FREE SCI-FI COMIC: Money Shot
In 2027 an advanced alien civilisation made contact, and the people of Earth discovered they were not alone. An offer to join the civilised universe was made.
But then the aliens saw what a total shit show Earth was...
Engaged in hundreds of wars, led by greedy politicians, and fumbling to advance technologically, humanity was deemed not worth the effort. The offer was withdrawn.
Unable to build spaceships capable of efficient interstellar travel, and distracted by petty bickering and pop entertainment, humans eventually lost interest in the stars.
Now in 2032 amid an anti-science presidential administration and public apathy, scientists in an economically crippled America struggle to fund innovative projects.
At the Michigan Institute of Technology physicist Dr Christine Ocampo is screaming.
"I'm not writing another six-hundred page grant application! I mean, seriously, guys, we're scientists, right? We're not supposed to waste our time writing the Anna Karenina of begging the government for money!"
You can understand her frustration. Her baby - Project Starshot - is a successful wormhole teleportation projector, allowing scientists to explore brave new worlds of the universe. But running it takes a lot of power, which costs a lot of money... and the US government ("full of grifters and thieves") is not keen on funding science when voters have no interest in anything beyond their immediate concerns.
Her four colleagues are sympathetic but see no solution. But that night, while indulging in a little self-gratification, inspiration strikes her. The internet is over-saturated with pornography of every conceivable variety, but consumers are beyond jaded.
What people need is something new... SEX WITH ALIENS!
She sets up a website to stream her and her (young and photogenic) fellow scientists interacting intimately with extraterrestrials. The revenue will fund all of their research and make them independent of government grants.
Somewhat skeptical and reluctant at first, the eggheads warm to the idea soon enough and before long they set off on their initial foray to parts unknown...
Money Shot by writers Tim Seeley and Sarah Beattie and artists Rebekah Isaacs and Caroline Leigh Lane is a fun, irreverent romp that makes full use of every sexual gag and cliché available, and then some. But it is also so much more. Our intrepid "XXX-plorers" quickly find that making interplanetary porn is a minefield of complications. Not only do they have unfamiliar erogenous anatomies to negotiate but also diverse and confusing cultural mores.
And that's not all. There is also the issue of their feelings for each other...
The premise is an inspired one, and this could have been just a series of cheap, if somewhat novel, titillating jokes thrown together to tickle a few geeky funny bones... (if you get the one about the guy calling himself "Kneels Bore" you have earned your geekhood for the year ) Money Shot exceeds this, however. It is a sex comedy, sure, but it is also a solid science fiction thriller as our boffing boffins become entangled in the social, political and religious conflicts of the worlds they visit.
It takes in a whole range of wider issues related to sexuality: identity, prejudice, stereotypes and preconceptions, relationships, communication of feelings, all the pitfalls of love... and it does all of this without any hint of stuffiness. The narrative doesn't take itself too seriously, of course, yet somehow it manages to also bring in more serious themes without ruining the mood. Indeed, they mesh together beautifully. What could have been tacky and hollow actually turns out to be pretty warm-hearted.
The sex-positive vibe here is hedonism without exploitation, very much in the "free love" spirit of the original Barbarella comics of 1960s France. Ironically, this is a story of people selling themselves and yet there is no taint of cheapness. Our heroes are working for a higher goal: scientific advancement and the betterment of humankind.
The ends definitely justify the means... especially if you can get some outta-this-world booty in the process...
Zak Webber
"I'm not writing another six-hundred page grant application! I mean, seriously, guys, we're scientists, right? We're not supposed to waste our time writing the Anna Karenina of begging the government for money!"
You can understand her frustration. Her baby - Project Starshot - is a successful wormhole teleportation projector, allowing scientists to explore brave new worlds of the universe. But running it takes a lot of power, which costs a lot of money... and the US government ("full of grifters and thieves") is not keen on funding science when voters have no interest in anything beyond their immediate concerns.
Her four colleagues are sympathetic but see no solution. But that night, while indulging in a little self-gratification, inspiration strikes her. The internet is over-saturated with pornography of every conceivable variety, but consumers are beyond jaded.
What people need is something new... SEX WITH ALIENS!
She sets up a website to stream her and her (young and photogenic) fellow scientists interacting intimately with extraterrestrials. The revenue will fund all of their research and make them independent of government grants.
Somewhat skeptical and reluctant at first, the eggheads warm to the idea soon enough and before long they set off on their initial foray to parts unknown...
Money Shot by writers Tim Seeley and Sarah Beattie and artists Rebekah Isaacs and Caroline Leigh Lane is a fun, irreverent romp that makes full use of every sexual gag and cliché available, and then some. But it is also so much more. Our intrepid "XXX-plorers" quickly find that making interplanetary porn is a minefield of complications. Not only do they have unfamiliar erogenous anatomies to negotiate but also diverse and confusing cultural mores.
And that's not all. There is also the issue of their feelings for each other...
The premise is an inspired one, and this could have been just a series of cheap, if somewhat novel, titillating jokes thrown together to tickle a few geeky funny bones... (if you get the one about the guy calling himself "Kneels Bore" you have earned your geekhood for the year ) Money Shot exceeds this, however. It is a sex comedy, sure, but it is also a solid science fiction thriller as our boffing boffins become entangled in the social, political and religious conflicts of the worlds they visit.
It takes in a whole range of wider issues related to sexuality: identity, prejudice, stereotypes and preconceptions, relationships, communication of feelings, all the pitfalls of love... and it does all of this without any hint of stuffiness. The narrative doesn't take itself too seriously, of course, yet somehow it manages to also bring in more serious themes without ruining the mood. Indeed, they mesh together beautifully. What could have been tacky and hollow actually turns out to be pretty warm-hearted.
The sex-positive vibe here is hedonism without exploitation, very much in the "free love" spirit of the original Barbarella comics of 1960s France. Ironically, this is a story of people selling themselves and yet there is no taint of cheapness. Our heroes are working for a higher goal: scientific advancement and the betterment of humankind.
The ends definitely justify the means... especially if you can get some outta-this-world booty in the process...
Zak Webber
Twitter - @sfcomicartist / Instagram - @sfcomicartist
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