Patrick FillionPatrick Fillion
Cube
By Tony Esposito
Earth was invaded by a race of interplanetary conquerors known as the Sklarkians.
The invasion was repelled and the Sklarkians were about to be defeated when one of
the force beams of the hero Fantastica ruptured a Sklarkian’s energy storage unit.
And the whole Solar system was destroyed.
Another race of extraterrestrials, the Mwaor’ Oh’ Urae, benevolent and powerful,
thought it was a shame and a big loss that Earth had been destroyed. They used their
knowledge to recreate it. And to prevent any new threat like the Sklarkians invasion,
they also created the Cube, an object of power, a weapon and a tool to give Earth
a second chance.
So far, Cube has only 4 issues dealing with one
main story (the plan of Robert MacGavin and his Henchmen to become master of the
Cube and, therefore, of this reality) and many subplots, flashbacks and vignettes,
plus a lot of pin-up galleries.
The Cube needs guardians. As we start reading, there are already six guardians: Darque,
Diablo, Brains, Catnip, Ghost Boy and Amalgam. Three non-superpowered people are
also working with the team: Dr. Osoyous researching on the Cube, Naomi with invaluable
espionage skills and tactical knowledge, and Bonita Cross, operative. Their headquarter
is located in Vancouver, BC (Canada) under the cover of Diablo’s bar, The One Eyed
Snake Club.
The first
one to be called was Jeanne Darque. The Mwaor’ Oh’ Urae transformed her in a living
black hole, with abilities to manipulate many forms of darkness. The full powers
of Darque are yet to be seen. Darque is a lesbian that has lived homophobia ("… other words being used to
describe me. Hateful words, spoken in the ugly voice of prejudice.") before becoming the leader of the
Guardians of the Cube.
Bruno Ragetti is a nude dancer with a very impressive endowment. The Cube chose him
to be the second guardian, transforming him into Diablo, a devil like with many physical
superpowers and also the capability to “siphon” and store the evil from the souls
of people. Diablo’s soft, naïve and kind personality is contrasted with the
expectations that his look and powers may bring. Bruno’s long experience of being
a sexual object never changed his heterosexual preferences.
Brook Nowlan, Arnold Shaw and Deidra McKenzie are spliced together to become Brains,
a powerful telepath. Brains was killed in issue # 3. As he died, his power was somehow
transferred to operative Bonita Cross, codenamed Numa.
Catherine
Cannip was clinically declared mentally unstable. This cartoonesque catwoman, with
bow and hat and a dangerous cane, was chosen to be the guardian Catnip. Her instability
makes her an element often in need of control but her strength is an important asset
to the team. Her power to turn invisible and paralyse enemies with her “toxic breath”
is yet to be seen.
Openly gay, Peter Goldman (Ghost boy) is the youngest Guardian. With the power to
become intangible, allowing him to fly and phase through solid object. Other aspects
of his power are still to be seen, such as inducing fear and invisibility.
Little is known about Alexa a.k.a Amalgam.
Darque felt the Cube reacting in the presence of the detectives Pascale DiMorné
and Jacob Robert Turner, showing that one of them could be the seventh guardian.
In the midst of the fight against MacGavin (issue # 3), Ghost Boy asked a gay friend
for help. Jon Dazy, though technically not a guardian, has become part of the group.
Jon has power over plants.
The 4 issues of Cube (from 1996) open a door that is still
left wide open to explore. The characters start to have a profile and many threads
are present, waiting to be developed: what happened to Amalgam? Who is the 7th guardian?
Will Ghost Boy get a date with that cute new waiter at the One Eyed Snake?
Patrick Fillion is now more known for his gay erotica. Cube
was his first series of publication before jumping in the more successful erotic
adventures of Camili-Cat, Naked Justice
or the callboys of Satisfaction
Guaranteed. But Cube is a wonderful construction, rich with possibilities. The first
issue is really “superhero comic book” oriented, but in issue # 3, full frontal naked
men start appearing. Sexuality has a strong presence in this Sci-Fi world, sometimes
for our pleasure, sometimes distracting us from the story.
This mix of
sexually charged images along a complex story is not something new, as many of today’s
comics present half-naked big breasted heroines saving the world and fighting evil.
Fillion differs as he is probably the first to use the male characters as sexual
objects (two main gay characters and an almost always naked dancer with a huge penis)
opening the doors for others like Robert Rodi’s Codename: Knock-Out.
As it is frequent in Fillion's work, some of the characters appear in his other comics.
There is a 5 pages "The
Men from Cube" in
Ectasy with Diablo, Jon Dazy, Ghost Boy and 2 friends.
Jon Dazy also appeared in Road
Trip. And Diablo is one
of Fillion's best trademarked characters all through his erotic work.
