Yuuuuuuuuuuup, that’s right!

Head your sweet, sex positive butts over to

Oh Joy, Sex Toy (OJST) is a weekly comic that updates every Tuesday to bring you reviews of everything that relates to sex, sexuality and the sex industry. From toys to workshops to birth control and much more, no stone will be left unturned, no vibrator left unused, no nipple left unpinched. With the aid of guest reviewers, this comic will cover products for ALL the different anatomies people posses, from vulvas to penises and beyond. OJST strives to be relevant to all different genders, body types, and sexualities.

DANG! Exciting! I hope you enjoy

(Credit to Amy T. Falcone for coming up with the title and Scott Kurtz for inventing “A celebration of fornication” You guys are better at this than I am.)

The End

Well, dang, here we are! Bucko launched February 1, 2011 and after 102 pages it’s wrapping up January 31, 2012. Thank you so much to everyone who kept up with this wacky little adventure. I’ve learned a ton from working on this project with Parker and I’m so, incredibly grateful for his guidance, encouragement, and his friendly harassment to push myself artistically outside of my comfort zone. I’ve been telling people that Bucko has been my own personal Comics Boot Camp, a crash course in re-educating me about how to make comics, and I will always be in Parker’s debt for sharing his knowledge and mentorship with me.

Hey! But don’t feel too sad about Bucko concluding, because Parker and I actually have some more stories about the gang to share with you….

…in the Bucko BOOK

I KNOW, RIGHT? Wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut?

Parker and I will have some really exciting news to share about the future of the collected Bucko book at this year’s Emerald City Comicon (March 30 – April 1, 2012), so make sure you stop by booth #223 to get them sweet deets.

You can keep up with Parker’s and my further adventures by following these links:

Oh dang guys, we’re closing in on the final! Just two more pages!

The wonderful folks at Seattle’s Comics Dungeon are graciously hosting a book signing for me this Saturday the 21st!

Comics Dungeon
1 – 4 pm, January 21st (RSVP)
250 NE 45th St.
Seattle WA 98105

Awwww yes, our very own Jugalette gets some straight up respect in War Rocket Ajax #26: The 75th Annual Gordie Awards for the Best (and Worst) of 2011!

Hey guys, have you seen Trekker yet? It is the product of Parker’s and my superb studiomate, Ron Randall!

Back in the heady days of the birth of the independent comics market, I created the sci-fi bounty hunter “Trekker” in the pages of Dark Horse Comics. Through the years, the character has appeared in various short stories, her own Dark Horse series, and other independent, single-issue stories. Here at Trekkercomic.com we will be re-presenting all these stories in order, and then continuing with new adventures. We hope you’ll enjoy the ride.

It’s delightful to see Ron’s art from the 80s and I can’t wait to see what he does with the series when he begins debuting all-new pages for this decade!

Oh man, you know what makes a great holiday gift?

My books and prints and posters and artwork.

B-BAM, didn’t see that one coming, did you?

The Sexy Times posters are back in stock!

Jeff Parker and I were interviewed by the fine fellas over at the War Rocket Ajax podcast to talk about our comic, Bucko!

(Our part of the podcast comes up around the 33 minute mark.)

It was a pleasure to speak with them!

Quick reminder, this Thursday the 13th Erika will be reading from her former comic DAR! and talking about sexual fluidity at Pacific University in Forest Grove, OR.

Erika Moen Speaking at Pacific University
7:30, October 13th
Pacific University
Taylor Auditorium, 2nd floor of Marsh Hall

Now, on to the questions!

E: I will do the next best thing and record it for the internet! At least, that is my goal. I cannot promise that I will execute the recording and editing and uploading properly, however, so it may wind up yet another broken dream. But should that happen, you can always watch my last recorded talk that I gave at Haverford College!

It’s obvious to me that Bucko’s “rescuers” intend to make him build a device. Will that device be METAPHOR?

E: Oh man, now I want it to be!

How are you all gonna sell bucko later? E-book/real book/kickstarter incentive?

JP: We hope to have an answer to that soon-ish!

E: Man, that would be rad. Publishers, [I'm holding up my hand to my ear like it's a phone and mouthing the words "CALL ME"]

Actually i got alot of questions. Where did the inspiration for BUCKO come up from? Why did you choose only blue, black, and white as your main colors? How did you decide on breaking up the chapters like that?

