aren’t the only gay heroes on comic book pages. Direct from England – Spandex is an all-gay team that might give you a new reason to wave those rainbow flags at Pride festivals this weekend.
With a title like Spandex: Fast and Hard I thought this book might be campy fun but I was surprised how much I would care about these over the top heroes and heroines.
Liberty, Prowler, Glitter, Indigo, Butch, Mr. Muscles and Diva are an all-gay superhero team based in Brighton, England that fight giant lesbians, pink ninjas, and a psychic alien while struggling with complicated love lives.
Take Peter David’s clever mix of adventure, inter team romance and satiric humor in X-Factor then shower it with glitter, more sex, turn up the camp and you have Spandex. These scantily clad heroes are great fun but the more I read the more I felt for them.
Chapter One Attack of the 50 Foot Lesbian introduces the team as they race into action taking on an angry giant stomping through Brighton. The titanic lesbian is a big threat but there’s an even bigger conspiracy behind her rampage. The Justice League has the Injustice League. Spandex has their own team of enemies. Martin Eden plants a particular sinister yet sexy seed that could lead to a heartbreak and betrayal in the future for one member of the team.
Chapter Two Pink Ninjas takes the team around the world to Japan after a ninja thief’s brazen robbery of the Queen. The adventure leads to a battle with an army of pink ninjas. the addition of a new member and forces to team to face a painful past.
Chapter Three…If You Were The Last Person On Earth was my favorite. The heroes awake to a conquered world. A psychic vampire is turning everyone into zombies (not the mindless eating kind) and sucking the color…all the colors of rainbow seems an appropriate choice of words…out of the world. This final chapter is a parable of coping with how everyday life can take an emotional toll and drain the life out of you.
Creator Martin Eden made me laugh, think and relate. I enjoyed these sexy and fun adventures with the campy but complicated heroes of Spandex. Straight or gay doesn’t matter – this is an entertaining superhero comic.
Spandex: Fast and Hard by Martin Eden is from TitanBooks.com. Here’s a link to an interview with Eden if you’d like to learn about how he created the team.
Warning: This book has nudity, sex, foul language and really revealing costumes. This book is not for the easily offended.
Note: I was approached by the publisher to see if I would take a read and offer my thoughts if sent a preview copy. I was not paid to review this book.
By Editor