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AMA: How do you determine the pace of a sex scene?
🕑 Added 2023-03-26 23:07:09 +0000 UTCQ.: How do you space out a sex scene in a comic? It seems like many comics will do one page on a bit. For example, a blowjob is on page one, and penetration is on page two, and so forth. But you mostly do one- or two-pagers, so I wonder if it changes much for you.
A.: There are several answers to that question! Here's the first. When I read comics like that, I skim and skip the pages. After three or four panels of a blowjob scene, I'm like “OK… Ok… I get it! Let’s get on with it!”
If you watch adult content on video, you probably fast-forward to the most interesting parts, too.
So, part of it is due to my impatient temperament.
However, the more pressing reason is the nature of publishing on Patreon.
Since I’m a very small operation, my output is limited by what I can physically produce (with the help of my colorist Alex Heberling). That usually amounts to one EiAD page a week. That has a couple of ramifications.
First off, it means that each EiAD page has to be a satisfying reading experience as a standalone piece. Every month, I have new patrons who haven’t read the preceding storyline. The EiAD I post today must satisfy them, or they’ll be disappointed with their experience. I always provide instructions on reading the entire storyline on Patreon and the EiAD website in the post accompanying the page. And I often publish special eComics (free to patrons when they’re first released) to maximize that archive content. But the overall goal is to make every week a satisfying experience.
Secondly, it means that EiAD stories, in general, have to resolve in a timely manner — so they don’t stretch out over an indeterminably long period of time. My goal is to have a lively handoff between Evil Inc and EiAD. It makes the main story more interesting to follow, and it’s good promotion for the NSFW offerings on Patreon. If the EiAD segments go on for too long, that becomes impossible.
This rule does NOT apply to the filler stories that I do. (EiAD #57, with Q-Force, is the most recent example.) Those exist to fill in the space when there isn’t a rational handoff between EI and EiAD. When that happens, I like to have an ongoing story that I can turn to. The previous chapter of Evil Inc had a LOT of crossover with EiAD. This new chapter may potentially have fewer. When I reach a point at which I don’t have a storyline hand-off, I’ll pick up where EiAD #57 left off.
It’s all part of a strategy that I’ve fine-tuned over the years, enabling me to deliver between 25 and 31 exclusive Patreon posts per month. That’s a new post for every day of the week — or darned close.
