I’ve been busy the past few months pouring over a few of the offerings that are out there for gay porn comics. In fact, to make my reviews more authentic, I’ve started watching more porn to learn the who and what of the industry (research is a bitch, isn’t it?) and also reading more porn blogs to discover the voice of porn reviews. And I’ve come to a conclusion – there is nothing new under the sun.

No, no, it’s true. Any porn will follow this very simple pattern:

Insert.

Pump.

Release.

Repeat as necessary.

Sure there are some variables in terms of the number of participants, hirsuteness, cut or uncut, body type, ethnicity, et al., but nothing that’s too surprising. Theoretically, one porn DVD should be enough for anyone since it’s going to be much like any other porn out there. So, why is porn such a booming industry ($10 billion a year according to CBS) being as derivative as it is?

Simple – no one likes things to stay the same. Even if the patterns repeat (and any student of Jung or Campbell would say the patterns never stop repeating), there has to be enough change in the specific encounters to keep one’s interest up from movie to movie (or month to month or dinner to dinner or boyfriend to boyfriend or what have you). For all of us out here in there world, that’s called “Life”; for those whose lives are lived out on paper or celluloid, it’s called “plot”.

Marginalized Publications and All Thumbs Press have put out the second issue of Hard to Swallow, and true to any good story, the plot moves on. This time around Justin Hall and Dave Davenport (with special guest Steve MacIsaac) offer six shorts, including the return of two serialized stories, as follows:

"Feral: The Monster in Me" – Yeah, I’m still digging the werewolf sex. Dave’s latest installment of Feral makes me want to move to the moors, douse myself in A-1 and wander through the heather and briar on full moon nights, crying out, “Heathcliff! Heathc… uh, here, boy! Here, boy!” As with most porn, the ante must be upped from scene to scene, and with the introduction of a former flame of Ghostskater’s who keeps a severed finger of his around for sentimental and carnal reasons, one just knows there’s going to be a new player joining the table for a while. Without giving too much away, let’s just say that the phrase “Not since Gene Simmons…” ran through my mind more than once. A+

"Porn Star: Long Time Cumming" – I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Justin Hall knows porn stars, and they tell him all their dirty little secrets. I’m going to go further out on this limb and say that Steve’s problem in this story is not an uncommon one. One has to wonder about the pressure those in the porn industry come under on a daily basis and if it’s something they bring up with their therapists. B+

"Pas de Deux – Roughs" – Steve MacIsaac makes this sweet little offering of two wordless stories that run concurrently and parallel to each other. As one story “ends” it is picked up by the other, creating a fugue (a circular story) of sorts. In ballet, a pas de deux is simply a partnered dance where the man provides stability to the woman so she can do more with her body than would be physically possible alone. In a fit of punning, Steve MacIsaac gives new meaning to “third leg”. A+

"Barcelona Booty" – Do Europeans think that Americans are pushy? Do Americans think that their genitals are their passport to the world (though I did know a guy in college whose package got him taken on a world cruise one summer with an older gay couple)? Why didn’t this happen to me when I was in Barcelona? Justin seems to know a lot of people with a lot of stories about a lot of different kinds of sex. A

"Alley Cats: Allez Oops" – Dave’s art style is really starting to grow on me. I liked it when I first saw it, but when I read Alley Cats with its indy comix feel and frantic lines, I realized he had a developed style worth paying attention to. It would probably be worth getting a tattoo from him. A

"Tales of the Hard Roger - Part 2: Horse" – Could it be any rougher? Not only is the mysterious stranger at the mercy of the captain and crew of the Hard Roger, not only is he completely amnesiatic, not only is he hung like a horse (hence the chapter title and his ensuing nickname), but he’s also a veritable babe in the woods compared to the well-sexed above-mentioned pirate horde. Will Horse regain his memory? Will Tom the cabin boy chaff? Will Captain Speare ever be satisfied? Will the crew mutiny? I’ll be there next issue to find out! A

As much as I liked Hard to Swallow #1, I like #2 that much more. I’m hoping #3 will be even better! Boffo.

Editor's note: Buy this comic here or ask for it at your local comics shop.

Sean McGrath is a resident of Austin, Texas and a new adjunct faculty member at Austin Community College. He does comic work on the side in addition to cooking, reading, customizing Mego action figures and swilling apple sour martinis. Sean can be reached at stseanoftheknife@austin.rr.com for dream analysis.

All characters and images © 2006 Justin Hall and Dave Davenport, except “Roughs” copyright Steve MacIsaac © 2006. Review © 2006 Sean McGrath.

Prism Comics promotes the works of the LGBT community in comics. It does not implicitly endorse any other material or products associated with those works. Any opinions expressed are those of the author(s).