Some thoughts on working NSFW

Today is the one-year anniversary of my posting NSFW comics on Patreon.

The comic above is a previously unreleased alternate version of the first-ever NSFW Courting Disaster posted here.

Since launching NSFW comics through Patreon, I've been reflecting a lot on adult comics, the nature of porn, and how amazed I am to be doing this after 15 years of a very PG-13 daily comic strip.

• I'm having a very schizophrenic relationship with this. On one hand, it's the most successful launch I've experienced since "The Webcomics Handbook." On the other hand, it's a little weird to bring up at dinner parties.

• On the other hand, when I have spoken openly about it with friends, the reception has been overwhelmingly positive.

• I grew up in constant fear of my parents finding the porn I bought. Now I live in constant fear of my kids finding the porn I make.

• Porn is paying for my kids to go to school. No joke.

• That Career Day talk I give every year is going to get a lot more interesting.

• Despite all of these mixed feelings, I still refuse to use a pen name. And it comes down to pride. I'm really proud of this work.

• That being said, I struggle with what to call it. "NSFW comics" works very well on social media, but when speaking privately, I don't know whether to call it porn or erotica or adult comics or something else. I find myself spelling out "N-S-F-W" in social gatherings the same way I used to spell "C-A-N-D-Y" when my kids were small.

• You have to really be able to draw proportional bodies if you're going to draw a sex scene. You can fake almost anything, but if you can't draw anatomy, those parts are just not going to line up.

• Phil Foglio may be the most skillful person in comics. I always thought he was good. Now I think the man's a god.

• This quickly changed how I think about the comic that appears on the Evil Inc website. I've been freed up to re-envision it as a graphic novel instead of a strip. And I think it's gotten way better as a result.

• On the other hand, Evil Inc no longer the unquestionable top priority when I'm managing my time. Evil Inc After Dark is.

• Despite downshifting Evil Inc to two updates a week, I'm doing almost twice the comics output that I've ever attempted. The two updates are roughly the equivalent of four strips. Add a weekly full-page EiAD, and that's the equivalent to another three-to-four strips — depending on the scripting/layout. Throw in the uncensored CDs and the NSFW commissions and I'm delivering an output greater than anything I've ever tried before. It's exhilarating!

• This is also quickly changing how I approach a comic convention. In fact, I spent a good part of my last two appearances trying to figure out how to incorporate my adult comics into a convention setting. My conclusion? I'm not sure that I can. I had a heavily edited "Evil Inc After Dark" promo on my flyers, and I still worried about offending people.

• For that reason, I've scheduled way fewer appearances than I have in the past. I'll do Philadelphia in June because it's in my backyard. And WWChicago is a maybe. And that's it. Partially, that's because they're not as financially beneficial as they used to be.  And partially, that's because I'm better off staying in my studio and cranking out more comics!

• I've been looking into adult-entertainment conventions — I bought a ticket for Exxxotica in New Jersey last year. And although there *were* comics artists there, those folks didn't exactly gather the same crowds as, say, Adriana Chechik. I have to imagine having a table between Lisa Ann and Alexis Texas is probably even worse placement than being exhibiting between Neal Adams and Greg Horn.

Hell, I remember exhibiting across from a Playboy model at a Wizard show one year. (Well, she was exhibiting... I had a table set up.) One of my close friends walked down my aisle three times before noticing I was there. (Immortalized in this TFTC comic.)

• Is Brazzers.com tax-deductible now?

• Early on, I posted a futanari sketch that reminded me just how much I like going outside my comfort zone. And your reaction to it — even if it was "Hey, that's not my thing," was so encouraging and accepting, that I'm still a little overwhelmed. You guys are thoughtful and polite even when you're not 100% onboard. That's pretty unique in web publishing.

• Alex Heberling will forget more things about coloring in the next five minutes than I will learn in the next five years.

• I love doing Courting Disaster again. Being able to draw sex in a comic about sex is very liberating.

• But doing commissions for members has been a downright blast. Drawing the scenes that come from your imaginations is as challenging as it is rewarding.

• I want a BORN4PORN license plate. My wife's not so sure. (She's 100% supportive of the new direction my comics have taken, though.)

• #tootinmyownporn is a brilliant hashtag for when I promote my NSFW comics. I don't care what anyone else thinks.

• There will be a print collection of Evil Inc After Dark, and it will include some or all of the NSFW commissions and possibly Courting Disaster Uncensored. It will most likely launch in the second half of the year.