E: I went with a limited color pallet because I am kind of crap at digital coloring and didn’t want the coloring process to take up an enormous amount of time. I was already used to using three gray tones (+black and white) for my previous comic DAR! so I just went from gray to blue for Bucko. Short answer: I’m a lazy artist. Inspiration and chapter breaking is more Parker’s domain so I’ll let him answer that one….

Imagine if you saw a story in the papers: a young woman has had naked photos of herself posted online. She was initially upset, but was then convinced that making money from them was worth it. Nasty story, right? So why was it trivial in your comic?

Parker: That would be a fair point if anyone’s reactions or situations were in a much less absurdist context than they are, Zoeplankton. Gyp is from a hippie household and doesn’t have a problem with her nudity being out there, it was more the surprise of the whole thing. She did tell Dell to do whatever it takes. Realism is not a big cornerstone of Bucko, hence the Fartmonger’s divining powers and that there is sometimes a robot.

E: The entire story is about people reacting inappropriately to a large assortment of events. I don’t think hers sticks out more than anyone else’s. Nobody in Bucko is a good person or behaves appropriately, if you’re gunna call out Gyp on that then you need to call out the entire cast (Which would be fine! But it’s not like I’m gunna turn to Parker and be all “Oh dang, that observation blindsided me”).

Eri[k]a, what is different about drawing a comic whose story you are in control of verses illustrating Jeff’s story?

E: Biggest difference: I have no idea what’s coming up on the next page! I draw everything not knowing which character is going to wind up sticking around or remaining a background person, or what plot points are being set up. The best part about working with Parker is how much his guidance has helped improve my artwork. This whole year has been an exercise in leveling up artistically and I know Parker is a major reason for it. He’s made me draw settings and scenes and layouts that I never would have attempted if left to my own devices and he’s really pushed me to push my art in general. Wotta guy!

JP: And by the way, Erika sells those pages, hint hint.

E: Haha, feel free to hit me up at erika.moen(at)gmail.com if there’s one you have your eye on!

What has been your favorite pages to work on?

E: Oh gosh, anything with the Jugalette. I love drawing her! Also, the octopus page was pretty fun.

when are y’all gonna come to chicago? i really want to meet you.

E: Oh gosh, I don’t even know! I will be at Emerald City Comic Con and Stumptown Comics Fest in 2012, though The best way to get us out to Chicago would be to contact some of your local comic convention organizers (or comic/book store owners or, hell, special interests groups on college campuses) and suggest our names as special guests they should bring out for an event.

JP: I think we answered this the last time. But I still need to get back to Chi-Town because it’s one of my favorite cities and I like to eat food there.

How are portlanders reacting to your depiction of their city so far ?

E: So far so good! When we read Bucko live for Comics Underground, the crowd seemed to really enjoy it. Or maybe they were just being nice.

JP: Now I really think we already answered these…

Mark from Kent, WA asks: Mr. Parker, is it possible to get a Bucko and Gyp cameo in Thunderbolts or Hulk? Or if that’s not possible, a Hulk or Thunderbolts cameo in Bucko? I bet Mrs. Moen would have plenty of fun drawing Gen. Ross’s Tom Selleck ‘stache.

E: Haha, I’d be up for it!

JP: She can flat draw a ‘stache, it is nothing to her.

Thanks to Steve Lieber for helping out with some of the background elements and for pushing me to use more solid black

Way back in 2008 Sara Ryan and I were approached to contribute to the anthology Snow Stories. Though the book is still seeking a publisher, we’ve been granted permission to share our three page story with you!

If you wanna contribute to the BuckoNet Wiki, well, there it is.

Breaking News

That is all.

(Don’t you wish you’d gotten in on posting on the Buckonet Wiki earlier? HaHa!)

Hey dawgs, so Parker and I are halfway through the story of Bucko so we should prooooobably start pitchin’ this thing around to publishers at some point to collect the whole comic into a book.

What comic publishers do you think we should hit up? Send suggestions to Parker on Twitter.

You all remember this landlord stuff getting set up 29 pages ago, right?

So I may not fully understand how these wiki things work, but there is an actual Buckonet Wiki to help track down where on earth Bucko has gone. Have you seen him? Log in your Bucko sightings!

Hey San Diego Comic-Con goers! Parker and I will not be attending, buuuut our totally awesome studiomate Paul Guinan will be because he and his wife Anina Bennett are special guests this year! Don’t miss their panel:

Spotlight on Anina Bennett and Paul Guinan
Saturday, July 23, 3:30-4:30, room 26AB.

