This is my third time reviewing Justin Hall and Dave Davenport’s Hard to Swallow series, and, frankly, I’m sure Prism readers will be bored hearing me recount again the reasons why I can’t say loud enough or to enough people how much I enjoy their stories in all their brutal, unshorn sexiness. Really, my credibility is at risk here if I give them “Rachael Ray face” one more time - you know, that oddly disingenuous, oft-replicated orgasmic grimace she puts on for every morsel of food she tastes that doesn’t seem to convey enjoyment at all. But my admiration for HTS is genuine, so I’m going to leave it at that and let Justin and Dave speak for themselves.

Sean McGrath: Why create gay adult comics?

Dave Davenport: Um, because we are gay adults. I just write stories and they always are GLBT interest in one way or another, if only because the protagonists are gay. As far as gay adult comics, I think it just seemed like a natural move for me because I love drawing the male form. I also saw a lack in gay adult material that I really enjoyed, so hey, I am trying to fill that niche myself. It's been fun to create character- and plot-driven stories where the climax is a double-entendre. It's also been a good way to cut my teeth. I've been working on other stories since college that aren't so sexual in nature, and now that I am getting comfortable with my ability to use this form to tell stories I am starting to release them in Dogspunk Comix.

Justin Hall: After creating my "True Travel Tales" series, I was looking for another general theme to base my autobiographical and biographical stories around, and so when Dave suggested that we do a porn comic together I figured "sex" would make a great stand-in for "travel". Plus, it afforded me an opportunity to do silly pirate stories full of brutal rape scenes, so what's not to love? Both of us had just had stories published in the late, great anthology book True Porn, which collected cartoonists' autobio stories about sex, and I think we were inspired by that to try our hands at a true erotica book.

SM: What's the appeal of your comics compare to others of the same genre?

DD: I've been hearing from readers that they enjoy the roughness of it, the raw energy and sexuality, the playfulness. One thing I didn't expect was that the tender moments are really shining through. That's nice, and I hope that the violence of some of my stories isn't off-putting. I think our book is very well-rounded for an adult title and retains a very rough, underground quality, which seems very real in this age of super-polished comics.

JH: Most of the gay erotic comics out there are striving for a more polished, mainstream look to them. I very much appreciate the artistry involved, but it doesn't usually make my dick hard or interest me artistically. Dave and I had a different take on gay erotica from the beginning stylistically, as he comes out of the tattoo world and I come out of the alternative comix scene.

We also have a different take on the content of the stories, as well. Sexuality is endlessly mysterious, complex, and fascinating, so I've never understood why so many erotic stories are so boring and safe. I want narratives to challenge and interest me, and that applies to erotica just as much as any other genre. For example, I did a story in issue #3 about a femme dyke who used to put on boy drag and suck guys off in the back of the Powerhouse bar in San Francisco. This is a true story, and doesn't fit into most people's notions of standard sexuality, but I wanted to show readers that these things exist in the nebulous, extreme regions of sex, and that they can be hot as well!

We've also been able to bring in guest artists who share quirkier visions of gay erotic cartooning: BiL Sherman, Steve MacIsaac, Drub, and (for the upcoming fourth issue) Brad Rader all do very unusual and rougher, more challenging porn comics.

SM: Brief history. How did the two of you start working together?

DD: Justin and I met in 1997 in a bar that I stopped into to get a drink after breaking up with a two-year boyfriend. At the time I was animating for video games and learning to tattoo. I'd wanted to be a comic book artist since I was a kid, but had forgotten about it during art school, even though I was drawing stories in my sketch books. Justin was dreaming of becoming a comics creator and encouraged me to start up again, and we talked about doing stuff together, like the Hernandez brothers do (meaning doing our own thing and releasing them in the same book, a la Love & Rockets). It really wasn't until 2003 that I started making comics again, and a year later I'd put together what would become Dogspunk Comix #0. The following year Justin and I seriously started putting that joint book together, deciding to feature a guest artist each issue. It's now two years since #1 came out and we are finishing up on #4. It's cool because we are both on the verge of going places in this biz!

JH: I hounded Dave to do a book together from when I first met him... He put me off for many years, as he learned to tattoo, but then he surprised me by coming to me and suggesting Hard To Swallow. Dave is one of my best, oldest friends, and crazy talented, so it's great to be creating stuff with him. I'm glad it's worked out so well...

SM: Justin, what's the general reaction of readers been to “Tales of the Hard Roger”?

JH: I've had a full range of reactions to the pirate material. Oddly enough, many of my straight, comic geek friends love it, and think it's hilarious. From gay guys I've gotten reactions from "it's hot, jerk-off material" to "it's too dark and creepy"...

I honestly think the other stories I've done in HTS are better cartooning and more interesting artistically, but pirates are so flashy I think they get most of the attention. I've even had an offer for a French translation of the pirate story. How the hell do you say "Aarrr matey" in French anyway?

