InSEXts #1
Marguerite Bennett
Ariela Kristantina
Bryan Valenza
Aftershock Comics
A review by Danielle Subject.
img src=”https://geekd-out.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/STK689501-184×300.jpg” alt=”” width=”184″ height=”300″ class=”alignright size-medium wp-image-30546″ />InSEXTS tells the story of forbidden love between two women in Victorian England. Lady Bertram is married to an< insufferable man who openly sleeps around and abuses his wife. Meanwhile, Lady Bertram is in love with her maid, Mariah. The two women adore each other and will go to great lengths to be together, as you soon find out in the first issue. They have one obstacle to getting what they want, and Mariah suggests the use of magic to Lady Bertram, who quickly gives in.
This first issue manages to maintain an almost perfect balance of gore and sex. Sex plays a huge role in the story, and the moments of intimacy between the two women are prominent throughout the first issue. At the same time, Ariela Kristantina does an excellent job at making these encounters erotic without being pornographic. The moments that Lady Bertram and Mariah share together are intimate, sexy, and uninhibited, and prove themselves to be as imperative to the story as the two main characters.
Kristantina’s artwork is unapologetic. Body horror plays a huge role in this comic - blood, guts, and gore are continuously shown throughout the pages of the story. Lady Bertram and Mariah’s transformation into insects is oddly comforting and feels somewhat like a fairytale rather than a curse, as most body horror tales depict. It’s Kristantina’s way of handling enormously gory scenes that makes this comic impossible to put down - her artwork is both sensual and violent, majestic and disturbing. Her drawings are elegant and exhibit a gothic style which works so well with Bryan Valenza’s colour work.
Without providing spoilers, this is a deeply feminist tale, and Marguerite Bennett handles it with full grace and talent. Her storytelling is refreshingly simple, which pairs nicely with Kristantina’s extravagant artwork.
Verdict:
Buy It! Thanks to the wonderful web and new world of self-publishing, the availability of comics is infinite. As great as that is, it is often difficult to decide what to read. If you’re looking for something different and unlike anything you’ve read before, Insexts is for you. As bizarre as its premise is, everything works and the plot gets rolling really early in the story.
