Posted in: Comics, DC Comics, Image | Tagged: dc, image, safe sex, vertigo

Image Comics Endorses Safe Sex When DC Comics Doesn't

Published Thu, 20 Jun 2019 13:30:24 -0500

Bleeding Cool broke the news that DC Comics is shutting down Vertigo, a move that follows a year of turmoil at the publisher since announcing the relaunch of the imprint. That year has seen critically acclaimed Vertigo Border Town canceled in the wake of sexual abuse allegations against writer Eric Esquivel, as well as internal strife at the company following the exposure of Batman's penis in Batman Damned #1, a DC Black Label title. Second Coming, a sitcom-style comic starring Jesus Christ which was also set for Vertigo release was canceled before the first issue came out following conservative Christian protests, though that comic later found a new home at Ahoy. A result of the Batman Damned and Second Coming incidents helped fuel a corporate panic that led to demands for tighter control on potentially controversial content at the publisher.

With DC's new "safe" approach to comics, it's ironic that SFSX (Safe Sex), by Tina Horn and Michael Dowling, another comic previewed as part of the Vertigo relaunch, will not see print at Vertigo or DC. However, the comic has found a new home at Image Comics, as revealed at Newsarama today. SFSX (Safe Sex) #1 will hit stores September 25th.

SFSX (Safe Sex) #1
WRITER: Tina Horn
ARTIST: Michael Dowling
COVER A: Tula Lotay
SEPTEMBER 25 / 24 pages / FC/ M / $3.99
Notorious kink writer TINA HORN teams up with artist MICHAEL DOWLING (Unfollow, Death Sentence) for SFSX, a social thriller about sex, love, and torture that reads like SEX CRIMINALS in Gilead crossed with Oceans 8—with a SUNSTONE twist! In a draconian America where sexuality is bureaucratized and policed, a group of queer sex workers keep the magic alive in an underground club called the Dirty Mind. Using their unique bondage skills, they resolve to infiltrate the mysterious government Pleasure Center, free their friends, and fight the power!