Hooo-wee, did I wrestle with the question of nudity in this story! Do I show naked bodies and therefore put up a barrier between my art and those below the age of 18 who might otherwise enjoy what I do; or do I eschew nudity and other sexually suggestive material, and take part of the "zing" out of the concept?

I have no illusions that part of Tetsuko's appeal (even for me) (and probably a great part of her appeal) is sensuality. Although I have corresponded with a couple of readers who advise me not to "cheapen" the character and the series with gratuituous nudity or sex, I sense that a greater number of Tet-chan's fans would love to delve deeper into her "personal" life. (And that of Sonya as well...)

So, as you see by this panel, and by the upcoming transformation scene, I've made the decision that nudity and/or sexually related material where appropriate will be part of the mix. While I have no statistics to back this up, my sense is that there aren't a heck of a lot of under-18 readers of Tetsuko anyway, so I don't think I'll be losing a lot of audience by including racier stuff.

What I do not want to do is turn Tetsuko into a hentai series. Back when I was producing the original three issues of Satin Steele, I included some nudity and some mild "bedroom" scenes (even though one takes place on a living-room couch!) to "sell" the idea that "muscular women can be sexy too!" (I realize now how much I was "preaching to the choir" there, but back then it seemed like the thing to do.) But I came to realize that "adults only" can be a trap: put a sex scene or a nude scene in one issue, and readers expect all future issues to contain some, even when it's gratuituous. (As it would have been in the now-shelved Satin #4, "The Hundred-Year Itch"; there was no logical place to put a sex- or nude-scene in that story.)

Ultimately, though, I'll be guided by my sense of what's right for the story. If I can work in what anime enthusiasts call "fan service", I will (hey, I like that stuff as much as any other red-blooded dirtyoldman, and I'm the primary audience for my work). But I'll work not to sacrifice story or character just to work in a shot of nipples or tush.

(An example of this is panel 3: when Tet-chan receives the fateful injection. This was originally intended to be a rather extreme closeup of the needle piercing the skin. But when the time came to draw the panel, I got squeamish... and not because I was reluctant to draw her butt. See, I've noticed over the years on TV that the attitude toward showing injections on-screen has changed; from as recently as the original Star Trek, when the network warned the producers not to show a shot being given on screen unless it was with that neat little "air-hiss" device Dr. McCoy used, to current shows like the C.S.I. franchise where every single injection is given a loving extreme close-up. And I'm squeamish about hypodermic needles! ...just like Tetsuko herself! (She gets it from me, naturally.) So I'm thinking, why am I even drawing something that I hate seeing on TV, especially when I can do the same thing they used to do "back in the day", e.g. show the reaction of the person receiving the shot.)

© 2005 DCM