In Memory of Michael Johnson from Bastard Ropes
Michael Johnson, also known as Action Bastard
I first heard the voice of Action Bastard (Michael Johnson) on an episode of The Ropecast, my favorite podcast dedicated to rope bondage. I had listened to dozens of great episodes hosted by Graydancer before, but this time around the guest’s unusual voice filled my head inside my earbuds. The man who called himself Action Bastard fired off quips at lightning speed, and he showed a passion for making rope and educating people that I hadn’t heard much before. He made ropes and had started his company Bastard Ropes.
I did something unusual that day. I reached out to Action Bastard and asked him if he would be interested in selling his rope through my web site for my book series How to Kill a Superhero. I gave him copies of my books, and two weeks later, after he read them, he contacted me. Not only did he say yes, but I learned he was so into superhero fetish. I felt like I had run into a long-lost brother. He came up with unusual color combinations and we even decided to call the models Super Villain Rope when I listed it in my web store.
Over time, our relationship developed. We mostly talked on the phone, but we did meet in person a few times. The last time I saw him alive, we drank tequila in a Lower-East-Side joint and talked about doing some rope demos together with me and some models in superhero gear while some twisted fucker (Bastard) tied us and walked the viewers on YouTube through an educational rope demo in Gowanus in Brooklyn. Sadly, that project never came to be, but in my imagination and in my heart, I can imagine just how much fun and creativity Action Bastard would have brought to the project.
A few weeks ago, I was trying to contact Michael, and when he didn’t reply to my calls and texts, I was puzzled. I learned through his Facebook page that he had taken his own life. I was, and am still mournful. Because that’s what I remember the most about this brilliant man. His personality overflowed with humor, wit and love. And not only was he a clever businessman, he was a generous human being. I am sorry for any personal troubles he may have experienced, and I send him all the compassion I can muster. All humans go through pain and suffering, and as I think about Mike, the Bastard, I know he made many of us happy with his love, his humor and his artistry in making rope.
Pablo Greene
Chicago
Q&A: Eye of the Cyclone, godfather of superhero and spandex fetish
Welcome to our Q&A with Eye of the Cyclone, one of the Internet’s longest-running superhero fetish sites. The Eye of the Cyclone was generating stories and images of superhero, wrestling and spandex fetish from basically the very beginning of the explosion of the world-wide web. Nowadays, the ubiquity of superhero fetish images on sites like Tumblr, Instagram and YouTube mean that it’s a lot easier for superhero fetishists to find community, but EOTC was there first, and for many kinksters, it was one of the first sites that took the fetish seriously. Today we sit down with its creator Neil Page and ask him a few questions. We’ll find out why the site has endured so long, how he selects such hot models, and his predictions about the future of this fetish and community.
Q: Neil, How did you start Eye of the Cyclone? What year was that?
A: The format of the site in its present form started around 2005. Before that, it was still called Eye of the Cyclone, but it was more of a scrapbook of images I had photographed and sourced starting in 1998.
Q: What difficulties did you run into in the early years?
A: When I first started it was difficult finding costumes readily available to use in the stories. So I got used to using base dance unitards and customising them myself, slowly creating my own stable of characters.
Q: Did you have a moment in the site’s history when it started to pick up steam and become more popular? What was the cause for that surge?
A: There was never one time I experienced that. The site slowly gained momentum, hopefully due to more superhero live action images and movies being accepted, and not as a novelty or joke factor.
Q: How do you define superhero fetish for yourself?
A: I have always had a thing for comic book superheroes from a very young age. I knew I saw something different in that other people didn’t. The sight of an anatomically correct fit man in skintight suits got me excited in ways I didn’t understand at the time. Along with my wrestling fetish, I also was inspired and stimulated by the elements of good guy vs. bad guy and a battle in hot tight gear.
Q: What’s the purpose of Eye of the Cyclone?
A: The original purpose was to bring to superheroes into a live action format. Keep in mind that when I first started in around 1998, there were not many images of this kind around, either in the media of web. When Eye of the Cyclone was a free homepage on AOL, the aim was to share my view of my superhero and wrestling fetish. I wanted to see if any other people out there “got it”. Hence the name Eye of the Cyclone (Cyclone was a name I took on as a name in the gay wrestling world). It’s wasn’t until 2005 that I decided to take it to a professional level with the members sections and making it a paid site.
