| Review:
It may seem like a strange thing to say, but BDSM Artwork really
reminded us a lot of the Scoreland
site. Just like Score, BDSM Artwork is a site spun off of a successful
print publisher (DOFantasy, which operates out of Spain and puts out Fansadox) that brings together a lot of the best
talent in its
niche and puts it all online. Also like Score: It is a big site that
updates daily. And finally, just like Score, it is not as generous as it
might be, trying to maximize income by splintering its product into
various sub-sites with non-inclusive memberships.
Instead of big boobs, BDSM Artwork does extreme adult comics. And we
mean extreme. "All is drawn and told, nothing is left to the
imagination." The comics, artwork and illustrated stories portray
women (there is hardly any femdom action) being abused. Really,
really abused. The context also typically involves some kind of racist
subtext, with white
women in modern and historical settings being kidnapped or abducted by
blacks and Arabs.
Oh well. It's all part of the fetish. And in comics
where women are beaten, flogged, branded, pierced, crucified, mutilated and forced
to be human toilets there's not much point in being politically correct
on race.
Let's begin with the site navigation, and begin by saying that the
navigation isn't the best. The site updates daily and one way to browse through the content is to just surf down the "What's
New" page (you can check out this page on the site tour to see what
the update schedule is like and what's being added). These chronological
update pages are archived, so you can basically browse the entire site--going back to
its launch in October 2000--through its update schedule. Yes, that's a rather
awkward way of navigating a site's content. But it may be your best bet.
An alternative is to go through "Featured Artists". This is
a directory of the main artists contributing to the site, with links to
their material. But the list is not fully inclusive. A better system
would be to provide an index of the different material available, by
format (comic, illustrated story, artwork), with brief descriptions.
There just seems to be too much of a patchwork quality to the navigation
as it is. A lot is missing. One link is to a "topic section"
where there are only four topics
listed ("Cross", "Femdom", "Pony Girls,"
"Sickest"). This is not even close to being an exhaustive index,
which makes it hard to figure out why they even bothered. And even
within this section (which includes some non-exclusive stuff sent in by
members) it is hard to find what you want. The artist Haro's pony girls,
for example, are not in the pony girl section.
One of the big draws for the site is the Featured Comic. This is a
DOFantasy title that is rotated at the first of every month. You get to
download the full comic in an Adobe format (the picture quality is
excellent, as it is throughout the site). Now, if you want to buy one of
these comics from the DOFantasy site it would put you back about $25. So
what you are getting here is two comics along with your membership.
Obviously if you're a fan of this action, that's a deal.
Two things to note (and we apologize for spelling out the obvious):
(1) before you join, see what this month's featured comic is. Don't join
if the featured comic is something you're not interested in. (2) Don't
join right at the first of the month. Give yourself time to grab both
comics before you decide whether to cancel or renew your membership.
The most frustrating thing about BDSMArtwork is the way it churns out
spin-off sites. Do you like Cagri? We do.
But while there's some of his stuff here
(including the complete 80-page Planet of the Apes comic), he's
now off with his own site put out by the same people (you can read our review
here). Ditto for
Aries, Badia, Ferres, Roberts
and 3-D
artist Quoom
(external links to their official sites). It seems that once an artist gets
popular he gets his own site, which is not available along with this
membership (just as with the Score girls). This makes the featured
artist section here into something of a preview menu. There's nothing wrong with
this--porn is a business after all--but we thought BDSMArtwork could have
been a little more generous with what's on offer. Especially given that
a monthly membership isn't cheap. (We thought the site was a little too
pricey. And there is no trial rate, and no movies or other big bandwidth-devouring extra
features to justify it.)
Still, while not oozing generosity, we did think this was a good
site. There is a wide range of artwork on display, from black-and-white
pencil drawings to full-colour cartoons to computer 3-D art. Many
different styles, but all of it is at least competent. As noted, most of
the stories deal with busty white women who are kidnapped/abducted and
brutally introduced to a life of sexual slavery. Bondage, sadism and
masochism + artwork. Lots of interracial too, but no femdom and not a
lot of lesbian. A good sampling of work by established names in the
field. Content updated daily (or nearly daily). Almost all of the
material is exclusive (except the stuff sent in by members), so it's not something you've seen a million times
before.
This is a site we'd like to give a higher grade to (though an
"8" from us is pretty darn good). For the most part it is a truly excellent
collection. BDSM art
is a very specific niche, and if anyone was going to set the standard it
would be these guys. Little things like the occasionally rough English
and way the password changes every day can be overlooked. But the splintering of
content and high
price left us with reservations. If you're a fan, keep your eye on the
featured comic area and join when they have something online that you
really want. If you are really keen on one of the featured artists we'd
recommend a membership in their official site. It's cheaper and you get
more of exactly what you want.
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