Well, the other week marked the end of a 4 year wait to see what lies next in the story of Space Cadet. Space Cadet is a hero in the Class Comics universe, who was first featured with Naked Justice and Ghost Boy, before branching out into his own comic line in 2010. The story presented to us in book 2, was not quite here the sequel to THE TEMPERING WAY you may have been waiting so long for. Fans that caught some of the update posts have known that the story would go in a new direction for months now. This helped soften the blow, as we were told things would change, but no cast members were going to be given the axe. Those that didn't keep up are in for a bit of a shock. So what did happen to the old cast? Where is this story going now? Is this story a worthy 'sequel'? How does it effect Byrons recent adventures along with Ghost Boy and Diablo? Here are my thoughts on the second installment of Space Cadet.
The story here starts with Byron having fever dreams about his adventures in Ordovica. We get a couple nice pages of back story. We are reminded of the characters and plot introduced within the first book, before witnessing Byrons ultimate fate. That is, it seems, the young man may have failed horribly. I could be wrong, but this is something that gets reiterated by his guilty conscience bring up these visions with more and more furry as the story goes on. We see him captured and totured, calling out to his friends. He snaps back awake. Startled by such a terrible dream, he does what most people do after having drems of this kind: He blames the whole thing on watching too many fantasy TV shows and movies. Too much Game of Porns, I'de wager. Of course we the reader know the events are real and Byron is just not fully aware of that yet. (He won't be for the remainder of the book.) And so as Byron brushes that bad dream away, so do the writers. We leave the world of Ordovica and begin a new adventure for Space Cadet.
Space Cadet is a Star Wars fan I see...Nice little Easter Egg! ;D
Brotherly Love?
Getting back to the story... Byrons fever dreams were pretty hot and heavy and he stuck with a major hard on. This calls for an early morning jerk off, that is interrupted by his bother. His brother Sheldon sees him going at it and decides to tackle him by jumping right on top of his big brother and his boner. Coming in full contact with his bros massive dick is pretty fucking hot. His own dick has a hard time NOT poking out of his long boxer shorts leg, he is so well hung. In order to teach his brother a lesson about closing his door while doing such things, he even goes so far as to whack on Byrons cock with his palm a bit. Cadet rips the shorts off his bother in the process of trying to get away from Sheldons onslaught. They are both stopped by their father, who scolds them. (They have a six year old sister in the house. She doesn't need to stumble across such things!) It was great to see Byrons pops again, as we haven't seen him over half a decade. He only had a short appearance in Strip Tease. I wonder how hung he is? (Blushes.)
Byron then proceeds to have a shower and take care of his raging hormones. Now, if you are thinking, this is where his brother and dad both join him in the shower, think again. Nope, this is where we get a classic Cantero running gag inserted, which feels a bit like it was inspired by a certain Eddie Murphy movie about a certain professor. :P It's really funny stuff. The message in these first few pages seems clear to me. The time has come to stop acting like the star of a never ending porn and more like a regular person there Byron. You're living with loves ones now Mr. Cadet and you have forgotten about personal boundaries. You gotta lock your doors if you want to play with yourself!!!
Yes Space Cadet has gone from grand fantasy adventure to super hero sitcom. And honestly I like it a hell of a lot! There's lots of naughtiness and really hot secret sex that can happen in the home setting. Giving Byron obstacles to over come and characters that may tempt him beyond his regular sexual boundaries (ie incest) is all stuff that will grow his character. Giving him a family enriches his world and his life. Instead of a pin up, or just I guy out for an adventure, we get a chance at a better understanding of who he is, where he comes from and how he interacts with people who he doesn't actually just want to have sex with for once. It's a good thing. Let's face it, you know it's only a matter of time before fantasy, sci-fi and all that good stuff get's injected into the mix, so this setting won't dominate even if you are not a fan of it. With Canteros fun and playful art style, I feel like I am reading a Disney Afternoon show in print form. I'm all for more comical adventures featuring the Cadet family, even without Byron.
