SFSX (Safe Sex) #3 // Review
The inner workings of an underground sex club are explored in sharp detail in the third issue of writer Tina Horn’s SFSX (Safe Sex). Guest artist Alejandra Gutiérrez is brought-into the series to illustrate the strange world of a fantastic secret adult theme park in a dark dystopia. The cleverly simple complexity of the Dirty Mind sex club is the central focus of much of the issue, pushing the central plot found in the first two issues into the background. As a result, the supporting details of the Dirty Mind feel that much more interesting than the central plot in a chapter that feels distinctly unlike the first two.
Convinced that her friends at the Dirty Mind have completely abandoned her, Avory has run away from the underground club to find safety elsewhere. Those at the Dirty Mind become convinced that they’re going to need to talk to her as there is evidence that the totalitarian state is engaging in activity that is far more sinister than usual. A few from the club head out to the only place Avory would have run to in hopes of breaking into one of the most secure private residences in the area.
Tina Horn gives the central story a bit of a breather in an issue that’s centered on the Dirty Mind. The basic premise of the place provides the world of SFSX with a rich background. The intriguing angles to the inner workings and politics of The Dirty Mind are so fertile with possibility. The club could easily serve as an anthology series all its own with various characters exploring the many different kinks and deviations that exist in a fully functioning commercial Id playground. It’s a bit disappointing when Horn re-introduces the central plot of the series towards the issue’s end.
The clean, cute rubbery feeling of Alejandra Gutiérrez’s art gives the potentially dark milieu of the story a cheery sense of entertainment about it that matches the mood of those going to the club. It’s a fun place to explore. Yes, people agree to be abused in some pretty perverse ways, but it’s all solidly consensual stuff that the patrons are paying for so long as they don’t overstay the time that they’ve paid for. More than merely delivering a fun mood for the issue, Gutiérrez latches on to the drama between those at The Dirty Mind once the narrative meets-up with the overall plot of the series.
An issue like this might have worked better as an intro to the series. A departure from the central plot can be fun, but doing so in the third issue runs the risk of derailing narrative momentum as a whole. That being said, Horn and Gutiérrez are delivering a fascinating world to the page in the third issue that easily maintains reader interest with the detailed rendering of a fascinating location in the world of SFSX. Artist Michael Dowling returns the next chapter for a story that might do for the Pleasure Center what this issue does for The Dirty Mind. Horn is doing an outstanding job of exploring extremely unique locations in and within a really compelling dystopia.