Q: Your site is different than others, because you actually make comic book panels and focus on the fetish aspect of the superheroes and villains. Can you talk a little bit more about that?
A. I always thought the panel and frame-by-frame images were essential for a superhero comic book. I was intrigued on making this live action stills via photography. I have been asked why I don’t do more video, even though I do small video clips. I feel the strength of the site is its photo comic book format. I still try to keep the characters and storylines as interesting, horny and also with humour as much as I can. The essence of a good superhero showdown with the clean cut hero in danger of being defeated and corrupted by and evil and perverted villain.
Q: Are there requests for stories or fetishes that you’ve had to turn down?
A. I love getting requests or suggestions for the site. Many of those I try and include on upcoming photoshoots. I steer clear from extreme fetish requests. That does not have any place in the superhero fetish.
Q: How do you find your models?
A.I used to use a lot of people I met through the gay wrestling world. These days I hire many models from various sources online.
Q: You feature many body types, from lean and athletic to bodybuilder-like, stocky and muscle bear-ish. Can you talk about why?
A: From publishing the site online for many years, I have had many requests for all types of superheroes, from young agile spiderman types to more mature beefy hulks. I try and incorporate as many different types as possible. When I hire a model for a shoot I usually tailor make the hero to suit his build and type.
Q: You used to produce DVDs. Why did you stop? Will you do more video work in the future?
A: I produced on DVD in the past called “Divide and Conquer” the trailer is still around on my youtube channel. The reason why I didn’t follow these up with more, even though we did have a sequel planned, was down to the lack of time and resources to do so. Because the site is updated every week, I didn’t want the main focus, the site, to suffer from this. You never know -- in the future we might get to produce another video, It was great fun to do and an extreme learning curve.
Q: Do you attend events in the UK for superhero fetish? What is the scene like over there?
A: There are no Superhero Fetish events over hero in the UK. I do attend gear fetish events that sometime do have a superhero gear element to them, I always try to gear up as much as possible. The gear fetish scene is building and diversifying from the main ones of leather and rubber, which can only be good news.
Q: What’s been your most popular storyline on EOTC?
A: There have been many stories had their popularity during their published dates. But one that seems to remain a favourite was the introduction of Supersonic and his battle with the Xtractor.
Q: What predictions can you make about the future of superhero fetish as a recognized kink?
A: I can only hope and wish it grows and is more recognised from new guys on the scene along with experience fetish guys. There is definitely is more of a crossover happening with the guys who are into bondage that now recognise the superhero-in-trouble aspect, long may it grow. Let’s face it -- we all need a superhero in our lives!
You can find Eye of the Cyclone at eyeofthecyclone.com. They offer free previews and offer paid memberships. You can also find EOTC on Facebook and Twitter.
Spandex, Tights and Cosplay: Superhero-Fetish Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Ever since I began to write and publish my book series How to Kill a Superhero, many people of all walks of life have come to me with their stories. In many cases, those superhero fetish lovers thank me for taking the fetish seriously enough to create a book series, and they are grateful that community is building up, thanks to the Superhero Fetish Meetups I organize. At the same time, I get so many questions from people are curious but don’t know what it’s all about. I love answering these questions. After answering literally hundreds of emails, Tumblr messages and other social media DMs about the fetish that I thought I would put together an FAQ that can evolve organically over time to initiate people into this world of spandex, tights, boots and archetypes of strength and power exchange. I do take it seriously, even when I am being tongue in cheek. Let’s open up the doors of superhero fetish. All are welcome. -- Author Pablo Greene
The Essentials of Superhero Fetish
So what is superhero fetish?
Superhero fetish is the sexual and erotic attraction to characters and archetypes derived from superheroes in comic books. The fetish also extends to superheroes seen in TV, film, animated cartoons and even video games. People with this fetish may be aroused by the characters, their costumes, their physiques (which have classically been drawn as incredibly athletic and erotic since the early days of comics). Some superhero fetishists also enjoy the power-exchange dynamics of superheroes. In many storylines, superheroes are captured and bound by villains in their battle against crime and wrongdoers, and many people into the fetish have extended their attraction to superheroes and villains into the realm of BDSM and kink. The generalizations above are only generalizations; superhero fetish is very individual to each person, but some patterns do emerge, and those are highlighted in this FAQ.