Having this home setting instead of a hall of heroes, or a secret layer, is far more relatable. (Dare I say more enjoyable?) With a family in tow, you have potential for a much more diverse story then you could with just fuck buddies. But let me not get too ahead of myself. This is potential only for now. Home was just the launching point. As soon as breakfast is done, Byron is off to a new job and new adventures. I really like that the story mentions the job he had in his introductory story. Maybe the porn star he worked for as a bodyguard will return one day. For now it's off to the Horny Devil Underwear studios for a photo shoot. This is interesting for a couple reasons. #1, it has been stated the Cadet grew up with his family in NYC, but unless he is using his Jetpack to get to work, his family is clearly living in Gateway City. So for those of us that assumed we were in for some fun in the big apple, think again. That's okay though. I like that all the Class Characters (even Zahn it seems) have ties to this city. It's like Classes Metropolis, or Duckburg. (Though, with far less fucking then there would be in a city consisting purely of ducks.)
Anyway the second he gets there he's winds up super inspiring the best photographer in the company. (I know that feeling with Cadet oh so well!) This leads to some hot poses, but not actual sex with Diablo who is also working that day. Looks like his job is pretty secure, even before what happens next. During what happens after shoot, that the story once again references the plot of the first issue. Byron starts to have visions of his past. Friends start to take the shape of familiar faces and Byron is left with a lot of questions. Questions we all have and are eagerly awaiting the answers to, as we have been for some time now.
Those answers will have to wait as Byron upon leaving work, reunites with some old school friends. (Old in the case of 22 year old Cadet being people has hasn't seen in like 4 years.) This is where things get exciting! An old high school friend named Justin appears. Justin looks like he has some anime inspiration behind his design. I couldn't help but think of Kingdom Hearts Sora when I first got a look at him! Justin introduces Space Cadet to another hero named Golden Boy. The two of them hit it off immensely immediately in one of the most passionate and powerful love making scenes to come out this year. They hit off by not only being physically attracted by each other, but seduced by the mystery and allure of being with another person with a secret identity. (Someone they can fully relate to.) It's already inspired animated fan art from Gene Lightfoot! Their love making is cut short, when they are called to help a friend in need. What follows is a wonderfully drawn battle by Cantero. A huge battle along side Golden Boy with just as much power behind the panels as the love making segments.
Space Cadet and Golden Boy Boner bump, revealing they are interested in more then one mystery about each other then their super powers.
I love the fact that the boner bumping continues as they undress and talk more about their super hero status. The two cocks are like dowsing rods, attracted more and more to each other with each piece of clothing that falls and piece of information that is passed between them!
Gene Lightfoots animated image that was inspired by the scene that followed. (You will have to buy the book to see these hot pages yourself!!!)
Some random thoughts:
-Either Byrons friend Justin has moved to Gateway City seeking his help, or the whole NYC upbringing has been dropped at this point. It was, as far as I can recall never mentioned in a comic anyway. The only mention was in an online profile, so I can see this happening. I'm for making all the characters Canadian! LOL. Gateway is a Canadian city isn't it? hmmmm more research needed. XD
-Okay, look Mr. Fillon and crew, I am getting freaking brotherly love blue balls from all the teasing of fathers and sons and now bothers, having these naughty situations and nothing happening!!! With all the dick touching and bondage it's driving me crazy!!! This is my first honest to goodness complaint about the book! LOL! It wouldn't be so bad if this wasn't the third time in less then a year that we have been presented a situation like this. First was Peter and his father, then Cam and his father (which I will admit went pretty far.) Now we have Sheldon and Byron naked wrestling! I'm gonna explode over here!!!
Yes I know we have the twins in Mako Finn and the two Vargas Twin Books by Logan. Those are both amazing examples. The thing is, I think I speak for a lot of people when I say, we want to see some main cast members doing something Taboo! It's just getting a little frustrating! JUST A LITTLE! LOL! ^__^ We want to catch that carrot dangling in front of our heads. I always hold out hope for something in the future, but the future has come and we are still left with these wonderful teases!!! Leave them wanting more and then when it does come, the pay off is so much better...I wonder if this is the plan?
