JUNE | 2018 | BLACK, GAY & GIFTED
MAN OF STEEL
Look up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane, its..a stratocumulus cloud? If you’re looking for Superman, you’re going to have to set your sights a little closer to ground level because that’s where you’re going to find Martell Todd, aka THEESUPAMAN aka, June’s Black, Gay & Gifted feature.
While Clark Kent has struggled to keep his secret identity secret since his 1938 Action Comics debut , Martell has maintained a public presence since his 2014 “Five Things Tops Want Bottoms to Know” YouTube debut. Since then he’s served as a brand ambassador for a variety of LGBT destination trips, clothing and underwear lines and involved has himself in Friends for Life, Impulse, Many Men, Many Voices and the Wounded Warrior project.
Martell began his journey on Youtube after deciding that he wanted to create a platform to promote better relationships between tops and bottoms. “I saw a space where nobody was talking about gay culture.” Todd says that his online presence offers viewers the chance to experience gay topics that are covered by a real life gay man.
“I like to think of my videos as being medicine wrapped in candy for intended and unintended audiences. Viewers may stumble across me because of seductive advertising, but end up with a thought provoking topic or conversation that needs to be had.”
Todd is no different than the advertisers who have used sex and sexuality to sell their products because they know that it ignites our most primal instinct, lust. In fact, this social media genius has used his assets to promote his involvement in D.C.’s PrEP Squad. “It’s an initiative that I love being a part of.”
DC’s PrEP Squad is a volunteer based community service organization that dedicates itself to promoting wellness among men who have sex with men (MSM). The organization’s goals include educating MSM about the most effective ways to prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections through the use of social media and by hosting events in the D.C area.
While the organization’s main goal is to provide information on PrEP, they also direct site goers to resources that can help them to quit smoking, provide information on STIs, ways in which the transmissions of said STIs can be prevented, offer HIV testing and treatment options and information on anal cancer prevention. The website is definitely taking a new approach to outreach.
Todd, in his description of his work with the PrEP Squad says, “We are working to promote the use, knowledge, and access of PreP in and outside of our community, especially among men of color”
Todd’s work doesn’t come without reason as findings from the CDC indicate that while HIV diagnoses among African American MSM aged 13 to 24 remain stable, rates among black men between the ages of 25 and 34 increased by 30% and rates among those aged 45 to 54 increased 25%
“Too often gay men of color don’t have the tools to protect themselves the way our melanin deficient counterparts do.” Todd and his fellow D.C. PrEP Squaders are constantly working to eliminate barriers that include, but aren’t limited to HIV being spread as a result of a lack of knowledge about one’s status, stigma, fear and discrimination.
Siegel and Shuster's Superman represents an ideal that people are inherently good and that someday that goodness will save us. While Clark Kent thinks that the world needs more good people, Martell Todd believes that the SGL community needs more out, intelligent men to serve as pillars within the community.
“Too often the faces the black gay community are men in wigs”, he says, “We can afford to expand our frame of reference. When asked about what our community needs less of, Martell states that we could with “less division, less colorism and less fighting at sex parties”.
And while we’re on the topic of sex parties, we couldn’t let this man of steel go without taking a peek into his personal life. One could only imagine the number of dating requests Todd receives from his admirers but surprisingly dating has been, as he describes it, ‘Le struggle”.
“It hasn’t been the best experience outside of the hook ups. I have to find the balance of someone who either doesn’t know me at all.
That last part might be a bit of a challenge to overcome as Todd’s YouTube channel with its 4,186 subscribers and 369,673 video views, when combined with his wall destroying Twitter following of 2,105 (@theesupaman) may present some difficulty when it comes to finding someone who “isn’t a typical fan or attention-seeking arm-candy hunter.
Martell’s social media is tastefully dipped in sex and sexuality and he’s got no problem telling you just what it is he likes. He doesn’t subscribe to the social construct of monogamy, but don’t get too excited because, “polyamory, by definition, is not what I’m looking for either”. Todd believes that a balance can be found in a partner with whom he can be sexually adventurous with while maintaining a deep connection.
When it comes to his thoughts on condom usage, Todd keeps an open mind and cites that certain situations “demand more caution”. You can’t help but admire this guy’s grip on reality! We didn’t care about whether or not Todd was interested in long walks on the beach but we do know that the dog lover in him prefers sex parties over the conventional bath house. “Bathhouses can be hit or miss, but if you selectively set up a sex party right then everybody can get where they’re trying to go on tonight.”
Atlas, the Atomic Skull and Brainiac are often cited as the people most capable of pissing Clark Kent off, but if you’re interested in pissing Todd’s alter ego THEESUPAMAN off you can try your luck through transphobia. “The constant assault against Transgendered troops serving pisses me off to no end. We continue to repeat history in this country of improper exclusion and it always stems from the fear of otherism.”
According to a survey conducted by absolutely no one, one in three same gender loving men has a freak account on Twitter. “Shockingly, I’m in the majority that doesn’t have one. Though I have seen my own porn being touted by other pages which made me proud.” You’ll have to forgive us for not asking for the links to said porn, but while we’re on the subject we can verify that Martell enjoys group porn. “The more the merrier”, he says and admits that “the nastier the better. I like options in my porn viewing experiences and the option in group porn can be endless” He actually raises a very valid point, and don’t you dare as us how we know.
Before any of you get any ideas about sending him your nudes, you might want to pick a number. According to Todd, he receives at least five propositions for nudes a day, and in the event that he posts or says something suggestive, “they break my inbox”
However, this social media savior takes it all in stride and believes that we need apps like Jackd and Grinder in the age of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. “We need places where we can divest friendship [and] networking versus just trying to get a nut and carry on about your day”
Outside of the time Todd spends on promoting with D.C’s PrEP Squad, cranking out his YouTube videos and giving us a reason to lick our screens as a result of whatever it is he chooses to post on his Instagram and Twitter. Todd, along with Ronald Matters of ronaldmatters.com host Here For It, a podcast consisting of colorful cultural commentary with a focus of the week’s hot topics, politics, social issues and gay life. The podcast is available every Wednesday with an occasional special episode being launched between scheduled releases.
Despite the negative aspects that accompany social media fame, Todd enjoys putting effort into his craft because it has provided him with opportunities that have helped him to gain an even broader platform and has given him access to the minds of the community. Outside of creating content Martell also enjoys the work of others. “I am addicted to Tyrone Magnus’ reaction videos currently! He’s my straight man crush and we have the same taste in pop culture roughly.”
Clark Kent’s weakness is Kryptonite and damsels in distress but Supaman’s weakness include, but may not necessarily be limited to unprepared bottoms and Beyonce haters. To this Todd states, in his best Phaedra Parks impersonation, “Go away from me with this!” And where Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Krypto the Superdog serve as a loyal cast of supporting characters, Supaman’s identifies his supporting cast as his co-host, Ronald Matters, his loyal and ravenous hive, and Tequila- all of which, as he describes as being able to empower him to take the world by storm and leap tall men in a single bound.
He plans on continuing with his podcast as it serves as his “boo-thang”, and says that we can expect to see a clothing and merchandising effort from him soon. While he didn’t provide a specific date, he did say that we should expect to see it sooner than we should expect to see She by Sheree. Todd was last seen reveling in the hilarity of Deadpool 2, a movie which allows him to escape the reality that is Trump’s America.
You can find more about this social media hero by visiting his YouTube channel, and by exploring his Twitter and Instagram feeds. Make sure you check out his weekly podcast and then after that you can show some love to his efforts with D.C’s PrEP Squad here.