The Art of Muscle Matt 2

 Billy encounters a new rival, Tim, when they compete in the same body-building contest.

Tim is dark and very hairy, but more importantly to Billy, he is very big.

Matt has used two standard body-builder poses here, but put them together in such a way

 that it really does look as if Tim has just sprung onto the stage and is pushing Billy aside.

I mentioned tight T-shirts in Part 1 but no body-builder is complete without his skimpy posing briefs which in real life they wear to accentuate their bulk rather than to tease the judges (officially anyway). As a cartoonist Matt can make the most of briefs erotically stretching round buttocks without having to worry overmuch about realism. His imagining of Tim's front pouch groaning under the weight of giant genitalia is also sexy if unreal. Matt's bra for balls again. Note that we can see both front and back views of Tim - artistic licence! Billy's bag of tackle, by comparison, reminds me of why 60's, G-string imagery fell out of favour,

  Later at the gym, Tim advertises his superior physicality rather more forcefully than Billy did when he was Top Dog. He oozes sexuality with substantial bushes of hair in the key crevices, not to mention an erection that strains towards Billy lustfully. Billy learns what it is to be overwhelmed and it's love at first sight. Although he responds sexually in his pants, it isn't clear from his innocent-looking face (and his past history) whether this love is driven by sexual attraction to men or simply by his infatuation with sheer muscle bulk.

There's not much doubt which side of that fence Tim is on. Matt depicts him with an enviable swagger that even includes a confidently threshing (heat-seeking?) cock. It's a sexy fantasy and you sense Billy is up for it and lapping up the domineering banter as a compliment. Nestled against Tim's giant chest it seems like he's climbing Everest, but not doing so just because it's there.

There's a great similarity in Matt's work to the fantasies explored at IFNB - i.e. the over developed muscularity, sexually tinged domination and liberal ejaculation of fluids. However Billy and Co's brand of peer-domination seems less serious in intent, more playful and consensual, it's an acceptance and enjoyment of the natural order - and passionately sexual.

Muscle Matt - Tim Sex

Tim's sexuality is not singular and we see him cavorting with women equally enthusiastically. This is also happens in of Billy's story but I only wanted to include one example in this post (for obvious reasons) and I preferred this scene, a superb imagining of Tim's sexual drive, energy and sheer masculinity which you wouldn't necessarily expect from man of such bulk.
Testosterone seems to pour (pore?) out of him.

Usually the faces of female conquests are not seen, which jars with modern attitudes about respecting women. There is one notable exception to this rule which I will come to in Part 3. To be fair, Matt's work is around 15 years old and, apart from this one detail, Billy and Tim's sexual campaigning treats men and women in exactly the same way. It's clear from Matt's captions that both sexes are irresistibly attracted to their muscularity, eager to partake of it and none of them depart disappointed.

Muscle Matt - Tim On-Line

 This image embellishes Tim's insatiable lust. Like much of Matt's work this scene is very well-observed and accurate, although most of us would not feel the need to top up on what Tim's getting. The beer can and neglected work books contribute to an image of Tim that is a lot naughtier and a lot raunchier than Billy's. The message written on the wall from Matt himself, endorsing this non-conforming character is quite revealing.

Tim is relatively hairless in this example, but his quiff and blue cap are consistent identifiers.
 (Of course he may have shaved his body in preparation for a competition!)
 

Muscle Matt - Tim meets Sean

When Tim meets Sean, he impresses him in the same way. We saw Sean dwarfing Billy previously. Now he falls to his knees, overawed and captivated in his turn. There's a degree of ambiguity about which part of Tim's anatomy is responsible for Sean's wonderment, more so than with Billy who gazed star-struck directly into Tim's eyes.

Lifting Dad's car is a trick Matt also uses elsewhere for conveying improbable strength,

Muscle Matt - Tim & Sean Tongues

Billy and Tim consummated in a public place, but with Sean matters progress to the bedroom
 and the intimacy is of a higher sexual order than with Billy


This image is significant, it's not about muscled bodies at all, but emotional connection.
Notice though, that the 'love hearts' are strictly-one sided - and are in all of the preceding pictures too,

Muscle Matt - Sean and Tim 'You Want It'

Later, it's Sean who does the macho posturing, playing a would-be Top
 while Tim sprawls alluringly on his bed like a Hollywood vamp.
He's surrounded by heterosexual porn which you can interpret as discouragement or a challenge.
Despite Sean's bravado, you get the impression that Tim is still in control here,
and playing the Power Bottom, no wonder Sean's 'love hearts' have disappeared!

Muscle Matt - Tim and Billy 'Like Your Brother'

 Billy's still in love with Tim though as you can see in another of their locker room encounters.
Tim's had his hair tightly cropped and he taunts Billy about his exploits with Sean
(in the preceding frame he's just told Billy "you need to be fucked").

It's behaviour adds a touch of cruelty to that sense of hardness in the character.
But, the evidence we can see of his sexual activities doesn't quite tally with his words.
 

Muscle Matt - Sean and Tim on Sean's settee

This seems to be the corresponding,preceding scene with Sean, it's the only picture I can find of them together with Tom's hair cropped like this.
The leather straps Tim is wearing also appear in the sequence with Billy just above.

The power balance seems to have significantly shifted in this image with Sean reclining and doing the teasing while Tim is the one filled with helpless desire. The green settee symbolises that change, it's Sean's usual place for recieving his many admirers, often simultaneously.

Muscle Matt - Giants

 Eventually the boys all get together as a threesome and look who's in the middle!
This scene takes place after a body building competition, which was won by Sean.
Seeing each other flex for the judges has got them all steamed up and it's sexual carnage.
The real boys inside are finally 'outed'
A fitting outcome (if you'll pardon the pun).

I don't know if the type-written caption here is Matt's work, I suspect not.

I've dwelt in some length on this story-line, partly because it's the major part of Matt's available output and partly because I like it. Matt uses the freedom of the cartoon format to create a sexual stew that is alluring and quite inspiring.

In the concluding post of this series I look at some other aspects of Matt's work