Oh don't give us that face Cadet! We all know you have been thinking about Sheldon while playing with yourself in the shower! Admit it!!! XD
One thing about Class Comics, much like Marvel and DC, stories are often thrown out around various time lines, so anything can happen. Someone might be at deaths door in a cliff hanger, but be fully fine in the next short story we are given, which takes place months, or years prior. (See the new Locus book for an example of that.) Sadly what we were lacking over the last 4 years was Strider and Vallan, who haven't appeared in one Strip Show, or spin off! (Though some of their co-stars have.) So that being the case, the lack of them in this book made it all the more daunting . :(
My second complaint is a real one. It has something to do with the art. It's something that I have been wanting to address since I first started reading Canteros work for Class Comics. It is simply that, despite how well he draws men, how beautiful they are, how amazingly he does faces, hair, facial expressions, poses, muscles, legs and chests, one feature often gets thrown to the side. That is the foreskin. I'm not talking about the actual dicks here. David does some fantastic circumcised penises. Some of the best of the business. I am only addressing his foreskins.
I think it first really bothered me when I was reading the scene where Incubus fucks Byron in Ghost Boy and Diablo #2. This is because we were not dealing with his original characters, but one that had been well established as uncut. So I was looking at Incubus with different eyes then I would his own OCs. When I look at Byron and Eric, I shouldn't be drawing the conclusion that both are circumcised. Now I am not saying he hasn't drawn some great foreskins. He has and you will see them in Ghost Boy and Diablo #3, this book and many other places as well. My gripe is that all too often they are forgotten. They are not consistently drawn from panel to panel. It's usually most apparent once the penis becomes fully hard. Once erect, they have a tenancy to vanish. As a foreskin fan I have a problem with that. I have been a huge fan of Davids since the first moment I saw his art in a tiny thumbnail many years ago. The ambitiousness of his characters cut and uncut status has always bugged me though. You may even argue that the lines below the head of cut characters could be interpreted as foreskin as well. As they slide off to the side, much in the shape of a pulled back foreskin. As he is now doing so much for Class I feel I should speak my mind about it a bit.
Just looking at the cover of this book, can you tell that Godlen Boy is uncut? I cannot. When I see how exceptionally well he does all other aspects, I can't help but think that applying that talent to just a couple lines here can't be hard for such a skilled hand to do. (As mentioned he certainly has the power to given what is on display in other works.)
A gorgeously drawn, thick leathery foreskin adorns Emmo in this panel from Ghost Boy and Diablo #3. It's panels like this frustrated me when I see him ignore foreskins entirely.
I hate to say it, but some times they can feel and look like an after thought. Like the skin was forced, reluctantly placed over an already drawn phallus. I don't know if he does this due to the size of the panels, if he hates foreskins, or that he doesn't feel they are important. Maybe it is done to save a little time. I really hope that this will changed in future works, because the times he does put the effort in, the foreskins can look absolutely fantastic.
You know, with all the side stories it probably will be confusing for some fans to try to figure out when this sequel is supposed to take place. My best guess is that this book happens sometime before the events of Diablo and Ghost Boy #1. Probably in between Boytoon Adventures and the 7 Days story featuring Diablo. (As Diablo is still working for the underwear company and his boss hasn't been revealed to be a total shit head yet.) Though I could be wrong. Maybe after the deaths of all the models on staff (or was it that they were just beaten unconscious by School Girl?) in GB & Diabloe 1 he had a change of heart?
Peter finding out that Brunos boss Lavollay had inside information about who was holding Bruno captive marked him as horribly suspicious to me. I couldn't see Diablo going back to work for this guy.
Maybe after all that happened, he made the Horny Devil Underwear Company survived by changing his ways? Diablo stayed on bored, when Lavollay he had that change of character and became a kinder more loving boss. I can see it happening. Going from someone in a position of power, controlling men with no conscious, to almost losing everything, can certainly change a man! For those that don't know, he was the kind of bastard where black mailing Peter suck his dick to give Peter information he should be giving freely, (information that could save someones life) was something he enjoyed doing. What a douche...A hot douche...BUT a douche, nonetheless.
