by Shaun Knittel - SGN Staff Writer

Spandex, a new comic magazine featuring a gang of Gay superheroes, has taken the United Kingdom by storm. Based in Brighton, the gang is led by glamorous transvestite Liberty and is the first of its kind in Great Britain. While other comics have featured Gay characters, the country has never had a Gay crime-fighting team.

For 10 years, creator Martin Eden worked with another comic, The O Men. While working on the superhero soap opera, he said, some of the Gay supporting characters began to grab his attention.

"It all came together at once, really. I needed a break from The O Men, and I decided to do something new," Eden told SGN. "This project is fresh, unique, and something a little more tongue-in-cheek."

Liberty, the team's transvestite leader, wears a female power suit and possesses "Gaydar," or danger sense.

The rest of the team is just as colorful. There's Dive, the beautiful and sexy Lesbian "Wonder Woman"; human light Glitter, the group's twink who can fly at super-speed and shoot lasers; Mr. Muscles, a gym bunny strong man; strong and sultry Butch, Mr. Muscle's Lesbian twin sister; and Indigo, a French teleporter named after the Lesbian rock group, Indigo Girls.

The most interesting character, according to Eden, is Prowler, who has the power to absorb the skills and abilities of any Gay person. "So that could mean taking the powers of a teammate or enemy - or just learning how to throw a fab dinner party," joked Eden.

"Prowler is a really important character to me, and he took a long time to develop and get right," Eden told SGN. "I think I identify with his practical, optimistic attitude to life, and I love him to bits. I adore drawing his spiky hair. He has a tail, too, and there's a story behind that."

Those are the main seven characters, but there's a massive supporting cast. There's feline villain Pussy, giant villainess 50-foot Queenie, fluorescent Gay ninja Neon, and British superspy James Bend, to name a few.

The first issue, currently available, took Eden one year to produce. The artist says he spent most of the time adapting to drawing a full color comic and "making sure to get it right." Spandex is somewhat of a side-project for Eden, who works a fulltime day job.

Eden says the age demographic is 16 years old or older because "the comic contains strong language, adult scenes and nudity." However, he said Spandex is not pornographic.

The comic is doing well in London, Eden said, but he's made the first issue available in the U.S. as well.

"The success of the comic has taken me completely by surprise," Eden told SGN.

Spandex has done so well, in fact, that a second mass printing of the comic is in the works. In addition, there are plans to make a book with up to five issues inside.

"Spandex introduces a whole bunch of fabulous new characters who are set to take the comic world by storm," Eden said. "It's a fun, experimental comic, full of drama, comedy, romance and action & all done in the best possible taste!"

Spandex is out now in United Kingdom shops, and is available in the U.S. at www.spandexcomic.com.

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