Review: Money Shot #1
It is quite evident that sex sells in any form of entertainment. But what if there was another reason for the purveying of porn? This is in part the hook of this new book from the eclectic, but quality producing publisher Vault Comics.
Set in the future, 2032 to be exact; the current malaise fracturing political opinions has reached critical point. Petty bickering and a flux of pop entertainment has led to an anti scientific administration; where apathy has replaced the desire for scientific growth. Step up Christine Ocampos, inventor of the star shot teleportation device, who along with her team, are willing to take more than one for the team!
Through this first issue, we get to meet Christine and her team of frenemies. We also get to see the logic and inception of her idea. If people are bored with regular sex, how about giving them real life human/alien intimate relations? It’s not as improbable as it sounds, after all, hasn’t Captain Kirk been doing practically the same thing for years? Now manacled, and not in the fun way, the team have high hopes of giving their audiences more orgasms for their bucks, bucks that the team can use upon their return to earth to work on their various scientific projects.
The book is written by Tim Seeley and Sarah Beattie, a combination of comic book writer and comedian, the latter possessing a strong Twitter presence. For fans of Seeley, this book is a far cry from his more well known Gotham leanings. The pair gel well here, covering the necessary origin pieces as well as give each character their own foibles. The dialogue is tongue in cheek, written with a knowing nod and maybe more knowledge of porn sites than I possibly expected. Never had I heard the term “Chicks before dicks” used before. Every day truly is a school day. With Christine being the main driving force, its interesting to see her priorities change a little throughout the book. Is it progress or ratings she wants? The book is full of humour; I personally love the the cat translator.
The art is supplied by Rebekah Isaacs who is equally adept at drawing strong female characters as well as alien/monster types from her time in the Buffy-verse. Isaacs does well to capture the human frame and not over sexualise proceedings. Each character has a realness to them even down to worrying about boobs looking like silly putty! There are a variety of body shapes on show, so no-one should be offended, unless you really like tuna-wrap which takes a whole different connotation here. The strong lines of the art are helped out with a color scheme from Kurt Michael Russell which isn’t over the top and manages to display some textures, even going as far as to not try and re-invent the wheel when it comes to alien landscapes. Finally, letterer Crank! completes the creative team by having a little fun with alien dialect, translations and the aforementioned cat dialogue.
Sex in the pursuit of scientific progress AKA “to go where no one has gone and shagged before” is an interesting idea. With the plethora of books that feature sex, Sunstone and Swing for example all looking to cover the emotional aspects of sex, I am sure that here, when it comes to sex, that there will be ramifications both emotional and physical to consider. Maybe I am wrong; maybe its just sex. Whichever way this book goes, it will be a crazy ride!
Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 4 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars
Overall – 4 Stars
Written by; Tim Seeley & Sarah Beattie
Art by; Rebekah Isaacs
Colors by; Kurt Michael Rusell
Letters by; Crank!
Published by; Vault Comics
Author Profile
- I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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