Anyway I guess it is safe to say that even my best guess could be wrong and this whole thing might happen even after the current GB and D story arch.
-I wonder if this will lead to an adventure of Space Cadet set in space? Why am I seeing the family living with alien neighbors in my mind and laughing at all the crazy shit that could happen, cause of that setting? XD
Look to say I was not disappointed when I found out that the adventures set in Space Cadet #1 were not going to be been fully dealt with would be an understatement. Waiting for 4 years while a plot sat in limbo would be frustrating for any fan. Had we gotten a second comic that didn't addresses the plot of the last book at all, I would have been pissed. Had Strider and Vallen simply been written off that would have been pretty heartbreaking. Patrick and Fraser were smart to address the issues they had over the years on their sites, so we had a feeling things might not go as planned in book two. That helped soften the blow. Even when the drastic change from fantasy to super hero story was announced, they were kind enough to let us know that they were never giving up on the past story for good. This was great, because I hate to think that all the negative people had such an effect that Patrick would throw away his vision. I don't want Class Comics future dictated by a bunch of angry fan boys. >___<
One thing that really helped make those years of waiting feel a lot shorter was the fact that Space Cadet has been given small roles and cameos in monthly Strip Show comics and the Diablo and Ghost Boy Series. It's not like we had a lack of him, thankfully! His constant presence reminded us that he wasn't going anywhere, even if his main adventure had been put on hold.
Patrick had mentioned wanting to draw the book himself. Years ago, he spoke of the centaur kingdom and of course that got me excited. I don't give up hope that we will see more of Vallan and Strider. You can tell that there will be more of them in future issues and that's a great thing. With David at the drawing table, you know you won't be waiting long for book three. That man pumps out art old school fast. I swear he could be doing these things on a monthly basis based on the what Patrick has told me about his speed!
I wouldn't mind seeing our mythological men in a Strip Show. ;D Comics are much more flexible medium then animation. We never know what to expect. Things can change very quickly. For now though, I have to say that any disappointment I felt when I first got the news, was overshadowed greatly by the wonderful adventure and characters in this second issue.
In
this gorgeously drawn Strip Show comic by Jacob Mott and Patrick, we
see Zahn interacting with Samm from Space Cadet #1. Here's hoping
Vallan and Strider get a Strip Show of this caliber sometime in the
future! Maybe they too will meet up with Zahn and friends!
I admit it, just as I had with the Ghost Boy& Diablo series, I got lost in the pages of Canteros wonderful art. His snappy character designs (whether main, or background) are always such a great treat. There is a lot of fun humor to the book, including some running gags that seem to carry from comic, to comic. He does some wild fight scenes and even wilder sex scenes. All the new cast members are fantastic. The digital copy has a large collection of his sketches, including a few showing the slight evolution of Byrons Family. (You will notice some name changes among other things.)
Golden Boy is a beautiful new hero with a lot of potential. We don't know too much about him at the moment. I am still waiting for 'Golden Boy' to live up to his name, if you know what I mean! LOL! David Cantero has helped create a funny, sexy, vibrant world for Byron to have fun in. Byron looks super hot drawn by him, in case you were wondering. To say he does justice to the character is an understatement. He has a real talent and drawing various characters of different nationalities and here (as if he hasn't in the past) he shows his marvelous ability at drawing beautiful black men. From big beefy Byron, to his swimmers build brother, every panel featuring these guys is drool worthy. If you want to see even more of his gorgeous Nubian nudes, you really owe it to yourself to start reading the Ghost Boy and Diablo series.
The few images we do get that feature Vallan and Strider are magnificent. There's a bit of an anime influence in the way he draws Vallan, much like Justin does. He draws him super cute and a bit younger then he looks in previous comics. I love it! I really think fans will enjoy this comic immensely.
So what is my final score? I would say that Space Cadet #2 continues the fine (albeit new) tradition on amazing comics written by Patrick Fillion and drawn masterfully by David Cantero. Beside some of the above gripes I totally loved it several times now, if you catch my drift!!!
8/10.
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