Let’s face it: There aren’t many original ideas left in this world, whether it comes to music, literature, or movies. But the idea of a bunch of sodomite super-heroes hasn’t been picked-up yet. Well, that was before artist Martin Eden snatched the idea and decided to bring a new slant to the superhero world with his new comic book series: Spandex. Eden drew the first issue of Spandex as a gift for his friends, and the other two after Britain’s LGBT community went wild over the heroes. [7] ‘I felt that a gay super-team was something that hadn’t been done before. It just felt very fresh and original,’ said the London-based artist. [2] Needless to say that this was an idea whose time had come and he knew it. He confessed to the Huffington Post: “It was frustrating that the first issue took a year to create! Every time the Previews comic catalogue came out, I looked through the pages with a horrible sensation in my chest; I thought it was only a matter of time before someone else came up with the same idea!” [2] This gay super hero project was something he really wanted to do and he finally did it. As far as I’m aware, there are no well-known gay superteams,” Martin Eden told Wired.com. [8] Developing the Spandex series was a generally easy process, he said. “The characters and storylines just flooded into my brain, he said. ” [4] On discussing the idea for the series, Eden said: ‘I thought it would work as a series, because it’d be great for the LGTB audience to have something to enjoy. ‘And for the straight audience, well I felt that a lot of current comics were getting a bit stale and it would create a universe that straight comic readers were less familiar with.’ [5] As for the name of the serie, well… all super-teams seem to wear some form of Spandex right? Whether it’s actual Spandex, like the X-Men, or the Fantastic Four’s unstable molecules, super heroes have always been partial to form-fitting costumes. [3] And you know what? Gay people absolutely love that kind of shit!
So, to make a long story short, “Spandex” is an England-based comic who follows the adventures of glamorous transvestite Liberty and her team as they battle such enemies as the Pink Ninjas and the 50ft Lesbian. The team features an all-LGBT lineup, including lesbian, gay, and transgender crime fighters, with names such as Glitter, Diva, Mr. Muscles and their leader, Liberty. Together, the team fights villains (who are also gay by the way) while also trying to remain focused on the task at hand when teammates start to become more than just teammates. [3] The first issue introduces the crime- fighters and their Brighton headquarters. ‘It’s been a lot of fun coming up with these characters,’ said 35-year-old Mr Eden. Talking a bit about his creative process the author explain how he came up with all those gay characters:
Diva, Glitter, Liberty, and Pussy already existed; I just had to flesh them out a bit.[3] The characters popped into my head pretty fully formed. If I have to force a character’s creation, that character often doesn’t work for me. It’s like they already exist. [6] They all just came alive. Most of the characters started off as a homage to someone else, but I built up original personalities from there. Each teammate kind of has a unique spin, I feel. Also, I think that being gay gives them a different vibe — they’re sometimes a bit tongue-in-cheek, sassy, and cheeky. [6]
Martin Eden
Spandex is aimed at ‘mature readers only’ and Mr Eden already has a mix of straight and gay readers, ‘which is what I wanted’, he said. [3] His distance from the mainstream comics industry has allowed him the freedom to tell decadent, sexy stories with a nuanced approach to gender and sexuality. [7] ‘These guys are just as cool as Spider-Man and Batman – they just happen to sleep with members of their own sex.’ Because it’s a gay team in a mature-readers book, I’m able to explore aspects of their sexuality. For instance, a gay and lesbian teammate get a bit heated in a battle and end up kissing. What’s happening there? Is their sexuality set in stone? You don’t really get to see sexuality being addressed in superhero comics, but I’m featuring it in my comic! [3]
In the first issue, they fight a 50-Foot lesbian who is trying to destroy Brighton then they go on a mission to Japan in issue #2 and face tons of Pink Ninjas. I like to call issue three the ‘Gay Zombies’ issue, but it does have quite a serious side to it too. It’s got a bit of a sci-fi/horror edge to it. And all along, the team’s archenemies, Les Girlz (led by Pussy), are plotting and planning behind the scenes, and they finally unleash their attack in issue #4. That’ll be in the second [collected] book. I explore their origins in issue #6, and there kind-of is an explanation for how they got their powers later on. But yes, there are definitely inspirations and homages going on. Prowler can absorb the skills and abilities of any gay person, so essentially he’s a cheeky, gay homage to Rogue. I once described Butch as a ‘lesbian Luke Cage’ and Diva as a ‘lesbian Wonder Woman,’ but there’s more to all of them than that. All the characters have unique things going on — otherwise, there’s no point to them. [3]
