It’s hard to say there are many comic books like this one Sex on Wheels. Some creators examine the work of sex and the daily life of people who perform, others try and shine some light on the disabled community, but these two in the same place are very unusual. To make this particular project even more unique, two members of the creative team are also disabled, and they don’t hold back in this new book wanting to make sure everyone knows, “Crips f— too.”
That’s the moral Larime and Sylv Taylor are shouting loudly for all to hear, with the first book of their new imprint, Gimp Comics. This behavior on the front is not too surprising for anyone who has read Larime’s previous work from Top Cow Comics, A Voice in the Darknessfeaturing another bold story and engaging characters.
“I’m disabled, not dead.”
They may be in wheelchairs, but the couple wants their chance to talk about sex, love, and all the craziness that comes with being a disabled person. Speaking directly to Larime, he explained, “We [disabled people] can never be portrayed accurately or authentically by able-bodied people, which means that the able-bodied audience will never get a real story, even if it comes from us.
Sex on Wheels sees a disabled protagonist on a level never before imagined. Her name is Morning Glory, ‘Mo’ to most, and readers are thrown right into her sex life and other casual relationships. Like his creator, this character is an artist who draws with his mouth, who is a man with Arthrogryposis, a condition that means his arms are not fully developed. I like that in his situation, Mo makes his living drawing obscene pinups, with varying degrees of stupidity, but hates being naked. That kind of violent quirk that comes from deep real-life experiences.
“The main rule we try to follow when talking about the disabled experience is: if it’s part of our lives, it belongs in the story,” which is exactly what it is. Sex on Wheels is, a slice of life story that covers a lot of untrodden ground, and it goes into great detail earlier. “This is how we live, how we exist day to day,” Larime continued, “We need to represent our own experiences.” Some elements of the comic may be a bit confusing at first, but the creative team understands that. Obviously they want it to be seen and considered, “If we are seen [our daily lives] makes some people uncomfortable, maybe they should ask themselves why that is. If more people could see us as we are, we would normalize disability. “
There is a sense of reality in these pages that hits hard, some situations or statements are more important to some readers. It’s a pile of woes, from the sadness of loving a beloved service dog that acts more than a friend and comfort animal, to discussions of severe depression and suicide. It may feel that the commentary is placed a little hard here in some places, but these topics help readers learn about the characters and in addition to a more calm story while answering many questions about life with a disability. According to Larime, everything in the comic comes from his personal experience or Sylv or someone else they’ve talked to, “Obviously, it’s a story. It’s fiction, but every element of the comic comes from somewhere.
These are serious situations, but they make room for a lot of comic book name-dropping, pop culture references, and quippy one-liners, “I’ve got nice tits for a T-Rex.” I appreciated the writing for this book, and the few minor gripes I had were easily ignored amidst the overall solid content. The art is also easy to dig, but sometimes I find myself second-guessing the choice of colors. Larime commented on this and said that coloring is not their strong suit, but the saturation and blending help bring life to some pages while the monochromatic nature of others almost creates its own tone, “Tried I was able to unify each scene through the dominant lighting of it.” The last pages of the first comic contain some details on how the book was made and some additional artwork that may be of interest to readers.
The comic looks like it’s off to a great start. They have a successful Kickstarter campaign for the first volume of the series, and the property was optioned as a television show. Larime promised that Mo will be played by a disabled person and that the series will handle the material with care and consideration. This further speaks to the potential of IP.
One of the quotes I saw illustrated Sex on Wheels as cheeky and tender as it is, it’s a powerful book to read. It won’t work for everyone, but the comic isn’t meant to be a softball or just a piece of “inspirational pornography.” I’m interested to see where the story goes and learn more about Mo’s life. I’m not sure how the rest of the comic will go, but this first part created enough intrigue to keep me going. If my own endorsement wasn’t enough, I asked Larime why people should read it Sex on Wheels, “Because it’s something different in a medium that keeps rebooting and repeating the same stories and characters. There is no other comic like it.”