James Nicoll Reviews

Originally for tor but ultimately they didn’t run it.

A fundamental principle upon which all serious futurologists agree is that a large fraction¹ of the human population spends a lot of time thinking about sex. Consequently, if a new technology can be used to facilitate the thinking and doing of sex, it will be. If it cannot, good luck getting investment funds. Thus, we have an internet but no moon bases. The internet facilitates all manner of activities relating to sex, but moon bases do not. Helium‑3 fusion may be hot² but the human libido is much hotter³.

Something that was not possible when I was a teen (because the technology didn’t exist) is the adult-content webcomic. You probably won’t be surprised to discover that there are many such webcomics; you will be even less surprised to discover, like most things, they vary in quality. To spare you a lot of furtive googling, I’ll suggest some adult webcomics that are decently drawn, essentially cheerful, and fun to read. 

(Who is going to do it, with whom, and how, and what the participants think about it afterward, is a perfectly reasonable alternative to violence as a source of plot. Lamentably, authors will get a lot less pushback over graphic violence than they will for sexual content.)

In any case, here are five examples of adult web comics, three spec fic and two non-fiction comics that are arguably related to spec fic. I think they’re worth your time, if your tastes incline that way. 

I look forward with some curiosity as to what, if any, examples of the content that Tor’s art department will provide you. 

Oh, let’s do put a cut here⁴.

Erica Moen and Matthew Nolan’s Oh Joy Sex Toy is the first non-fiction entry on this list. The title is extremely descriptive. Once a week, some new sex gadget is featured and reviewed. The reviews are frequently leavened with discussion of related matters. The art is straightforward but evocative and the tone as cheerful as you’d expect from the title. Although this webcomic is non-fiction, I include it as an example of the human creativity evoked by any tech that can be connected (somehow) to fun bits. Seriously, if there were the slightest hint that FTL could ensure better or more frequent orgasms, we’d have twice-daily junkets to the core of the Milky Way. 

***

Animal Lives is by Humon, the same fellow who brought us Scandinavia and the World. Each entry depicts the default⁵ reproductive and social behaviour of a different species. Considerable variation is displayed from species to species. I include the strip in the hope that hard-SF authors will find it inspiring. Let us not assume that human sexual behaviour must be universal. Let Humon’s amiable humanoids hint at the grand range of possible options. Embrace the full range of the word ​“hard” In hard SF.

Counter-intuitively, this webcomic about How They Get It On is probably the most work-safe of the five I’m recommending. Note that ​“most work-safe” is not the same as ​“actually work-safe.”

***

InCase’s Alfie is a secondary-world fantasy webcomic inhabited by the usual range of fantasy hominins, as well as other … creatures. Protagonist Alfie begins as a miserable young hobbit living in Pickering, a small town whose puritanical mores do not prevent a variety of graphically depicted surreptitious affairs. Alfie wastes little time getting the heck out of Pickering, in her quest to better know herself. It turns out a lot of other hominins would also like to better know Alfie. The plot is character-driven. Poor communication does drive a lot of the story, but it’s not there to facilitate idiot plotting. Sometimes people just find obfuscation more socially acceptable, despite its inevitable consequences. Still, don’t let the emphasis on characterization and plausible plot put you off: this is still extremely Not Safe for Work. 

***

M. Magdalene’s science-fantasy webcomic Curvy begins when the young Anaïs is dragged into interdimensional wackiness by the alluring, aristocratic Fauna. There are a multitude of alternate dimensions, each with its own defining characteristic⁶; Fauna, for example, hails from Candy World and is made of licorice. The various worlds are filled with a bewildering variety of beings, most of whom either plug-compatible or sufficiently inventive that mere anatomy does not interfere. Fauna is a key piece in a bold if not entirely well-thought-out scheme of dimensional conquest. This overarching plot facilitates Anaïs’ diverting exploration of sufficiently inventive.

***

Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne’s secondary-world fantasy webcomic Oglaf eschews Curvy and Alfie​’s unified plots, although from time to time the authors do dabble in short storylines (and even pieces that are safe for work and marked as such). Instead, they mainly focus on putting the Not back into Not Safe for Work, in a fantasy world where it seems every activity eventually works its way around to inventive … well, I can’t call them couplings because the number of participants can vary … um, assemblies of various entities in numbers large and small. It’s like this scene in Apollo 13, except instead of mechanical components, it’s body parts and instead of ensuring an air supply, they want to… well, you get the point.

The art is very detailed and the funniest strips extremely funny. Worth your time if you are looking for an NSFW gag-a-week strip, although sometimes the humour is meaner than I prefer. Don’t read at your place of employment unless you want to be frog-marched out of the building. Which is OK if you are into that sort of thing. 

***

This is but a small subset of the strips I could have mentioned. Feel free to mention your favourite decently drawn, essentially cheerful, and fun to read NSFW webcomics but please: no links to images.

1: But not all. 

2: Although lunar 3he fusion is just a stupid idea.

3: Metaphorically speaking. If any of your body parts are ten million degrees or warmer, please consult a physician. 

4: Remember when books published mid-last-century got to the sex scenes and then inserted *** in place of graphic sex? Perhaps you don’t. The *** was always a great spur to imagination. 

5: Of course, patterns that are true on the average may not apply to specific individuals or subgroups. Other species are just as various as we are. Some much more so. 

6: The exception being Anaïs’ world, which is why all the other worlds call it Boring World.