The Week in Gay Geek: Who draws the hottest comic guys?

This week:

• The demise of the Minx imprint gives us a chance to ask, "Who draws the hottest guys?"
• A critical and gay fave comic gets canceled yet again
• Nick Fury heads into unintentional camp-ville
• Gay-inclusive game Fable 2 hits the stores

Check it all out after the break!

PUT MANHUNTER BACK IN THE CANCELED PILE:
Sigh. I guess I can't say its unexpected, out writer Marc Andeyko's critically-beloved comic, Manhunter, has been canceled for the third time.

Manhunter

Manhunter has its share of gay fans for a number of reasons: not only did the comic finally out Obsidian, a character long hinted as gay, but it also gave us one of the DC Universe's most compelling female characters and an inventive take on the DC Universe. Manhunter was canceled twice before, but strong collection sales prompted DC to bring back the series twice. I'm more than a little behind on this title but it was easily one of my favorites when I was buying it monthly. Besides, the way Andreyko handled Obsidian was easily the most positive gay character in superhero comics. Thus, I'm disappointed to hear it's ending ... again.

THERE'S ALWAYS TIME TO DISCUSS HOT COMIC GUYS:
There's been a lot of failure analysis for failed Minx imprint but Shaenon K. Garrity adds a couple solid reasons:

"First, they didn't do a crappy vampire comic. As someone who works in the manga business, I can attest that if you want to sell to teenage girls, you put out something with vampires in it. It doesn't have to be any good. Just look at Twilight. One crappy vampire comic could have kept Minx afloat for years.

Second, almost none of the creators involved could draw sexy guys... Why are American cartoonists so bad at drawing hot men? Japanese cartoonists can draw hot men. European cartoonists can draw hot men. Not as hot as the ones the Japanese cartoonists draw, but guys like Moebius at least put in an effort."

Garrity uses the point as an excuse to ask a variety of people to pick which artist draws the hottest guys, with gay fave Carla Speed McNeil getting the most mentions. I've known a number of gay comic fans who are smitten with Jaeger, the hero of McNeil's comic Finder and it's hard not to see the appeal:

Finder's Jaeger

But since it's always a fun topic (and one we haven't discussed yet) I figured why not ask:

Which artist draws the hottest guy?

Anyone who has chatted comics with me should know that Rick Mays has been one of my favorite artists ever since he drew Roy Harper flexing his abs while peeling off a tight t-shirt in Arsenal #1. The manga-influenced Mays can certainly draw sexy guys, but he also creates some wonderfully dynamic art. Even better, his art meshes wonderfully with Adam Warren's scripts.

Don't you hate it when dialogue bubbles get in the way?

My love for gay artist Stephen Sadowski's work is primarily for his ability to lead my eye the way the story requires, but it certainly helps that he can draw some sexy guys. I still remember the sound of jaws dropping when Wildcat's bath was interrupted by the Injustice Society.

Wildcat from JSA #10

I guess I'd have to agree that Strangers in Paradise creator Terry Moore didn't draw many good looking guys who weren't David Qin ... but this is David we're talking about.

Strangers in Paradise's David Qin

And I couldn't possibly leave Phil Jimenez off a list of artists who draws sexy guys ... well, considering that finding the right sample image taxed my Google-fu, maybe a lazier geek could.

A sample of Phil Jiminez's art in the camptastic Codename: Knockout

That's just a few top-of-mind picks. Who are your favorites? Let's discuss it in the comments!

WE FINALLY CAPTURED FURY, WHO HAS THE THONG AND HARNESS?:
Speaking of superhero beefcake, this hilariously odd excerpt from Nick Fury vs. SHIELD #6:

Seriously. There are no words.

Wow. I didn't realize they still made such unintentionally homoerotic comics. I haven't seen anything like this since Tony Stark spent an entire issue of The Avengers wearing only Dr. Donald Blake's jacket tied around his waist.

HAVE YOU GOTTEN SOME SAME-SEX WEDDING BELLS TO RING, YET?:
One long-anticipated gay-inclusive game came out this week, Fable 2 is now available for X-Box 360 owners. The game's co-op mode has frustrated players but the overall reponse seems pretty happy.

Fable 2

I'm not sampling Fable 2 myself. Since I don't own an X-Box 360, I'm hoping we'll eventually see a Windows version (which his how I got to play Fable). Still, if anyone out there is playing Fable 2 I'd love to hear your reaction to the game ... does it live up to the original?