Online Comic drawn and written by Michael Poe, generally credited simply as
Poe.
http://www.exploitationnow.com
This is actually Poe's second webcomic, his first being
Babylon Jones, which though semi-serious nonetheless contained his trademark excess nudity. Some of EN's characters were inherited from this original strip.
Characters:
- Bimbo Moneymaker - A one-time preppy girl, she is the most well adjusted of a family of militant anarchists. She passed her bar exam and became a lawyer, before her personal ethics drove her to leave the law profession and take up something less immoral: pornography. Now working as a part-time stripper and art body model. She is slut; hear her roar.
- Ralph Givememore - Although Ralph is clearly a Moogle, Poe is trying to avoid getting sued by saying that he doesn't know what he is, proposing instead that he's the bastard child of Hello Kitty. Credited as the strip's obligatory intelligent talking animal, Ralph is to all intents and purposes human, only without any shred of morality. Furry pervert, basically.
- Jordan Kennedy - Sixteen year old supergenius, evil villain, fanboy favourite. Jordan is actually a refugee from the Babylon Jones comic, introduced into EN as Bimbo & Ralph's new landlady (they rent normal looking rooms above her secret lab, which contains fearsome items such as giant laser cannons and a Gojiro Vibrator). Despite being listed as a supporting cast member, Jordan has arguably undergone more character development than any other character. A fan favourite, as evidenced by the mass of guest-art featuring her. Oh, did I mention she has a rail-gun for an arm?
- Babylon Jones - Star of Poe's previous comic returns in the occasional cameo. Strips containing both her and Jordan feature Xena's trademarked ambiguous lesbian subtext. Quite possibly Bimbo and Bush's long lost sister, Barbara-Ann.
- Bush Moneymaker - Sister of Bimbo, Bush is a sixteen year old delinquent with short hair and asian features. First met after being kicked out of Convent School for a variety of crimes, she rapidly became fast friends with Jordan, and the two are on the run together.
Exploitation Now is a well-drawn and well written strip, which walks the line of bad taste somewhere between
Sinfest and
The Thin H Line. It centers around Bimbo and Ralph's flat, rented from Jordan, and the storylines are always at least slightly
perverse, and generally damn funny. Poe frequently breaks
the fourth wall, using his characters to respond to various criticisms of his strip (a lot of people find it too similar to
Sinfest) and also to allude to incoming
hate mail. EN has its requisite collection of
celebrity fans, and the guest art section features some brilliant work by Fred Gallagher (
Piro) and
James Thorpe.
Update: The strip is now focused almost entirely around Jordan and Bush, as Poe evidently finds them much more interesting (and the fanbase much more titillating, as the word "ambiguous" is sliced off the old
lesbian subtext).
Bimbo and Ralph occasionally pop-up, now bolstered by Dave (a relic of EN's
college years) and a moralistic
bondage fairy with a giant mallet, but they mostly just moan about how the strip's never about them anymore. But, never fear, the
fan service is still there, and there was a pleasing
Megatokyo cameo recently.
Certainly worth a look. Go cruise the
archives rather than just jumping in, it's all a bit plotty these days.
Attempting to fight Cthulha, who is (for various reasons) coming out of the toilet
Bimbo: Help!! He's got me! Oh sweet baby Jesus, I'm a female anime-type character and I'm being attacked by tentacles!! That means there's only one thing that could happen next!! Ralph, quick, do something!!!
Bimbo: (tentacle stuffed in mouth) Mffph?
Bimbo: Ralph!!! Put down the @#$$# video-camera and save me, ya perv!
Uncapitalised nodeshell rescued. Bad nodeshell maker.Capitalised by a benevolent God. Thank you, Byzantine.