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Fabulous in Tights (Adventures of the Whirlwind Book 1)

Hal Bodner (Goodreads Author)

3.60 · Rating details · 25 ratings · 21 reviews

Alec Archer isn’t just a superhero... he’s a survivor.

* He’s survived being harpooned by the megalomaniacal captain of a steampunk airship.
* He’s escaped being drowned by a sex-crazed mermaid.
* He’s narrowly avoided being reduced to a glowing pile of mush by a radioactive grandma.
* Even Kryptonite probably couldn’t hurt him.
(His inability to think before he opens his mouth ...more

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ebook, First Edition

Published March 2nd 2021 by Crossroad Press

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Mar 04, 2021 Joyfully Jay rated it really liked it

Shelves: jay

A Joyfully Jay review.

3.75 stars

Fabulous in Tights is the first installment in Hal Bodner’s new Adventures of the Whirlwind series. The story is told in Alec’s first person POV, interspersed with third person narration from a variety of other characters. We get a nice sense of Alec as a character, including his past as a prostitute, his job now running an escort service, his love and adoration for his husband, and his close confidants who know about his alter ego as the Whirlwind. The book has ...more

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Feb 24, 2021 Charlotte rated it did not like it

Shelves: didn-t-finish, body-shaming

I was pretty excited when I saw this book. The cover is great and I loved the idea of the plot. The writing is great. I particularly enjoyed the witty banter and the time I spent in the mind of the main character. Right up until he made a fat joke about one woman - then immediately after an "anorexic" joke about another woman.

Sorry, but it's 2021 and I can't continue to read and support books that body shame women and make light of serious eating disorders. Can we PLEASE stop with the body jokes ...more

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Mar 07, 2021 Kristel (hungryandhappy) rated it did not like it

*Netgalley arc*

The story had potential even if it was quite predictable, even for me who never guesses things right. It was written in a way really easy to get into and it sounded fun.

Then the slurs started and it was one cringe moment after the other. One fatphobic mention after the other. Saying a girl panicking was hysterical. Making fun of a guy on a wheelchair guessing at his illness. Throwing slurs at every turn. And I just couldn't take it anymore.

I finished the book because I was genuine ...more

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Feb 14, 2021 Nicki Markus rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-lgbt

Fabulous in Tights was a fun MM fantasy read. Alec comes across really well as a character and I immediately felt invested in him and his story. The side characters are also nicely fleshed out. The plot was a typical superhero tale and that worked well, especially with the strong injection of humour present throughout. I did see the twist coming ahead of the reveal, but that in no way spoilt my enjoyment of the story. I would certainly be happy to read on in this series, to find out where Alec's ...more

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Dec 11, 2020 Madelon rated it it was amazing

The Great Depression and World War II saw the advent of the superhero with the introduction of Batman (in 1937) and Superman (in 1938 ), and Captain America and Wonder Woman (in 1941). The 1950s saw an explosion of new superheroes and their villainous counterparts that has continued to this day.

Now, in 2021, a new superhero swirls his blue-green, err… aquamarine, err… turquoise cape as he arrives on the scene to save the day in Centerport. Yes, it's turquoise people!

Hal Bodner brings a lot of hu ...more

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Mar 03, 2021 Steven rated it liked it

I recall adoring Bite Club! as a teen, and I HAVE MISSED HAL BODNER! I love his sense of humor and those hilarious descriptive phrases. Even the About the Author blurb had me laughing out loud!

Watching Whirlwind lust after the villain was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the ride; I could get onboard with this being a new trope. I will admit, however, that there were some problematic elements in that Chapter 4 rescue scene that led to a less likable main character. In fact, Travis ended up being my f ...more

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Feb 21, 2021 Benoitcesoir rated it it was amazing

A nice refreshing take on the superhero genre, with a lead gay male as the superhero that helps keep the city safe. The characters were each written well, which made for an enjoyable adventure/mystery. This story has heart, comedy, smarts, and costumes to die for!!!

