A sampler of work by one of the premier gay comics creators as part of the Free Comic Book Day efforts is the kind of “best foot forward” material we need, instead of, well…most of the offerings this year.

May has the next volume of Empowered releasing, the best equal-opportunity fan service comic on the market.

Archie continues to impress me with their Kevin Keller series. The second issue brings up the issue of gay teens dating, a subject still stupidly controversial. Given that the last issue of the mini did address homophobia and anti-gay harassment (albeit in a family-friendly Archive-verse manner) I’m curious to see what they do here.

I have no idea why any gay men might be interested in an illustrated history of Tarzan films…*cough*

Deliberate co-opting of gay rights slogan to exploit an oft-noted bit of subtext? Or is that giving too much credit to the same audience that buys “Big Bang Theory” and “Bronies” t-shirts?

Marvel gives us some…interesting beefcake covers with The Twelve #9 and something more traditional with Wolverine #justmakingissuenumbersupsnowapparently:

Meanwhile, at Dynamite…

Y’know, I try really hard to stay on topic with these posts, but sometimes something comes along that I just have to comment on:

If you are even briefly thinking of spending $100 on this, stop, and just for a second think about what people who are not desperate nerds are going to think when they see this on your desk.

Okay, to cleanse your palate, here’s a shirtless Ricardo Montalban statue:

The final issue of The Children’s Crusade is finally coming out.

For a book that was sold as promising major status quo changes for both the Avengers and the X-Men franchises, it certainly feels like this has quietly fizzled out. Of course, the series started at least three cross-overs ago, so who can say what the original plan actually was…
I’m just hoping that the end result is a regular title with Wiccan and Hulkling, so I can say that there’s at least one Marvel title I enjoy.

I didn’t think the “gay guy narrates honey badger clip” video was all that funny, but it certainly wasn’t anything worth being bent out of shape about. Even when opportunistic t-shirts started showing up in stores. But when Antarctic Press gets in on it?

Yeah, now it’s hate-worthy.

Meanwhile at Archie, they’re releasing a trade paperback collection of all the previous Kevin Keller appearances, just in time for the first issue of the Kevin Keller ongoing to launch, with this ginchy variant cover:

The first issue is dedicated to Kevin’s first date. And yes, we live in a world where Archie is doing comics about gay teens dating. Which is sort of fantastic.

I haven’t followed the Kirby: Genesis comics from Dynamite at all. They’re just not my thing. But Rob Rodi writing “not-Thor”?

Okay, that at least gets a look.

Eaglemoss is releasing a Northstar/Aurora pack in their Marvel figurine collection.

No collection is complete without a little lead figure of a gay French-Canadian Olympic skier/reformed terrorist.

I have absolutely no idea how I feel about Diamond carrying bishie body pillows like this Black Butler one here:

I’ve mentioned this before, but Empowered, as well as being a very good comic, is happily equal opportunity in its presentation of fan service material. This new hard-cover edition collects the first three volumes.

This is the cover for the fourth issue of Nightwing:

It’s almost like DC is deliberately baiting Tumblr slash communities sometimes…

DC is also, finally, releasing Flex Mentallo in February…

You mean I can get dense, metatextual comics and 100 pages of beefcake?

Dynamite is launching a Tarzan Lord of the Jungle series, and it looks like it might give Warlord of Mars some competition for the title of “comic with most homoerotic covers.” Speaking of, here’s the variant for issue #15:

Rough Trade Superboy gets the lead figurine treatment from Eaglemoss:

You expected me to make a joke about the pose, didn’t you?

“Why do you have a statue of a naked man wearing a football helmet?” is one of those more awkward questions to get from non-comics reading people…

This “Donquixote Doflamingo” figure in no way makes up for ten pages of Japanese imports of schoolgirls flashing their panties each month…

It’s not in Previews, but for those looking for independent gay comics to support, Indie GoGo has a fundraising effort for The Pride that might be worth your attention.

Playing cards tying in to video games seems to be a bit of a “thing” lately, and Dark Horse has Dragon Age 2 cards in November:

If they put Anders on the Queen of Hearts I am definitely buying these.

The cover for Red Hood and the Outlaws #2 raised some eyebrows when some people thought they saw Jason Todd’s cock-and-balls outlined in his pants, which made some straight male comic fans uncomfortable.

Which just goes to show, straight men spend a lot more time thinking about other men’s penises than gay guys do…

Stormwatch #2…still the only sign of gay men in the NuDC, unless those Legion recruits stick around.

I’m resisting the temptation to make an on-topic joke about this:

Okay, so I’m pointing out that there is a joke…

The Sadowski variant for Warlord of Mars #13:

That Stephen Sadowski, he gives good fan service.

There is also a set of DC character themed cooking aprons, including this one for any lazy drag queens you many know:

Much has already been written about the big DC relaunch/renumbering/revamp in September. I’m not really going to get into any of that here. DC already publishes around 40 ongoing monthly books as it is, so if it weren’t for the creative team changes associated with many of these books, this would only be a net gain of about twelve titles. Still probably too many to launch over a four-week period. So let’s hit the three bullet points I do want to hit:

• No Wildcat in the NuDC. No JSA at all in the NuDC. Personally that’s disappointing, but I still have plenty of Wildcat comics.
• Most of the gay male characters of the DC Universe are MIA with this relaunch. No Starman. No Tasmanian Devil. No Obsidian. No Creote. On the other hand, Apollo and Midnighter are being moved into the DCU proper along with the rest of the Wildstorm characters.
  
  If no other good comes of this whole business, at least Apollo finally got his damn hair cut.
• For years I’ve been saying that Superboy’s costume says “rough trade” more than it says “super-hero”…
  
  Apparently they’ve decided to just embrace that unconditionally.