SM: I think it would be something snooty-sounding, like “Aihr, ami!”, and they'd say with a cigarette holder in hand. I noticed there's a heterosex element in this issue - "House of F" (funny take on the "House of M" graphic, by the way. I was waiting for someone to declare, “No. More. ORGASMS!”) and "Fluid" (the above-mentioned story about the cock-sucking woman in the gay bar (Can I say “cock-sucking”? Eek. I guess I’ll hear about it soon enough if I can’t.)). Are you guys branching out or is Hard to Swallow in general about branching out?

DD: I don't consider “House of F” to be a hetero story, since only males are involved. I guess the fleshlight could be female, but I think of it as it's own cum-loving being, which is pretty gay.

JH: Hey Dave, women can love cum too! We're not branching out to hetero material, but at the same time HTS is about poking at sexual mores and boundaries, and having a cock-sucking drag king in the back of a cruise bar is nicely transgressive for a gay porn book while still being pretty far from straight.

SM: How did Drub come on-board? Will he be contributing regularly? any future contributors you can reveal?

DD: Drub was originally meant to guest in issue #2, but but scheduling conflicts prevented this and our good friend Steve MacIsaac jumped into #2 and Drub took the guest spot in #3. The issue we are finishing up currently (#4) has the talented Brad Rader doing a turn as guest. We have a list of people we'd like to ask to contribute to future issues, but that is secret right now.

JH: I'm really proud of the kind of talent we've managed to coerce into being in the pages of HTS. They're all excellent artists with unusual visions, and we've been really excited to help promote their work...

SM: Which has the greater impact on your work - fantasy or reality? Can you explain a bit?

DD: Both (fantasy and reality). A few of my stories have been auto-biographical, but the fiction ones each have some foot in reality as well. "House of F" came from a silly notion of what the fleshlight felt after it was used and forgotten in the closet. The setting for "Feral" is a mish-mash of places I've lived or visited. Doug and Grant live in a city that is very much a cross between Santa Cruz and San Francisco. Mitch's cemetery is based on Old Brompton's in London. In the story I am finishing up for #4 a lot of what Doug goes through is based on reality and some revenge fantasy as well. Real experience seems to make a great skeleton to flesh out a fiction upon.

JH: Dave is right, of course, that both play their parts in our erotic stories... Still, we were actually talking in another interview about how Dave's work has been leaning more and more to the fantasy and mine has been increasingly returning to my roots in biography and autobiography.

SM: Dave, it's no secret I want "Feral" as my boyfriend, even if I have to rent him hourly. And I’m not certain in which form I find him more attractive. The scene with Majin showing him that he's no longer top dog (so to speak) is just... wow. Really, this may be from exposure at an early age to David Naughton’s naked bits, but help me out here - is it wrong to feel this way about manimals?

DD: Yes, man-animal lust is wrong. You should feel very ashamed. Actually, I have a hard time drawing “Feral” in some situations for that very reason. I am NOT into bestiality, and drawing a werewolf having sex sometimes is too much like drawing a dog having sex. Which I am not drawing. But I've drawn myself into a corner here, haven't I? I enjoyed forcing Majin on Feral, but hope it wasn't too soon. His ego is SO fragile. Heh.

I am glad the monster sex has its fans. I find it adds a bit of spice to drawing the sex, though I wouldn't want to draw it all of the time. But fans of Feral and monster sex may be interested in my plan to run an adult webcomic staring a sex-mad Feral (is that redundant?) and Mitch trying to keep him out of too much trouble. Should be an interesting adventure, and will be a spin-off of sorts from the Doug story in HTS #4.

JH: Sean, I'm calling the SPCA on you...

SM: Yeah, on top of everything else, that’s all I need: the Man ruining my day. Finally, Justin, as a co-recipient of this year's Prism Queer Press Grant, how have your plans for Glamazonia to take over the publishing world been coming along?

JH:I'm working on a Glamazonia project now which will hopefully knock everyone's socks off... I'm collaborating with some excellent artists (the first time I've done that) on making it and I'll use the Grant to hopefully make it a full-color book! Still, I'm not planning on getting it out until next year, as I have to finish up Hard To Swallow #4 and another project as well first.

In the meantime, Glams has her very own page of the current S.F. Bay Guardian's Gay Pride issue! She gets sucked in through a worm hole/glory hole and pops out in the 1970's. It's kind of dirty.

SM: Would we expect anything else? Thanks for your time, guys, and I hope you guys are the belles of the ball at Comic-Con this year! Prism readers, hie to All Thumbs Press or Marginalized Publications to get your copies today!

Sean McGrath is an Associate Professor of English for Speakers of Other Languages for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students at Austin Community College (imagine trying to explain that on a first date), but is job-hunting in Columbus, OH (any leads would be greatly appreciated!). He is the creator of the comics Frater Mine, the oh-so-familiar goddess, and Praxis. He is a frequent contributor to Instinct Magazine and a proud Prism member.

Hard to Swallow © 2007 Justin Hall and Dave Davenport. Dogspunk Comics © 2007 Dave Davenport. Review © 2008 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).