Tight Crew is here! Continuing the re-release of the One Human, Being series; I think this is where it starts to get interesting ~ #5, Tight Crew is where bonding and [crucially] angst start getting more heavily involved in the plot. Is it easy having sex with someone? Making yourself vulnerable? Is it easy dropping your guilt and shame? Body consciousness? Feelings of inadequacy? Of regrets and general shittiness? Imposter syndrome? Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria?!
Maybe those things are easy for you, but they certainly aren’t for me. And even for those with ridiculous utopian bodies (and a donger that must be a good kilo of meat …), things aren’t always as straightforward as we might think. Here it is:
Aside from the cover, the only major change I made to this re-release was the size of Steph’s head in a couple of the renders; I know she’s meant to be a human-like alien, but her giant head did look a bit Donkey Kong in a couple of the original drivers-cab renders! Main changes/tweaks are in the next few comics after this.
But here we are with a solid comic ~ Tight Crew sees our first opportunities for the squeaky-clean Robert Bridger to start making some serious mistakes, which levels the playing field juuuuuuust enough, for our hero Stephanie to begin opening up to him. It’s funny; in our adolescence we think we’ll ‘get the mate’ if we are impressive enough (Andrew Tate syndrome), but I think real [mature] life is the other way around. Steph doesn’t seduce Bob because he’s so impressive, but because his humanity becomes clear in his errors, and she is able to connect on that level, thanks to her own internalised errors (which we learn about in comic #7).
I believe that if we want to grow up a bit and enjoy real relationships, real intimacy, real connection, then we need to be real, need to make ourselves vulnerable. Which is why so many never get there; it’s difficult! Far easier to engage in the performance of a relationship, the building of biceps, the performance of reality. Only problem is (as is discussed in comic #6), this conjures all the turmoil and self-loathing that comes with it. For if we are not fully known, can we be fully loved? It’s a tough issue for us all.
So … yep, I feel like this fifth comic in the series is where we really start to see some glimpses of the journey Steph’s on, and the silly fooling around gets a little real. Plus we start to get to the bottom of some of her hang-ups. Daddy! I mean Dabob! Ahem.
Below are some test renders for the redone cover, I plumped for the ‘questioning’ intro in the shower in the end; you know, give the comic some mystery for those who aren’t familiar with the series.
Squelchy.