Join Comic-Con special guests (and Eisner Award presenters) Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett with moderator (and Eisner Award nominee) Shannon Wheeler for a multimedia panel spotlighting the creative couple’s past and future work. Paul and Anina will perform excerpts from their book Boilerplate, which has been optioned by J. J. Abrams; talk about their comic book careers and becoming accidental apostles of steampunk; and give a sneak peek at their upcoming book Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention.

EDIT, Dang! Only three hours after my post, the painting got good ‘n bought and I made the $200 donation to Planned Parenthood. (Proof) I’m still bummed about the constant attacks PP fights daily, but I feel a little better being able to do something to support them with the help of my flippin’ awesome readers. You can still donate directly to Planned Parenthood too!

Original Post
I gotta be honest here, guys, I’m pretty heartbroken to learn about New Hampshire defunding Planned Parenthood. I donate to them regularly and I’m planning on creating some Planned Parenthood themed artwork to raise money for them soon, but in the meantime before I have time to make new art I’m selling this painting I made in 2009 titled Saint Vibrator with all of the profits being donated to PP.

Our answers to questions posed to us through Parker’s Formspring account.

—————————
-Erika, what is different about drawing a comic whose story you are in control of verses illustrating Jeff’s story?

ERIKA: It pushes me to improve a lot more quickly than when I’m working on something that’s just for me. It stretches my brain, because now I have to envision all these settings and layouts that would have neeeever occurred to me on my own. It’s fun! I always feel like I do my best work when I’m collaborating.

-when are y’all gonna come to chicago? i really want to meet you.

ERIKA: Hmmm, not any time soon for me, sorry! The next time I do a show there, I will put up plenty of announcements, though.

JEFF: I will try to finally get back in 2012. I love Chicago.

-How are portlanders reacting to your depiction of their city so far ?

ERIKA: We never specifically say it’s Portland, but so far my fellow PDX-ers have enjoyed it! As far as I know, anyway. I think our comic does a pretty good parody of this little city. We recently did a live reading of the first chapter here in town and the audience was laughing pretty hard, so I think we’re safe from any angry vegan hipster fixed-gear mobs.

JEFF: That really went over well. Though we use our home for all the inspiration, I tend to think in terms of the global audience and don’t expect anyone to get specific references. So it was great to read to a room that did get them.

-Mark from Kent, WA asks: Mr. Parker, is it possible to get a Bucko and Gyp cameo in Thunderbolts or Hulk? Or if that’s not possible, a Hulk or Thunderbolts cameo in Bucko? I bet Mrs. Moen would have plenty of fun drawing Gen. Ross’s Tom Selleck ‘stache.

JEFF: Then Marvel might think they own our characters! No way, Mark from Kent. But you’re right that I should put more mustachioed characters in for Erika.

-How did Bucko get started? Was it a chance meeting or was one of you sought out by the other?

ERIKA: Parker and I both work at Periscope Studio, so we were already seeing each other every day, and one day we just looked at each other and said “Dude, we should make the best comic on the internet.” So that was pretty much that!

JEFF: Then we high-fived, low-fived and knuckle bumped and walked away, knowing it was a done deal.

-I noticed that the most recent page says “End Act 2″. Does this mean that Bucko will only have five chapters, five being the classic number of acts in a play?

JEFF: Yes! Unless I get all crazy and have a tiny 6th act.

-Do you have an idea of how long it will take to tell Bucko’s story? If so, can you share that information?

ERIKA: It’ll take just about a year to tell Bucko’s tale. In the end, it’ll be a full graphic novel’s length.

JEFF: Interesting how that works out, a story about as long as a proper book. Nice.

-Do parties in Portland ever really get that weird? – Joe

ERIKA: Yes.

JEFF: Oh at least.

-Hey there Jeff & Erika! I love the webcomic, it’s grrreat! Bucko and Gyp and Dell are so funny, goofy, sexy… heh, especially “harsh truth Dell”. Are the background songs (runnin run-nin’) real or custom for the story? I’m not hip enough to know.

ERIKA: Haha, Parker put a note in the script telling me to drop in lyrics from any drunky-party-type song I wanted, so I used “Let’s Get It Started” by the Black Eyed Peas. So both times song lyrics have shown up, it was from that.

JEFF: And The Fixies are a Pixies tribute band (whose lead singer performs while track-standing on his fixed gear bike) so all of their songs are old Pixies numbers.

-Dudes– Is Bucko going to find a dead guy in every chapter? Stephen Gordon

ERIKA: Yeah, Parker? For the record, I did not know there would be a SECOND dead body until he gave me that specific page of script. It was a surprise for me too!