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Jan 10, 2021 Kathy Rowe rated it it was amazing

Having known Hal for a few years (via Facebook), I know him reasonably well. He's a fellow author with a fun wit about him--not to mention someone I can ask for cooking help if I'm in a pinch. So, when he asked me to read and review his new book, I told him I'd do my best since my schedule around the farm is NUTS! -- Currently there is a lamb living in my office, and a rooster in the guest bathroom...Yup, and about 200 pounds of cheese in the basement.

Fabulous in Tights is a fun, quick read (onc ...more

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Apr 01, 2021 Veronica of V's Reads rated it really liked it

Shelves: adult, contemporary, fun-fast-read, grief-loss, male-male, superhero

Alec Archer was an out gay teen his parents turned out to the mean streets of Centerport. He had to prostitute himself to survive, but that he did. In fact he’s survived a lot more than nasty tricks at this point. He’s all grown up, and running a legal escort service, now that his former tricking partner was voted the mayor of Centerport. And not a little to early, because Alec met his beloved husband Peter when some of Peter’s colleagues hired Alec’s services to celebrate Peter’s promotion. It Alec Archer was an out gay teen his parents turned out to the mean streets of Centerport. He had to prostitute himself to survive, but that he did. In fact he’s survived a lot more than nasty tricks at this point. He’s all grown up, and running a legal escort service, now that his former tricking partner was voted the mayor of Centerport. And not a little to early, because Alec met his beloved husband Peter when some of Peter’s colleagues hired Alec’s services to celebrate Peter’s promotion. It was kismet, and Alec committed himself to being the very best partner he could, once Peter got over the shock and dismay of falling so hard for a rent boy–even a beautiful rent boy like Alec.

Meanwhile, Alec has an even bigger secret life than that of a former prostitute-turned-“madam”–he’s strong and fast, virtually indestructible, and he moonlights as the Whirlwind to save the good folk of Centerport from all sorts of supervillains. The newest one on the scene, Thanatos, has targeted Peter’s agripharmaceuticals company, Greene Genes, all a mess. Peter’s boss, Jackson Greene, is an idealistic entrepreneur who’s now dying of cancer. While this is going on, Thanatos has planned industrial espionage to steal the secret plans of the Feed the World program. This program could end world hunger, but there is a weird glitch and only the top scientist on the program can unravel it. The Whirlwind comes to the rescue, but he’s only able to save a few folks that were trapped in the building before a bomb went off. It takes time for Thanatos to reveal his true purpose, and monetary demands.

Despite being both monogamous and completely committed to Peter, Alec can’t deny he has a big attraction to Thanatos. There’s something chemical about their mutual fascination, even though they are both unwilling to admit it. We mostly have the story told from Alec’s POV as himself or The Whirlwind, but there are moments of third-person POV from others including Thanatos, and Jackson Greene. This whole story is engaging, with the kind of odd-ball heroes and hero support one might find in a Deadpool spin-off. I really enjoyed Alec, he’s such a funny guy, and his deadpan humor had me smirking along as I turned the pages. This is the first book in the series and it’s not exactly ending on a high note for Whirlpool. Thanatos is a bigger menace than he’d predicted, and the stakes are way higher than Alec could have fathomed; he’s at risk of losing himself or Peter in this melee. I was a bit stunned with the ending, not because I didn’t see it coming, but because I was really so engaged I didn’t WANT things to go that way.

Not going to give any of the secrets away, but wow, am I hooked on Alec, and hoping his next book will bring both peace and happiness. ...more

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Mar 17, 2021 Rogan Shannon rated it it was ok

Shelves: queer, netgalley

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy to review.

Representation: Gay MC and antagonist, multiple queer supporting characters

Alec Archer is the owner of a successful male escort service in Centerport, where sex work has been legalized. He lives there with his husband, Peter, that he loves very much. Centerport also happens to be the place that a lot of villains choose to kick off their career. Luckily, Alec is also Whirlwind, a superhero that works to protect Centerport from all of these evil p Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy to review.

