War Rocket Ajax #13: Jess Fink on Steampunk Robo-Erotica ‘Chester 5000′ [Podcast]

This week, ComicsAlliance's podcast is as pleased as it can be to welcome the incredible Jess Fink to the show to talk about Chester 5000 XYV, an erotic tale of Victorian robotics and bare-chested science, newly released in print from Top Shelf! Plus, we have a truly ridiculous amount of Spin Doctors related content -- and you can listen to the show right here at ComicsAlliance!War Rocket Ajax v.2, #13: Sorry, Dudes with Jess Fink

(WARNING: Contains NSFW language. Especially this one.)

NOTE: We're in the middle of some server issues, so the iTunes feed may not update on time. Stream it above, or visit WarRocketAjax.com to download this week's episode in mp3 format.

In addition to Jess Fink, Chris and Matt also welcome a pair of special guests to this week's show: Awesomed By Comics hosts Evie and Aaron, who are celebrating their 150th show this week! They drop by, and as is the case with our show, things quickly get off track with a discussion of the Spin Doctors before coming back around to a brief report on South Carolina's Cola-Con and a great deal of discussion of the first week of DC's New 52.

Once Jess arrives, she gives us some insight into how she decided to start doing erotic comics:

I've gotten comments before where people are like "Oh, you're so brave, you're so brave to draw sex and penises and vaginas and stuff." I don't feel like that's the stuff I'm really brave about, because I always wanted to draw that type of stuff. I was always interested in doing it, and when I was in college, a teacher of mine sort of encouraged me to do it. He told me that I could actually make money for doing stuff for Fantagraphics, and I was like "Oh, I can make money doing it! That would be great!"

So I started doing stuff for Fantagraphics, and then I kind of just decided I'd like to do something that was longer form, maybe put it on the web.

She also tells us a little about her influences:

One of the things was the Tijuana Bibles, which are these really dirty comics from the '30s and '40s, and they're just filthy. I'd read this book and I had no idea that the people from the past were so dirty! I thought they were, like, demure and sheltered!

And talks a little about the reactions Victorian robot romance provoke from her readers:

I didn't get, like, an overload of comments like this, but I did get a bunch of comments that were like "Why isn't there a lady robot? Make a lady robot for Chester!"

People get really angry at my comic, too. People get into arguments on the website, in the comments, about how they hate Priscilla and she's such a bitch and she's cheating on the Scientist and they want him to win and why doesn't the Scientist make a lady robot for Chester? The problem will be solved! Let's put a huge, horrible band-aid on this problem and make it worse!

Plus, from Philadelphia, Hall & Oates!

Show Notes:

For more on Jess Fink, follow her on Twitter and Tumblr, and check out her webcomics at Kid With Experience and the EXTREMELY NSFW Chester 5000. Don't say we didn't warn you about that one.

She's also illustrating We Are Become Pals, written by Joey Comeau.

You may have seen her work on our own Great Comic That Never Happened: Slashpoint!

Last Halloween, she dressed as an Angler Fish:

Matt's new webcomic, Copernicus Jones is live with the first few pages! Jump on now!

ComicsAlliance's rountable review of the first week of DC's New 52 can be found here.

The Ronettes' "Be My Baby," produced by Phil Spector:

The Beach Boys' "Heroes and Villains":

Let us know what your favorites are!

Chris's Rec: Parker: The Score by Richard Stark (Donald Westlake)

Matt's Rec: Breaking Bad

Aaron's Rec: Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Evie's Rec: Wild Flag by Wild Flag

Comics Reviewed:

This week's focus is squarely on DC's relaunch, as we discuss this week's offerings from the "New 52." Specifically, we tackle OMAC #1, which "has something that all of the other ones I've read have been sorely lacking, which is fun," Detective Comics #1, featuring the line "'this fire is spreading like a book of matches,' which means nothing," and Action Comics #1, which we all liked quite a bit.

For more show notes, check out WarRocketAjax.com, and review and subscribe to the show on iTunes!