-BUT WHAT ABOUT THE BODY? It seems like that story arc was wrapped up pretty quickly… Finds dead body, pulled in for questioning, jailed, bailed. All in the first chapter! Is there more coming with the dead guy?

ERIKA: Yeah, Parker, godammnit!

-Nevermind, I had not yet realized that you had already begun the next chapter. My apologies.

ERIKA: It’s cool, bro. We’re cool.

-Parker/Moen — Where’d the alt text go for the past few strips? Yours, Asterix

ERIKA: A WordPress update made it impossible for the alt-text to show up any more. We’ve both tried putting it in, and though the text is saved (it shows up in the right spot of the “Edit This Page” page), it just doesn’t show up on the front page. I don’t know. I don’t understand webpage stuff

JEFF: I hope in the next update it comes back. I love the Alt Text. It’s a chance for one more joke, or behind the scenes notes.

-Do you use Twitter? (Regualarly?)

ERIKA: Oh-ho-ho! @ErikaMoen. Mostly I use it to tweet quotes from my husband and talk about my bowel movements/UTIs.

JEFF: I’m @jeffparker FOLLAMEONTWITTA!

-Ya know, WordPress is flexible enough that you ought to be able to remove even the “Comments are closed”, leaving

ERIKA: I’m sure WordPress is flexible enough, but unfortunately I do not understand crap about how pages work so I do not know how to do that. I wish I did. I’d also fix the goddamn alt-text problem.

JEFF: I kind of like the way that frustrates certain people though. We have to leave it closed, we’d just read comments all the time and do nothing else!

TODAY ONLY!

Get 15% off by entering BDAY011 at check out in either my Etsy or Shopify stores on June 28th.

(June 25th is my actual birthday, but nobody is online on the weekends so I’m having the sale on a Tuesday instead

Hey friends, Parker and I will be reading a selection of Bucko live at the Jack London Bar on June 23rd along with Sarah Oleksyk, Jim Hill, and Lisa Rosalie Eisenberg.

Comics Underground (facebook info)
June 23rd, 7:30-10:30
The Jack London Bar
529 SW 4th Avenue
Portland, OR
———————————-

And next Tuesday (June 28th) I’m having a 15% off sale! You have been warned.

When I have trouble figuring out a pose, I’ll take photo reference to help break it down. I thought you guys might be interested to see my process!

Image Comics will be releasing it into comic shops this June 22 as a five part miniseries, but in the mean time you can read through the first part at your leisure here on the interwebs.

Kit Bradley is a 20 year-old art student and petty criminal who knows it’s time to leave her delinquent past behind, but isn’t ready for the responsibilities of adulthood. Her social headquarters is an all night diner, and while trying to put the ‘off’ on an on-again-off-again boyfriend, she runs into an old flame, and an enigmatic loner named Martha, whose mysterious disappearance will alter Kit’s life forever. Created, written, and drawn by Eisner and Ignatz Award nominee DAVID HAHN, with lettering by Aditya Bidikar

Read Issue One

If you like what you see, you could always tell your comic shop to make sure to order a copy for you

You can read more about my Torontonian adventures right HERE, BAM.

Wow, 30 pages already!

Check out this sweet bit of fanart we got from the talented Ms. Tara Abbamondi! Thanks, lady!!

Aaaaaand this weekend if you live in Toronto, Canada then you should TOTALLY come say hi to me at the Toronto Comics Arts Festival from May 7-8th!

Not only will I be tabling next to two of the raddest ladies I know, Dylan Meconis and Lucy Knisley, but I will also be speaking on a couple panels in the library and at an off-site event.

All on Saturday:
-2:30 in Learning Center 1, Ask a Freelancer (With Dylan and Lucy)
-4:14 in Learning Center 1, That Comic Isn’t About Me: Gender, Sexuality, and Race in Comics (with Yuko Ota, Ananth Panagariya, Ryan North, and Jose Villarubia)
-6:30 at Crews/Tango, 508 Church St., TCAFabulous: Queer Mixer (With Jose Villarubia, Maurice Vellekoop and Zan Christensen)

Hello, Questionable Content readers!
Many thanks to super swell guy Jeph Jacques for pointing his audience towards our dirty little murder-mystery comic.

Here is what our comic is about, here’s where you start, or, if you prefer, you can skim through our chapter guide to get a sense of how far we are into the story (Answer: One full chapter and a couple pages into the second).

Thanks again, folks!
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Original Blog Post:
Hey, tomorrow (4/27) is the last day to order anything from my store and get a free giant octopus sticker thrown in!