Representation: Gay MC and antagonist, multiple queer supporting characters

Alec Archer is the owner of a successful male escort service in Centerport, where sex work has been legalized. He lives there with his husband, Peter, that he loves very much. Centerport also happens to be the place that a lot of villains choose to kick off their career. Luckily, Alec is also Whirlwind, a superhero that works to protect Centerport from all of these evil plots. We encounter Thanatos, who has a mysterious plot to twist a plan to end world hunger, which is led by Peter. Thanatos is very, very clever and has figured out things about Whirlwind that no one knows, not even Whirlwind. Whirlwind and his friends race to stop Thanatos before the plot is unleashed.

Rating: 2/5 Honestly, the only reason why this book still has two stars is because I really like the concept of this book, some of the worldbuilding, and we need more queer superheroes. But there's too many issues with it for me to give it anything higher. This book is extremely campy, which isn't really a problem in itself, but combined with everything else, it just was too much. I didn't really like Alec as a person. Sure, he had some great banter, but overall his personality is kind of trash. Near the beginning, we meet him as Whirlwind and he's rescuing civilians from a burning building. He made way too many fatphobic comments, used several slurs, had a really creepy attitude towards a wheelchair user, and has the attitude of sort of a mean old queen. Weirdly self-absorbed at the same time as being a superhero who actually does care about the safety of other people. Just overall not a great person. There's also a slightly confusing thing with the marriage between Alec and Peter. It's said pretty early on that the marriage is secret, because Peter works in corporate, and people aren't all that open-minded and such. But later, it's said that people kinda just know about it, it's not really a "secret" and it was kind of just brushed off. Plus, Alec is a pretty well-known figure, being the owner of an escort business, so it'd be really difficult to keep that marriage a secret anyway. What was even the point of that? Let's talk about Thanatos. The whole description of his appearance was very interesting, and I did like it. However, there's some inconsistencies in it. For example, he's described as having a monstrous mask and it seemed to be something that fully covers the face. But then a leer and grin are described later on, it's just unclear on what the mask looks like. Because of certain things and the way that were described about Thanatos, I was able to guess who he was *very* early on. Overall, I just didn't really like the characters, it was very predictable for me, and kind of disappointing. ...more

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Feb 28, 2021 Kristina Stancil rated it it was amazing

Fabulous in Tights is one of the most beautiful and tragic stories that I have ever read. Think Romeo and Juliet, yet with a superhero in skintight turquoise spandex. Hal Bodner’s wit shines through in his hero, Alec Archer, aka “The Whirlwind’s,” snappy banter.

Archer, on the surface seems to finally have achieved the American dream. He is married to a handsome, kind, and brilliant man named Peter and is running a successful male escort business. After a tragic backstory of negligent borderlin Fabulous in Tights is one of the most beautiful and tragic stories that I have ever read. Think Romeo and Juliet, yet with a superhero in skintight turquoise spandex. Hal Bodner’s wit shines through in his hero, Alec Archer, aka “The Whirlwind’s,” snappy banter.

Archer, on the surface seems to finally have achieved the American dream. He is married to a handsome, kind, and brilliant man named Peter and is running a successful male escort business. After a tragic backstory of negligent borderline abusive parents and life on the streets as a teenage male prostitute things are finally looking up. Like most superheroes, Archer knows that if the villains of his town, Centerport ever learned of his identity, that his beloved Peter would be in danger, so he keeps him in the dark.

Archer isn’t doing it all on his own. He is joined by his parents’ handyman, Travis who did his best to act as a responsible father figure to him and his best friend, the police chief, Gretchen. As the Whirlwind and in his own personal life, he has overcome, and survived some of the most horrendous torture imaginable. The Whirlwind is virtually indestructible, physically. The problem arrives when he finally earns an archnemesis, known as “Thanatos.” Archer finds it difficult to focus on the fact that he and Thanatos have a growing sexual attraction that they both fight because they are both otherwise involved. Thanatos is smarter than the previous villains who have attacked Centerport. He is an evil mastermind determined to pervert a project to end world hunger, a project that Archer’s husband, Peter is spearheading. Leading to another dilemma for Archer, how to keep Peter out of danger without revealing that he is Whirlwind to his husband, thereby opening him up to even more danger. Not to mention the fact that Peter is forever trying to ‘shield’ and ‘protect’ Alec from the outside world due to his past.

