Do you ever get to the end of an issue of Superman, Justice League or
the X-Men, and feel incredibly frustrated that not once did anyone get
a boner in their Spandex, or that no one peeled off their uniform for a
shower scene? Tease-pulp comics should be ashamed; they’re worse than
underwear ads.
Thankfully there are people like Patrick Fillion to help relieve the
tension.
Vancouver-based Fillion is the man behind Class Enterprises, which
publishes a line of adult comic books, illustrated and created by the
30-year-old Quebecer. In as many genres as on the mainstream
shelves-from romance, sci-fi and superhero-every tale from Class
Enterprises promises kinky man-to-man fun of all varieties.
Not just another perverted fan boy with a pencil, Fillion saw his
beginnings with Avatar Press, a small but popular company of superhero
books with adult themes “of the hetero persuasion,” says Fillion. “So
gallons of tits and ass, which, okay, I don’t mind drawing.
“But my heart wanted to be somewhere else. I think I am just better at
playing by my own rules, so I left Avatar to focus on my own line of
gay-orientated books.
“I think that comic books have a really magical way of pulling us into
a story. They allow us to live and feel stuff that maybe isn’t possible
in real life,” says Fillion, who first discovered comics when he was
five. “It’s a very intimate experience. You get to show every aspect of
the characters: their physical characteristics, their likes and
dislikes and such. And you get to draw them showing all of this, as
they live out their lives.”
With Class Enterprises, Fillion gets to explore even further. “What I
really want to put out into the world is quality gay erotica in comic
book format, with fun stories and characters that aren’t only arousing,
but interesting and diverse.”
There’s Camili-Cat, a sexy space cat-man with 9.5″ and an insatiable
hunger for anal delights, and Naked Justice, a salute to the age of the
solo super guy, who fights for truth and fairness in the buff. The
stories showcase a huge variety of guest tops, while the main
characters are generally versatile or bottoms, with storylines that
always end with the moral of make (hot, sweaty, dirty, man) love, not
war.
“That whole ‘damsel in distress’ routine is so hot when it’s put on by
a really sexy guy,” says Fillion, who ensures that all of his men are
sexy. “There’s something really disarming about it, and it peels away
all that macho shit without losing any of the masculinity.” Many
storylines are your basic seduction scenes with intergalactic alien
penises, but the sexual acts themselves are often very aggressive and
dominating, with punishing overtones. “It can be very exciting and
naughty,” says Fillion. “It’s a side of me that I feel completely safe
practicing on the comic page. I’ve always been fascinated by it, and
whatever the scenario, I try to put myself in the character’s shoes. So
the hard-core stuff can be a great deal of fun to draw, because it
allows me to go somewhere I don’t necessarily feel the need to go in my
own private life.”
In the first issue of The Incredibly Hung: Naked Justice, the title
character and friends are hypnotized by the evil Giganticor to screw
like never before in an endless “orgy of the damned.” Things you’ll
notice: Most of the boys are uncut, they are hairless except for
underarms and some pubes (though one is part cat so I’m sure that
counts for something), they all get boners when you breathe on them,
and they all fuck bareback. “It’s comics!” says Fillion. “There doesn’t
need to be a danger of contracting sexually transmitted diseases in
comics. In fantasy, everything goes, so long as you realize that it is
fantasy, and that real life is slightly less rosy.
“I live and let live, but I have always preferred to err on the side of
caution in my personal life. Besides I can’t draw a convincing condom
to save my life.”
Some critics say Fillion’s work emphasizes a sexually compulsive and
therefore negative gay image. Fillion feels that’s par for the course.
“People are free to think what they like, but I don’t feel like I
really reinforce any negative stereotypes any more than your average
Kristen Bjorn flick. I’m out to have fun, doing the kind of art I love
most in the world, and share it with people who may or may not enjoy it.
“It’s important to know where to draw the line between fantasy and real
life,” Fillion points out. “I don’t feel like I need to make any bold
statements about gay lifestyle through my comics, because they are
fantasy material, and as such I believe they need to be regarded as
fantasy. I’m not advocating any kind of sex, any kind of lifestyle. I
am, however, trying to show as many variations of those things as
possible.”
Fillion’s illustrations grace the pages of numerous publications
including Xtra West. You can take a peek at all of Fillion’s boys at
the mostly pay website www.patrickfillion.com; the on-line catalogue is
there, too. It’s a little kinky comic fun for everyone.
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