What an exciting accomplishment it is to combine the forces of so many talented people in the LGBT comic business and create a special, one of a kind book to display just how amazing the people, stories and backgrounds are of each? That is what is happening this month with the launch of an amazing new Kickstarter campaign for a book called “Hard To Swallow”, a gay erotic comics anthology created by “No Straight Lines” Justin Hall and “Feral And The Ghostskaters” Dave Davenport. The campaign for this book to be released is going on now until March 1st, and for anyone in the LGBT community, this is something that you should really get involved in to help the art world and for these great people to showcase their work.
I have had the pleasure of knowing Justin Hall for two years now and have profiled him before on my site. He is a fantastic individual and contributor to the LGBT art scene, as he is widely well known in not only his own city of San Francisco, but nationwide as well. So it came as no surprise to me that he was taking on a project of this size, and with accomplished artist Dave Davenport creating it with him, this is definitely something that needs to come to light in many different ways. Here is a little bit more about “Hard To Swallow”.
HARD TO SWALLOW is gay erotic comics made to be edgy, powerful, and personal (as well as smoking hot!). The series transcends smut into art, infusing its stories with wit, longing, and pointed commentary. It skips the stern-faced sex gods and delivers something more full of life, humor, and humanity. HARD TO SWALLOW has inspired readers and cartoonists for 10 years, and now is finally being collected in the format it deserves.
Gay erotic comics were a staple in the early queer underground comics scene. They presented sex and sexuality frankly, boldly, delighting in their lasciviousness and inappropriateness for convenience-store spinner racks. These comics, designed to titillate, also became a way for gay artists to find and work with each other, and celebrate the sides of themselves that society wanted kept under the covers.
The new, 300-page collection will feature all the stories from the book’s four-issue run, including guest artists BiL Sherman, Steve MacIsaac, (profiled on Manhattan Digest last year) Drub, and Brad Rader. Plus, Justin and Dave have done all-new stories for the book and invited Victor Hodge (Black Gay Boy Fantasy) and Jon Macy (Fearful Hunter, Teleny and Camille) to contribute new tales. All in all, the book features a total of 50 new pages of comics plus additional features, including a super special foreword by a super-special person (that will be announced soon!)
All of this is being released by Northwest Press, a fantastic independent comics publisher that has been producing quality comics exploring the LGBT experience since 2010. There are times where campaigns on sites like Kickstarter can be a little bit ridiculous and have very little purpose, but something like this that Justin, Dave and countless LGBT comics have contributed to needs to see an end game and that is to get this book out in the open. The content is for adults only. Here is the link again for the actual campaign. Be a community, support, donate and watch this collection come to life!