Honey Buns # 23 Presents Taboo Illustrated # 2

6 DEATH IN THE HAREM Graphic Novel by Ferres—Part Two 16 GALLERY: HINES—MASTERFULLY MACABRE Searing Images of a World Without Mercy 26 PONY LIFE Graphic Novel by Doval—Part Two 36 ROBERTS — SOME SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL IF YOU PLEASE His Candy-Colored World Just isn't Safe for Conventional Thinking ... or Pretty Girls Special Feature by Ernest Greene 44 YAKUZA SLAVES Graphic Novel by Roberts—Part Two 54 SLAVEMART Graphic Novel by Erenisch—Part Two 64 JUNTA HELL Graphic Novel by Templeton—Part Two 74 KINK IN INK Voluptuous Volumes for the Secret Shelf Von Gotha's Janice Stripped and Whipped Cagri's Carnal Cargo 78 CAPTIVE IN THE BASEMENT Graphic Novel by Agnes—Part One EDITORIAL NOTE STRICTLY SPEAKING Thomas Hobbes called the state of nature "the war of all against all, red in tooth and claw." The Marquis de Sade made the direct connection between species aggression and sexual desire through what he termed "the voluptuousness of cruelty." In modern times, scientists seek out mechanistic explanations for seemingly inex- plicable appetites. The human brain has hard-wired links us to the very beginnings of life on this planet. The cerebellum, the oldest part, deals strictly with the basics – bodily functions, nourishment, reproduction. when it encounters another living thing, it must decide whether to eat it, fuck it or avoid it altogether. In the invertebrate world, such distinctions aren't even necessarily relevant. The Praying Mantis consumes its mates head during copulation, which goes on undeterred by the interruption (which would probably be the case with some people we've met). Layered on top of this crude foundation is the Limbic System, where emotional responses temper base instinct. Here we experience love, hate, compassion, empathy and intimacy. The Cerebrum is the most recent retro-fit. That's the part with which we think, analyze, evaluate our own behavior. It's the realm of what Freud called the superego, the noisy conscience that seeks to tame the unruly id down in the basement. The images you hold in your hand at this very moment may be rendered in ink or paint or pencil or on a computer, but their raw material is our own inner turmoil. They turn us on as they do precisely because of the way they tease our paradoxical needs, to satisfy our hunger without regard for the cost to others while still maintaining some sense of our better selves. But at the root of it all, Hobbes is not wrong. For one thing to live, another must die. Cruelty is woven into nature's elaborate design from the first strand of DNA. What we make of it is our choice. We can create art that arouses us even as it frightens us. In so doing, we give ourselves an outlet for our darker impulses that causes no actual harm. The ability to substitute symbolic violence for the real thing is the great evolutionary advance that makes civilization possible. That is what we celebrate in Taboo Illustrated as much as we celebrate the peculiar beauty of pleasures seasoned with pain. —Ernest Greene, Executive Editor