I didn’t know that people want to dress up as superheroes in an erotic way. Why do they do it?
The reasons people want to dress up in the superhero costumes or “cosplay” are also very individual. For the average person, cosplaying is a very fun activity that they can do at Halloween, cons (like NY Comic Con), or even 5ks and marathons. But for those who have a superhero fetish, the costumes themselves provide a level of erotic stimulation that is very similar to people who fetishize high heels, cop uniforms, women’s lingerie, leathermen uniforms, or business suits. In the case of superhero fetish, the costumes that original artists in the early 20th century drew were inspired often by the tight wool costumes worn by circus strongmen and other athletes. These body hugging articles of clothing showed off all the musculature and erotic appeal of genital areas using bright colors and iconic accessories such as boots, bracelets, capes and belts. As the 20th and 21st century media (especially film and TV) gave us real actors playing the roles of superheroes and villains, costume designers experimented with many new materials that mimicked the costumes from the comics. In those decades, we have seen superhero costume designs explore nylon, spandex and lycra, satin, leather, latex, PVC and even armor and CGI skin (especially in the past twenty years with the rise of more realistic superhero film adaptations). For those who have this fetish, there can be pleasure in dressing up in this gear, but also immense pleasure in seeing other people wear the gear in the flesh. In a sense, wearing superhero gear in a sexual situation is no different than wearing a sexy pair of underwear or lingerie. It enhances the senses, and it also gives a strong suggestion of the nudity underneath. Of course, many superhero costumes are full bodied, and many fetishists enjoy the feeling of full coverage in materials like lycra, rubber, leather. Good examples of these looks can be seen in iconic heroes like Batman, Superman and Spiderman’s classic costumes.
Isn’t it sort of childish to want to play dress up and do roleplay as heroes and villains?
As many sex researchers and writers have noted, foreplay and a lot of aspects of sex depend on mental stimulation in order to arouse the sexual experience. Each person’s fetishes and kinks are individual, and being accepting of other people’s wants and needs can foster a world where people flourish sexually. Therefore, anyone can say that dressing up as Batman and the Riddler is childish, but I would strongly disagree here. The stories that writers and artists crafted in the comic book form in the course of more than a century tap into some of the most vital passions of the human race: power, strength, moral dilemmas, betrayals and also transformation and rebirth. Therefore, to roleplay as a superhero can only help human beings go deeper into these passions, and I believe that it can also help us learn more about ourselves.
A lot of the images of superhero fetish I see on sites like Tumblr involve superheroes in bondage being tortured. Do all superhero fetish people like getting tied up?
This is a misconception about superhero fetish that is worth taking apart. For many people the fetish is just about the characters and their incredibly tight costumes (and often their superpowers too). In fact, many superhero fetishists I have met over the years on the Internet and in person only fetishize those aspects. Their ideal scene is one in which people dress up in the costumes and enjoy touching each other, and maybe end up in a sexual situation. However, there is an additional subset of superhero fetishists who are strongly engaged in the power exchange of the superhero stories. In other words, they get a hardon or they get wet when they see a superhero captured, bound and gagged, and humiliated by a villain. Many fetishists also get turned on by superheroes being hypnotized or being forced to transform. These scenarios tap into aspects of BDSM and power exchange. We get aroused by these fantasies. In the real world, many superhero fetishists set up scenes where mutual consent is set and limits are negotiated, and as a result, they can tie up, gag, gut punch and crush a superhero (or villain), fully engaging with the fetish in a sadomasochistic way. But this is very individual, and it’s better not to make assumptions about people who identify as superhero fetishists. When in doubt, simply ask how their fetish manifests for them individually.
When did this fetish start?
The fetish as a cultural phenomenon could be said to start in the 20th century with the rise of comic books. It’s in this century when the superhero and supervillain figures rise and become a dominant aspect of global culture. Though LGBT and sexual community visibility was so low it was virtually invisible, it’s fair to assume many people in the 20th century developed the fetish for themselves and may have had encounters and fantasies triggered by the pages of the comic books. It’s also likely that many of the writers and artists themselves had a fetish for the very archetypes they were writing about, making the bulges and muscles, as well as the scenes of power exchange in the stories, a potent brew for themselves, but also for their readers. But as the 60s brought on a sexual revolution, all sorts of marginalized communities began to find a political voice and clear public identity. In my estimation, the internet triggered many superhero fetishists to come out of that fetish closet. For the first time, people with the same erotic urges for superheroes could find each other, share images that aroused them, and even meet in person to live out those fantasies.
