It all started with the still image. Back in the good ole days, men who appreciated male beauty didn't have DVDs or online porn to excite them. They looked at pictures. And starting in the early 1950s, magazines like photographer Bob Mizer's Physique Pictorial used beefy bodybuilders, military guys and blue-collar workers clad in posing straps and bathing suits to create what are now iconic homoerotic images. Mizer had formed the Athletic Model Guild in Los Angeles in 1945, shooting mostly bodybuilding poses and wrestling moves. Artists such as Tom of Finland, George Quaintance and later David Hurles of Old Reliable followed in his footsteps. Now, Mark Kliem's Vintage Bareback Web site keeps the dream alive by preserving a large selection of these classic photos for a new generation of fans.
Its latest offering is a 1962 edition of The Young Physique Annual, a beefcake magazine that showcased muscle studs in posing straps and not much else. "The photography is almost on par with fashion magazines of the time," Kliem says, "and since the guys mostly kept their clothes on and didn't have to do much man-on-man touching, the photographers were able to recruit a wider range of beautiful men." And beautiful they were. But the photographers of the time had more to deal with than just finding talent. It was their job to take pictures that were hot enough to inspire their mostly closeted gay readers to risk ordering the illicit material, which was still illegal to ship by mail at the time.
There are 70 arty photos from this issue, and Kliem says that although the paper it was printed on was low-grade, his scans are good. So why not take a look at some of the manly men your "confirmed bachelor" uncle was jerking off to back in the day? For more information, visit vintagebareback.com.
Written by Vincent Lambert
Published on 29 Jan 2012 in Hot Gossip | Comments
Gay guys love superheroes. And why wouldn't they? These larger-than-life creations usually come complete with bulging muscles, skintight spandex and...capes! So it makes sense for gay followers to have their very own convention that celebrates LGBT and LGBT-friendly comic books and honors science fiction, fantasy and horror writers, artists and creators. Kinda like Comic-Con for queers! Bent-Con is the place where producers of these colorful publications for gay audiences can meet, greet and geek out! On December 3 and 4, at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, fans and fellow fantasy addicts can enjoy a weekend filled with exhibitors, guests, panels, screenings and parties. Highlights include a get-together of the Battlestar Galactica Fan Club; a showing of classic erotic art from the Tom of Finland Foundation; and an appearance from Class Comics, which has a new book from German publisher Bruno Gmünder. Artist-creator Patrick Fillion and co-publisher-writer Robert Fraser will be on hand to sign Heroes With Hardons: The Big Book of Class Comics, an anthology hardcover in which the superheroes are "not only masculine, strong and fearless, they also have superpowers between their muscular legs." Sounds hot, even for cartoon characters! For more information on the book, visit BrunoGmunder.com. And for more on the weekend of events, go to bent-con.org.
Written by Vincent Lambert
Published on 25 Nov 2011 in Hardcore Sex | Comments
The Tom Of Finland Foundation is an organization with a mission - to educate the public about the cultural merits of erotic art. Of course, the site features the works of many different artists including Tom of Finland himself, and with each artist comes a different style, medium and - to some degree - subject matter. Whether you admire rough and ready gay leather studs getting a bit kinky and bent, or just appreciate the beauty and symmetry of the "perfect" male, it's all here. The site is set up in a simple format which allows you to preview several galleries from the top main menu. Along with galleries for art lovers, the site lists art-quality works for sale, lists shows and museums where the art is displayed and also fellow artists will find some resources for getting their work seen and even purchased. The Tom of Finland Foundation is the perfect place to go for top quality artwork from professional talent who share their unique and erotic visions of the male body.
Click to visit Tom of Finland Foundation
Published on 29 Mar 2009 in Editors Pick | Comments
When it comes to the artistry of sexually explicit cartoons or comic strips, there seem to be two basic perspectives: 1. Toons are hot! 2. To be turned on by animated characters is silly and pathetic. As with most issues of opinion, neither perspective is right or wrong; it's simply a matter of taste and how openly creative a mind is to varying styles of erotica. From my perspective, toons can indeed be incredibly sexy, and some of those hand drawn gay boys are goddamn hot to trot!
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Published on 01 Jul 2006 in Updates and News | 2 Comments
Tom of Finland is probably the most well-known homoerotic artist. His beautiful and stylized drawings of very muscular men in leather, uniforms and various fetishwear and situations are recognized all over the world. His characters are as famous for their huge bulging cocks as for their masculine look.
Tom of Finland was born Touko Laaksonen in May of 1920. He really was from Finland, and grew up when Finland was still full of loggers and farmers. In fact, the area he spent his childhood in was basically still the country, which would have made Tom a country boy except for his parents.
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Click to visit Tom of Finland Foundation
Published on 29 Mar 2006 in Updates and News | Comments
