I swear if DC or Marvel ever tried to release gay erotic comics they’d have to visit Patrick Fillion for some serious schooling!

I just finished reading Rapture #1, the first issue of Class Comics' full-color gay erotic comic anthology featuring characters from artist Patrick Fillion’s stable of sexy well-drawn superheroes.

Old Friends:

I am going to open with praise for new character Locus. He is everything a gay Martian Manhunter should be. Hot, hung, green and smooth with just enough intellectual flair to play both captive and aggressor, he really makes this story for me. Old Friends is an excellent paean to the whole Jabba opening sequence from the film Return of the Jedi! You have the delectable Locus at the mercy of bad-ass pudgy gangster-pimp Slavva until Camilicat (that’s right, every gay man’s favorite Fellinoid) arrives and well, all hell breaks loose.

Cold Play:

This is a gem for two reasons; one is Donald MacLean’s witty tongue and cheek script, and two, the debut of sexy blue dreamsicle Icecap. Icecap is, without a doubt, one of Fillion’s most interesting villains thus far, and thanks to Greg Waller's brilliant coloring, he is the loveliest. Stylish, bold, and cold, he talks a mean kitschy game and easily stands his own with Fillion’s wise-ass hero Naked Justice. Cold Play starts off with the sexy Naked Justice doing battle with snowmen (yes boys, snowmen) and to those closeted fans of a certain Egyptian manga role-playing series, the ending will most certainly make you chuckle…

Paying Your Dues:

Fillion’s final story in this beauty is brought to life by the lovely Ismael Alvarez. I said his art is lovely, right? Yes, of course I did. Almost immediately one sees the subtle illustration and figure difference in Alvarez’s work but Alvarez’s style and mood fit like hand in glove with Fillion’s work so much so it’s uncanny. This story is an obvious prequel to Fillion’s newest sexy gothic series Deimos. In Dues we meet Felix Himner, a young man trying save humanity from nasty demons in any small way he can. However, Felix is no typical human, and to the sexy demon stalking him he is just the right kind of strange. Meet Sethen, an ambitious demonic avatar determined to get what he wants out of Felix, no matter what it takes. Again, you fans of the ancient Egyptian mythos are going to dig this one.

All in all I highly recommend Rapture #1 as it is more than just one of Fillion well drawn "one handed reads" and the type of anthology I consider to be "mylar-bag-worthy." It’s all Fillion, of course, with gorgeous muscle, fine lines, and plenty of meat in all the right places so you diehard fan will not be dissapointed at all. Even if you are completely new to Patrick Fillion’s style of art and stories, this is an excellent book to start with because it is more plot-driven and never takes itself too seriously. Fillion’s infusion of outside talents like MacLean, Alvarez and Waller is certainly a step in the right direction for Class Comics.

Studio Plug'n Play are artists Minako, Kheelan and writer Gynocrat. Their doujinshi titles [fan comics in manga format] based on Wolf's Rain Trigun are printed in small press runs which make SPnP books quite the collectors items with Yaoi fans.

All images and characters TM and © 2005 Patrick Fillion and Class Comics. Review © 2005 Studio Plug'n Play.

Prism Comics promotes the works of the LGBT community in comics. It does not implicitly endorse any other material or products associated with those works. Any opinions expressed are those of the author(s).