Way above it all

Kolins - Marvel Team-Up

This muscular image derives from the famous 'lunch on a skyscraper' photo of the 30's but it shows not ordinary men but two Superheroes Daredevil and Luke Cage, commiserating about their office politics.

It's actually much more interesting if seen as Daredevil using his special powers and spare time to grab an impromptu, romantic lunch with his construction worker buddy. 

The artistic style is rather spidery, so I suppose the jokey, Spiderman lunch box beside is a rather apt addition. The colouring too is relatively austere for a Comic cover.

more: DareDevil and Luke Cage team up

Between Two Palms

 

DW Chase by Calvin Brockington

mitchmen has a thing about patterned briefs and swimwear (click on the label below for more examples). There's something showy about them which suggests the wearer has an interesting character and sweaty, hairy DW Chase is certainly not your average, plastic, fashion model. The decorations on these trunks often contrive to flatter the male figure, I'm not sure whether this one does or not!

dw-chase-by-calvin-brockington at DNA magazine

Love

xth13teenx - A Different World

 The moment in which military comradeship turns into affection and love is beautifully captured in this image rendered by xth13teenx. It's part of a grand series which imagines Chris Redfield, the legendary character from the 'Resident Evil' games franchise, falling in love with his colleague Piers Nivans and setting up home with him. Their romance is charted through all the mundane things couples do together and their loving intimacies and it's all set against the context of the dangerous tasks they are sent on and the demanding physical training it involves.

This Art which portrays a relationship between two strong, gay men as complete, joyous and life-enhancing is refreshing and very, very welcome. 

By way of contrast, Steve Walker's art which I featured at mitchmen last year, though pretty and romantic, always seems to have an undercurrent of loneliness and doubt.

There's a large gallery of work by xth13teenx at Deviant Art

Dangly Things

Cavin Knight

 Summer seems a long way off in the Northern Hemisphere but where these Aussiebum swimming trunks come from, it is the height of the season. Laces on swimming trunks had a serious purpose in the old days when trunks were made of natural fibres that sucked up water and created a drag that could unclothe the unwary. Low waisted designs are still vulnerable, lacking body curves for waistbands to cling to. In general though these days laces are more decorative in nature, but allowing them to dangle risks the same thing happening if a mischief-maker takes a fancy to grabbing them. Cavin here seems to be grappling with a stray hand of his own although I hear he's not averse to letting them drop in the right situation. 

Model: Cavin Knight, Photo by Mark Henderson

Rock Hugger

Mattl - Merman

 Mattl's merman is a cheeky number with his tail not beginning to appear until mid-thigh, obliging him to cling to a rock for the sake of modesty. The hand on head pose seems naive but the upraised tail tells a different story.

Ready For Round Up?

Manara - Cowboy

 This rather cheesy cowboy is reminiscent of the 'Boy's Own' heyday of Cowboy Comic books. However, that coy smile coupled with a semi-relaxed pose seems to typifies male awkwardness. His neat attire and fly-away neckerchief don't suggest a man at work, but one who is looking to make an impression but not quite sure how to carry it off.

Milo Manara is noted for erotic art and sometimes he even has men in his pictures like 'Texa'

Sci Fi Fantasies by Ariel-X

Ariel-X - Devoratrix

I'm not really into the Fantasy sub-genre of Science Fiction but I've always been fascinated by the depictions of men in them, usually as scantily-clad, muscular heroes. Unlike more prominent artists working in this area, Ariel-X gives them handsome faces in the modern taste and (thank goodness) relatively, short hair (I'll let the mullet on this one pass). 

Clad only in underwear and a butch belt, he is splendidly ill-equipped to face the formidable 'Devoratrix' which has just appeared out of the darkness and is already curling his spiny tail around him. Our hero is probably unaware of the danger coming from behind, but it might have been more prudent anyway to have drawn his sword for this exploration. Now, blinded by the light of those (presumably malevolent) eyes he raises his lantern in the hope that the tiny flame will scare the creature away. Fingers crossed!

As a 'hero in trouble' image this is the full monty, dramatically confronting the seemingly defenceless, physically exposed human with an enormous predator whose likeness to earth reptiles unaccountably stirs inbred fears in all of us.

All the images in this post will enlarge if you click on them

 

Ariel-X - Gifthinder

 

 This hero going ou on a limb is even more attractive with a less chunky build, a trace of manly stubble and charming fair hair suggestive of a less-than-manly interest in hair bleaching (or perhaps it's the sun that's done it). His near-white pouch is cleverly topped by two criss-cross belts and judging by it's trailing threads it's seen lots of action. I'm not surprised at that. The artist has conjured up a moist, rain forest for this setting which won't be doing those tattered remnants any good either. 

Our hero of course has more immediate concerns as he's confronted by the threat of carnivorous creepers (straight of of Little Shop of Horrors). They bar his way through the forest canopy but terrifyingly he's armed only with a spear, I guess he dropped his sword in an earlier incident and it fell to the forest floor, way below. Now he seems resigned to the worst, seemingly offering himself up to them. Perhaps they've mesmerised him. Perhaps he's mesmerised them! He does me.

A more subtle use of light here and some beautiful colour toning.You get a real sense of the hero balancing precariously (and once again neglectful of the danger at his feet).

A less extravagantly visualised adversary could give this image, a beautifully sinister edge.

Ariel-X - Sola Heros

 This man is understandably more circumspect about descending this path whose depths have a fiery glow and seem to be throwing up embers like a volcano. The danger seems less imminent but a predecessor only made it to 6th step, which would give anyone food for thought. Nearby lies a curious, Christmas bauble-like object which might be the object of his quest. The curious rock formations around him are suggestive of altogether different challenges, perhaps that's what attracts him so.

More Ariel-X fantasies at Deviant Art