7 CHAIN MAIL
The Pen Is Mightier Than the Whip
8 STARFUCKERS
Graphic Novel by Roberts—Part One
18 GALLERY: TIM — WAR BOOTY II
Pretty POWs Suffer With Style
28 THE GREAT REBELLION
Graphic Novel by Fernando—Part Two
38 THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL
Fernando — Diabolical Dudes, Delicious Dames Special Feature by Ernest Greene
48 TRUCK TO HELL
Graphic Novel by Lesbi K. Leihf—Part One
58 SLAVEMART
Graphic Novel by Erenisch—Part Five
64 SIBERIAN MADHOUSE
Graphic Novel by Templeton—Part Two
14 KINK IN INK
Top Toons for Twisted Tastes Loic Dubigeon's Sweet Submissions
78 HELL'S BROTHEL
3D Graphic Novel by Tryten
EDITORIAL NOTE
STRICTLY SPEAKING
If you've wondered why the kind of edgy, extreme BDSM comic art in which TABOO
ILLUSTRATED specializes is so hard to find elsewhere, either in print or on the
Internet, you may suspect that the heavy hand of the thankfully soon-to-be-history
administration of George W. Bush has once again come down on your right as a consenting
adult to view legal adult imagery in the privacy of your own home. And you wouldn't
be entirely wrong.
Censorship has been privatized. By a mysterious coincidence, not long after the
Bush posse made good on its promise to the credit card companies to abolish individual
bankruptcy protections as we've known them (just in time for the collapse of the
real estate market and the unprecedented hike in consumer BK filings that followed),
transaction processors began sending out warnings to webmasters about "unacceptable
content" that could result in the loss of accounts.
And just what kind of "content" would that be? Here are a couple of
times from a list of helpful hints one credit card company sent out to its clients
regarding content that "might" result in the termination of accounts:
"Depiction of any non-consensual sexual behavior:
Depiction of non-consensual mutilation of a person or body part This definition
of 'depiction' is intended to include computer-generated images, cartoons, simulation
or any other media as well as photographic or video imagery."
What concerns TABOO ILLUSTRATED readers directly is the last paragraph, which
deals with the definition of "depiction." When these all-important cash
conduits start unplugging accounts over cartoons and CGI images, especially those
involving someone's highly subjective definitions of "non-consensual"
or "mutilation" (which could include an ear-piercing for all we know),
we see a systematic attempt to purge the public sphere of images that define our
fantasy lives. Such restrictions could be as easily applied to BDSM chat and educational
sites and publications as to entertainment material.
And because the restraints in question are imposed by private companies rather
than through government censorship, First Amendment standards don't apply.
What can we do about this? We can't vote corporate bosses out of office, but we
can starve them out. Demand that these hypocrites supply you with what you want,
or vote with your money for someone who will.
—Ernest Greene, Executive Editor