The personal profile of our gay superheroes as described by Martin Eden
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DIVA: The most beautiful superhero you’ll ever see… But don’t let those good looks deceive you – she is deadly in a fight, and has many, many, deep, dark secrets |  |
GLITTER: With the ability to transform himself into light, Glitter can be very handy, either in a fight or in a disco |
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MR MUSCLES: He is super-strong – he is Butch’s twins |  |
PROWLER: Has the power to absorb the skills and abilities of any gay person – so that could mean taking the powers of a team-mate or enemy – or just learning how to throw a fab dinner party. He also has a tail… |
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INDIGO: With her teleportation powers and energetic nature, Indigo brings new meaning to the word ‘flighty’. She has her ‘Indigo Room’, which is full of weapons, gadgets and costume changes, that she can visit in the blink of an eye |  |
LIBERTY: The leader of the team and the world’s first transvestite superhero! Liberty has a (female) power suit which gives her strength and flight, and she also has her own Gaydar, a danger sense. |
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BUTCH – Butch is a member of Spandex and the twin of Mr. Muscles. Her skin is unbreakable. |  |
PUSSY – Feline villian and enemy of Spandex. She is the leader of Les Girlz. |
‘Liberty is a lot of fun to write, as you don’t get many transvestite superheroes and her powers are a lot of fun. ‘He/she has a female power suit like Iron Man and she has her Gaydar – like Spider-sense but gayer. She’s fun, but she can be a really manipulative bitch, too.’ She is quite devious and slippery. Liberty is such a deep, unpredictable character; Glitter has a lot of hidden depths; and Diva, I ultimately discovered, has one of the most shocking secrets in comics. [3] I see Diva as a Wonder Woman type, Prowler’s powers are similar to Rogue’s (he can absorb the skills of any gay person), and Butch is a female Luke Cage. And in the universe, we also have James Bend, Gulk (gay Hulk), and plenty more. [6] Butch is such a fun character: She’s really quiet and intense – she rarely speaks, so I have to work out ways to make her likeable. I didn’t warm to Mr. Muscles at all, and he’s not in the first few issues much, but I’ve since realized that he is pretty essential to the dynamics of the team. [4] Prowler and Indigo took a long time to get right, and I delayed starting work on the first issue until I was happy with them. I’m glad I waited, because I think they are pretty unique and original — Prowler with his ability to absorb the skills of any gay person, and Indigo with her ability to teleport in and out of her Indigo Room, which contains weaponery, costumes, and all sorts of useful things. [4] I particularly like Prowler, because I think his outlook is similar to mine. He is practical and optimistic, against all the odds. [6]
Sometimes Matin Eden is dreaming to see his gay character make their apparition on the BIG Screen. He confesses:
To be honest, most times when I go to the cinema, I become a film director in my head and I just imagine Spandex on the big screen! Or a TV show would be good, yes. I think Kate Moss should be Diva, and Brad Pitt should be Liberty. I think obviously there is the question of whether all members of society would flock to see an all-gay movie, but that’s the trick with Spandex – the gay theme is just the context. It allows me to show guys and gals kissing each other or dating without it being a big deal, so I can just get on with my story. It allows me to explore sexuality without having to contextualize it all the time! A lot of my readers are actually straight, so hopefully a movie/TV show would work too. [3]
The first issue of Spandex is available at selected comic stores and at spandexcomic.com [2] A hardcover collection of the first three issues of the series has been released in late May 2012 and it’s very much about setting up the characters and getting to know them. It’s three standalone stories, but there are some continuing sub-plots. Spandex contains three stories: “Attack of the 50 Foot Lesbian,” a hilarious gay hero meet-and-greet that features a splash page homage to Reynold Brown‘s Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman poster and some fully NSFW sex scenes; “Pink Ninjas,” a farcical play on samurai cinema with more gay in-jokes than a Gilmore Girls episode has pop culture references; and “If You Were the Last Person on Earth,” a sequential art It Gets Better video dropped into an apocalypse. [7] There are 4 more issues after that.
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