By Zack Quaintance — I’m not quite sure when this happened, but there has been a bit of a tonal shift in SFSX (Safe Sex), a book that started off feeling like an Orwellian exploration of the dangers of imposing sexual norms on a society...and has now become a bit of slapsticky action-comedy, which I suppose is still also an Orwellian exploration of the dangers of imposing sexual norms on a society.

I guess I just misread the severity of the book’s tone. It’s not like the early issues were humorless, it’s just that the things happening in this comic hit a more absurd gear, one that I didn’t think was on the table when this story started. For instance, there is a scene in this issue in which the antagonist gets tased in the genitals...and then as the protagonists flee, yells from off panel, “Let me out of here, you fucking cumstains!”

And don’t get me wrong, it’s all good fun, and the exact sort of comic the industry could use more. In fact, society could use more of complex, sex-positive stories like this one that convey nuanced ideas about identity and expression, as well as the stigmatization of sex work. It’s all good stuff. I guess I just didn’t see the severe bombast coming, not like in something like, say, Saga, which opens up one of our principal characters just going there, and yelling that giving birth feels like shitting through her gritted teeth. 

That said, once I sort of digested the tone of this thing, I enjoyed SFSX (Safe Sex) #6 quite a bit. As action-comedies go, this is a good one, replete with a few chuckles, great pacing, and some poetic justice (see the above mention of groin tasering). Not every book has to be layered with deep meaning, and this one, to be sure, had plenty of that built right into its concept. It has earned its right to have some fun too, all while exploring the real beating heart of this thing, the shared histories and deep bonds between its interesting cast of characters. 

Finally, I should also note that while fill-in artists are never entirely ideal, Jen Hickman does a wonderful job in this issue, providing illustrations that have a style all of their own, while at the same time feeling like their in keeping with the work Michael Dowling has done in other issues. That’s a credit to the momentum and cohrency of a very strong book. 

Overall: SFSX (Safe Sex) #6 doubles down on the shared histories and deep bonds between its cast of characters, while pushing to a new place as an action comedy, all layered on top of the smart ideas at the core of this book. 8.0/10

SFSX (Safe Sex) #6
Writer: Tina Horn
Artist: Jen Hickman 
Letterer: Steve Wands
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
Solicit: "RISK"-Trapped and confronted with their worst nightmares, the Dirty Mind team resorts to desperate measures to get out of the Pleasure Center intact-with possibly fatal consequences.

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.