However, as a novelist and fiction writer, I believe that it’s mythology that gave us our first superhero fetish. In particular, Greek mythology is probably responsible for our erotic attraction to gods and demigods whose perfectly sculpted bodies played out stories of betrayal, war, rage, and very importantly, many kinds of sex. Other mythologies, including Norse, Celtic, Maya, Aztec, and other mythologies around the world also are responsible for positing the idea of superbeings (aka Gods) who have sexually interesting and arousing phsyiques and powers, and who fall prey to their own lusts, jealousies, joys and fears. Just like heroes in the pantheons of Marvel and DC fall prey to their lusts, jealousies, joys and fears today.
Getting Started with Superhero Fetish
To get started, I recommend using the Internet to find others with this fetish. Some sites that tend to be open to superhero fetish are Recon, Spandex Party, Scruff, Fetlife. If you’re interested in trying on some superhero gear, I also curate a list of Superhero-Friendly Cosplay Vendors. You can also ask me on Twitter at @pablogreene or snapchat at killsuperhero.
Superhero Fetish Community and Resources
What is the Superhero Fetish Meetup?
I organize the Superhero Fetish Meetup at various events, including NY Comic Con, Mid-Atlantic Leather and International Mr. Leather. It’s a way for me to bring superhero fetishists together in a safe space and for people to meet each other. When people come to the meetups, they show up in full cosplay, and they are fun as all hell. There are two ways to get details on upcoming meetups: you can join my newsletter or you can also join the Superhero Fetish Meetup Facebook group I created for this. My meetups skew more toward the BDSM and kink side of superhero fetish, but we welcome everyone. All body types and genders are welcome, and you don’t have to wear fancy cosplay either. I like for these to be as open as possible.
Got more questions for the superhero fetish FAQ? Send us your questions at au@howtokillasuperhero.net and we’ll post the answer here.
Kinky Stuff You Will Like: Kinky Boys Podcast
Here at How to Kill a Superhero we like all media that talk about BDSM in a fun and smart way. Yes, that’s what we look for. It’s easy to find titillating images if you just set up a Tumblr account, but it’s harder to find people that know how to articulate what makes kink so fun and meaningful for people.
Today we’d like to recommend that you listen to the new kid on the podcasting block, Kinky Boys Podcast. Your host Craig is intelligent, shrewd, but also very focused on what makes all sorts of BDSM and kinky topics hot. If you like British accents, then you better go download it right away.
Kinky Boys Podcast is a great place to check out talks about superhero fetish. In fact, Craig interviewed me about How to Kill a Superhero book series recently on his episode titled Pablo Greene. You can listen to all other episodes on Stitcher, Itunes, and
Here’s how Craig describes the show:
Stated in early 2015, The kinkyboys podcast is show that looks to educate and inform without stripping out the inherent fun in the endless gamut of sexual experiences. Fun informative and gets to both the throbbing heart as well as the complex psychology of kinks.
And a little bit more about Craig:
Craig is a rare thing; an English bootblack. Self-taught and currently the bootblack for the London leather social. He has always had a fascination with human sexuality especially the psychology of fetishes which lead him to become Current main host of the kinkyboys podcast. He likes his men how he likes his books: well-read and leather bound.
Classic Superhero Fetish: Eye of the Cyclone’s Dynolad in 'Power Drain'
First let me say how I found Eye of the Cyclone and how it changed my life. It was the spring of 2010, and I was hanging out on the fetish site spandexguys.com. I had been looking for something new, something fresh, something more suited to me. I was twenty-four years old at the time and suffering from depression. As a result, I was having trouble finding outlets for my fetish. Nothing gave me pleasure, nothing made me happy, and everything was boring.
