In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• John Barrowman credits skinny-dipping sessions with Denise Van Outen for his youthful appearance. Oh, and also the Botox.

• Is gay director Bryan Singer's latest project, Valkyrie, snakebit? Given that it stars Tom Cruise, would we expect anything otherwise?

• Tearoom: A 56-minute color silent film of an Ohio public restroom that was used to convict men of sodomy circa 1962 is now an art exhibit and a book. (via Towleroad)

• Wow. I mean, WOW: World of Wonder's new telanovela campfest, ¡Viva Hollywood!, looks like the most insane Latin soap opera competition with overacted death scenes, gratuitous male nudity and Charo EVER.

• Just because I think he's the best thing to happen to this state since the 1964 World's Fair: New York Governor David Paterson's videotaped address to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's 2008 dinner, in which he pledged to push for equal marriage rights for gays and expressed regret at missing the chance to meet John Waters. No, seriously.

• And I really don't know how to set this up other than to say it's a preview for a post-apocalyptic horror musical about organ harvesting starring Anthony Stewart Head from Buffy, one of the Spy Kids, Sarah Brightman, and Paris Hilton. Ladies and gentlemen ... Repo! The Genetic Opera!

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

In a sad development, it's being widely reported that Bryan Singer's Superman sequel appears to be dunzo. Deputy editor of Variety Anne Thompson reports on her blog that it’s "highly unlikely" that the director will be helming the sequel, instead choosing to focus his attentions on completion of Valkyrie (which seems to be facing its own bout of troubles, having its release date pushed from June of this year to October 8th) and prepping production for his Harvey Milk biopic, The Mayor of Castro Street.

While it’s great to hear that Singer apparently wants to focus attention on the rare film with an explicitly gay plotline, as a known defender of Superman Returns and a huge fan of his X-Men films, I have to admit that I was really looking forward to another of Singer’s intelligently handled superhero movies. And as Cinematical points out, it seems an odd choice to bow out of Superman entirely when filming is completed for Valkyrie and Castro Street is unlikely to be a lengthy shoot. Why not schedule for both?

Continuing the tragic news, it has been confirmed that Brandon Routh will not be reprising his role as the Man in Tights (UPDATE: The site referenced has reversed their claim and now refers to their earlier confirmation as a "rumor". Thanks, guys!). It now seems less likely that Supes will be played by whoever gets cast in the role for the Justice League movie, currently in development with a fresh young cast. I still for the life of me can’t figure out why Routh didn’t catch on with audiences. I thought he was pretty great in the role; appropriately befuddled in his Clark scenes, handsome and charming as Supes, and damn did he fill out that costume.