Avatar of the Week: Argiebear

Welcome to Avatar of the Week: The Superhero Edition. Today we honor the masked, caped, and/or spandex-wearing crimefighters within our midst. There's no doubt that gay men have an affinity for comic superheros. Maybe it's the whole sercret identity thing, or maybe it's simply the lantern jaws and extreme muscle definition one generally finds on a comic superhero.

First up today is kylesbnb, who from his avatar looks to be a dead ringer for Green Lantern's alter ego, Hal Jordan.

Kyle is actually Greg Fox, the writer/illustrator of a syndicated gay comic strip, "Kyle's Bed & Breakfast." While there are no actual superheroes in this strip, I have to say that all the characters could be superheroes - Greg's artwork is definitely influenced by classic DC comics.

The Kyle B&B website offers Greg's daily strip along with tons of information about comics generally. Check it out!

Second up is Tygrlad, who obviously has a thing for power women, given his Supergirl avatar. But is Tygrlad a hero or a villain? It's hard to tell when his profile lists his favorite movie characters as the evil Wint & Kidd from Diamonds are Forever.

Hmm. Those guys were the vilest of gay villains. And as I recall they met a terrible end. Didn't James Bond impale one with a flaming skewer and then tie a bomb to the other's coattails?

Tygrlad, were you being ironic when you listed them as favorites?

This week's winner is Argiebear. Argie wins it for his great avatar pic as well as well as his self-effacing and tremendously endearing profile:

"Big gay bear in Argie Land, getting grey at the temples and sort of softie for some reason (Shut up all of you calling me a "big girl"). I enjoy queer lit and queer (or at least queer-ish) TV. I'm completely over movies. And I love myself some comic books too. Single."

You go Argiebear! Hope you find a crime-fighting sidekick soon.

Congrats to KyleBnb & Tygrlad, and a special tip of the hat to Argiebear!