One day, I saw an ad for a gay superhero comic website called Eye of the Cyclone. I clicked through and landed on it. And it was exactly what I wanted. The previews were perfect and everything I had imagined: hot men in skintight superhero suits ready for action. Villains captured them and put the studs on display, and then ripped their super suits right off their bodies. On occasion, they would wrestle, pro-style. The wrestling maybe wasn’t interesting to me, but the superheroes were the figures of my dreams.
I had never paid for a site membership before and nervously put in my payment info. That week I had started my summer job, and when I had free time, I spent every hour I could on the site. Back then, my internet connection was dial-up, so it was really slow. It came to me at a rough time in life, and it came to me at the perfect time. All summer long, Eye of the Cyclone was my refuge.
I got to know the characters well. My top five are the original Flex, Supersonic, The Falcon and The Interceptor and the new Power Pecs. Out of my love for superhero fetish and the desire to walk down memory lane, I plan to relive and review some of my favorite past stories from EOTC by writing about some of my most beloved stories on the site.
Today I want to go back in time to one of the most classic stories on EOTC: The first story I read after getting my membership, featuring Dynolad in Power Drain. Dynolad a superhero born from a freak cycling accident can now harness and contain electric power.
The episode begins with a nude Dynolad, who also goes by the alter ego Rick Adams, regenerating his electrical power within a special chamber. Before he is at full capacity, he is called to duty as the evil Cobra (a favorite villain of mine) begins draining Central City’s power. Most of the action of EOTC takes place in Central City, a hub for supermales. I kinda wanna move there.
The nude hero generates his suit out of thin air and the rest of part one consists of Dynolad dressing himself. This kind of disrobing happens often in EOTC stories. I will never complain about this.
The next six parts involve Dynolad attempting to stop Cobra’s plan both by defeating the machine Cobra has set up to drain the city and by facing Cobra himself. I won’t give spoilers, but will say that we see Dynolad a few more times in other EOTC adventures. For my first outing with EOTC I was quick to learn not to hold onto favorite models or characters too close (especially favorite models), as our good guys tend to see their ends at the conclusion of the story; not always but usually. It brings up an idea that is valued and eroticized in superhero fetish: the defeat of the hero. Much in the same way we love to see a Hollywood star fall or flawed sports hero fail, we like to see good guys stumble. From a narrative standpoint it makes them human, but from a sexual standpoint, I think it makes them more passive and submissive. Someone so strong and powerful is suddenly at the will of others. I could never take on a hero physically or sexually, but at his weakest… Be it bondage or just general loss, even loss of life, to see the hero in failure, is kind of a turn on. Moreover, seeing their once pristine super suits torn to rags and their muscular bodies weakened is the stuff of pure fetish.
One of the reasons I love Dynolad is that he looks like a english professor I had back in university who I had a major crush on at the time. I ran into him outside of class twice and got all flustered talking to him. I was such a shy dork. But he still remembers me, clearly as well, years later. Another thing I like about Dynolad is that he doesn’t wear a mask. I like it when I can see a superhero’s face, at least some of it. That said, many fans have argued that the good guy needs to win, especially since this is a common trope in the superhero genre. We also like underdogs and heroes fighting for the little guys. These men have powers and use them for good– so why should, or how could they fail? In the case of Dynolad (spoiler alert) it is sacrifice that is his downfall; Dynolad uses his power to conduct electricty to overpower the Cobra’s machine, dying in the process… or so we think. This allows for an interesting second chapter.
Seeing Dynolad’s fit body defeated, his suit torn, is a giant turn on. He’s even strapped to the Cobra’s electricity draining machine, which creates a bondage situation as well. Being bound in spandex and then further bound to a machine is one of my biggest fantasies. Having a spandex clad villain doing this to me is erotic as well; spandex men doing bad things to other spandex clad men until one of them is defeated allows for erotica. Finally the fantasy has come true: the spandex heroes and villains of the comics have come to life. Dynolad makes a great introduction to the world of EOTC and will always be a favorite of mine.
Who is this comic for?
- Fans of spandex and lycra
- Comic fans
- Wrestling aficionados
- Submission fetishists
Duration: Seven chapters make up this story, however length varies. Most are are longer.
- There are hardly any clips on the site. Most stories are photo comics using models in costume.
Cost: 8.90 UKP/ month or 19.60 UKP/3 months
Final word: Recommended