Marvel is launching a John Carter series. I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and presume that this is a tie-in to the live-action Disney/Pixar film coming out in a little bit, in a bit of corporate synergy.

Roger Langridge is writing, which would normally be a plus, but I think I’ll stick to the Dynamite series with the Jusko covers and Sadowski art for my John Carter stories.

Veronica #209 is another “Kevin Keller” issue…

That cover on the left is starting to approach “Subtext? What Subtext?” territory…

Kodansha is bringing Sailor Moon back to North America.

Lesbian subtext and transgender characters seemed pretty revolutionary for a kid’s comic fifteen years ago. I think I’m mostly curious about this for the historical angle now.

Northwest Press is releasing The Power Within, a comic about anti-gay bullying. I’ve liked Christensen and Brill’s previous work together, and I’m very pleased to see this make it into the Diamond catalog.

I’m really not sure how I feel about this being offered for sale.

Dark Horse has the first volume of a new CLAMP series, Gate 7, shipping in October. From the description so far, it sounds like another “magical girl” series, but knowing CLAMP, I wouldn’t be surprised to see heavy gay subtext and pretty boys.

With Lucille Ball and Madonna comics shipping the same month, I’m surprised Bluewater hasn’t tried to market a “Gay Icons” comics line.
Damn, I probably just gave them an idea…

Dynamite is launching a new Bionic Man series (why?) written by Kevin Smith (why?), which might be of interest to those with lingering Lee Majors crushes and because this Jonathan Lau cover just seems just a little more provocative than most super-hero comic covers:

Kotobukiya is taking a break from the creepy statues of underage girls from Neon Genesis Evangelion to release a male figure.

So of course it’s the evil gay character…

Easily the gayest thing in Previews this month…

New Teen Titans is one of those super-hero books that always seems to have a lot of gay fans, and original creators Wolfman and Perez return for a long-delayed graphic novel, Games.

Nightwing’s disco collar is a design classic, and hey, look, it’s “totally not gay, at all, really” Jericho before his one of about fifty heel turns!

Speaking of gay followings, shipping later this year is Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane Archives, featuring the early attempts by Lois to trick “confirmed bachelor” Superman into marriage.

There’s also a soft-cover collection of Vertigo’s Fogtown, by the all-gay creative team of Anderson Gabrych and Brad Rader, a mystery starring a closeted detective that’s well worth a look.

I really don’t care for Deadpool at all, but this…

This seems like an almost deliberate call out to the folks who draw dirty pictures of the character and post them on Tumblr.

I’m still trying to completely wrap my head around the fact that Archie, of all companies, is doing a big push on a comic book starring a gay character.

For Torchwood fans, there are two new novels bridging the gap between “Children of Earth” and “Miracle Day.” Long Time Dead by Sarah Pinborough appears to focus on the dangling plot threads of Suzie Costello and the other things buried at the Torchwood Hub, while The Men Who Sold The World by Guy Adams introduces characters who will be involved in “Miracle Day.”
I wouldn’t get your hopes up for an Ianto appearance.

There’s also a release of Robert Howard’s Conan stories tied into the film reboot.

I’m certain there’s a graduate thesis to be written on images of masculinity in film, and the evolution from the big slabs of steroid beef in the 80s to the leaner look of today.

The “Barbie: Pillow Talk” doll set:

There is probably a very easy joke to make about selling a Ken doll based on Rock Hudson.

So Diamond discontinued their “Adult Supplement” but doesn’t think twice about slapping some sheep testicles up in the regular magazine…

The thing I love about the comics industry is the consistent standards of good taste…

I know quite a few gay men who are going to be very happy with the idea of a Zach Galifianakis plush doll:

One of the nice things about Adam Warren’s Empowered series is that it’s equal opportunity with its fan-service. There’s just as many barely clothed men running around as there are women, and the presence of gay and lesbian heroes is pretty much taken for granted. Maidman’s been presented as straight so far, but he is certainly the baddest assest man to fight crime in a sexy little French Maid outfit all the same.

Did you ever think that we’d live to see the day when Archie comics, of all companies, would publish a comic book starring a gay character?

Bluewater Productions continues their race to the bottom with a comic about noted homophobe Laura Ingraham. It’s kind of cute how the solicitation copy tries to make it sound like the people who have accurately described her as a bigot are somehow the unreasonable ones here.

Hermes Press is reissuing the first two volumes of all-ages comic Lions, Tigers and Bears, with art by gay cartoonist Jack Lawrence. I remember when Image was putting these out, and they were fairly good, and I like Lawrence’s style quite a bit.

I can think of a number of gay men who wouldn’t mind John Barrowman on their chest.
(Yes, Pete, I’ll get you one.)

Justice League of America #57, a flag-ship super-hero comic, has two gay men on the cover.
I know, it feels like that’s not something that should be noteworthy, right?

DC is also releasing a new edition of Howard Cruse’s Stuck Rubber Baby, which is one of those seminal graphic novels that pretty much everyone should have read by now. So if you somehow haven’t, get to it.

There is also a massive amount of Green Lantern merchandise coming out, enough to test the patience of even the most devoted Ryan Reynolds fan.

Have I mentioned before that I rather like it when Joe Jusko paints mostly-naked men?
Actually, the first issue of Wolverine/Hulk was surprisingly good, if a bit heavy on references to comparatively minor continuity points.

That’s an…interesting…artistic interpretation of the face of Ryan Reynolds in the obligatory Bluewater bio-comic. Still, it seems like the artist understood that the most important features needed to be highlighted.

I think we’ve discovered the point where “that t-shirt is too gay to wear in public” and “that t-shirt is too nerdy to wear in public” meet…

A plush Ryan Reynolds doll…

Oh dear…