Bodner is a master storyteller and I cannot wait to dive into more of his work outside of the world of horror. ...more

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Mar 09, 2021 J.G. Faherty rated it really liked it

Fabulous in Tights is the first in a series of books by Hal Bodner
centering around the most fabulous of superheroes, Whirlwind. By day, Alec Archer is the owner of a male escort service and a pillar of society (thanks mostly to his husband, who is a corporate bigwig for a major biotech company). But when trouble rears its head, Alec transforms into the Whirlwind, a mostly indestructible masked man whose costume is the perfect shade of turquoise and who delivers more one-liners and snarky quips ...more

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Feb 06, 2021 Bruce Memblatt rated it it was amazing

When I began to read Fabulous in Tights, I realized I was in for something different. Hal Bodner has written a superhero story from the superhero’s point of view. That is a unique way to write a superhero story because we’re not often treated to the view from the hero’s perspective - what he thinks of the people he has to save as well as what’s on his shopping list or that he might have a fetish for spandex. This is a recipe for too much fun which Bodner delivers in natural engaging prose that c ...more

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Feb 16, 2021 jusrates rated it liked it

Fabulous in Tights is a simple easy read, transporting us into this alternate universe. With a fun premise, the novel delves into a world we do not see very often, having a gay superhero as the protagonist. Using many campy references and snarky jokes, we get to hear the many innermost thoughts of our imperfect and flawed hero. The descriptive imagery lets us imagine how everything plays out, set in plain language to be accessible and uncomplicated. Rather than starting with an origin story to e ...more

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Mar 05, 2021 Ian rated it really liked it

👍🏼 Liked: If you’re new here, one thing you should know about me is that I try to rate books off the expectations you should have for them. This one is going for pulpy, campy fun, and I think that is more than achieved, so this is a job well done for me. I also thought there was an interesting plot about sex work. (This one does get a little PG 13 and has some mid level superhero violence and death.)
👎🏼 Less Keen On: I thought the reveal was a little obvious, so I was bummed there. Also, because ...more

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Mar 05, 2021 Jason Wrench rated it really liked it

I want to thank the author/publisher for the opportunity to evaluate Fabulous in Tights (Adventures of the Whirlwind Book 1) by Hal Bodner before publication.

Overall, the story centers around The Whirlwind, a gay superhero and escort service owner. The story starts with a bombing and things go a bit out of control from there.

As a whole, I found the book highly enjoyable. It's witty and fun. There are just enough sexual innuendos to make it fun without going overboard and making it erotica.

As ...more

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Apr 15, 2021 Welsh Reader marked it as did-not-finish

This is very much "Not like other gays".

I couldn't even make it past the first chapter. There might be a character arc, but honestly I don't think I can read from a POV so bitter, mean and offensive for no reason. Listening to the audiobook for this somehow made it worse, as the narrator over-acted the over the top camp assistant with a voice that sounds like when homophobic straight men try to sound gay or put on "the gay voice" and I did not really appreciate that.

For a premise that sounded so ...more

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Apr 10, 2021 Heidi marked it as dnf · review of another edition

This looked like a fun campy read about a superhero. I wasn't expecting a great literary work, I was even expecting the story to be completely predictable from page 5. But I was on board with that, because I was expecting fun.

And then the slurs started. Fatphobia, misogyny, ableism. One slur after another. The main character was honestly just trash.

Such a shame. I'd love more books about queer superheroes. Guess I'll keep looking, because this ain't it, chief.

(I received a copy from the publi ...more

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Mar 07, 2021 Amanda Kondrashova rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Was a 3.5 until the end. Mildly cute when balanced against the eye-rolling camp, but the ending just completely killed it. Seriously, the slut-shaming savior crap needs to end and doesn't belong in what was previously a very sweet relationship. Fuck *all* the way off with that noise. ...more

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Dec 01, 2020 Wookwife rated it it was amazing

Fun and funny! Bodner, once again, adds his own spin on the mainstream and makes it wonderful.

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Mar 07, 2021 Larry rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I thought the characters to be shallow and the story a rip off of all the other superhero books out there. Nothing new. Given I figured out the twist about a quarter in, very predictable. Overall, I guess this book just wasn't my thing. ...more

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