Oh Joy Sex Toy, Vol. 4

Oh Joy Sex Toy #4

by Erika Moen, Matthew Nolan, Niki Smith (Contributor)

Erika & Matthew think the world of sex is fantastic.

Using comedy, real-life experiences, and research, they create some the best educational, informative, sex-positive comics around. (The puns are an added bonus!)

In this fourth volume, they tackle a variety of interesting topics, including sex toys, what to expect at a gynecologist visit, the question of "what even IS sex?," and STI testing. In addition, an entire third of the book is dedicated to showcasing guest cartoonists with their unique experiences and perspectives about sex, covering topics from body image to fursuiting to pegging, to name a few!

Every volume of Oh Joy Sex Toy is a stand-alone adventure into the world of sex, so whether you've collected the other volumes or not, this book is a great fit on any shelf!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, LGBT, Graphic Novels Comics, Social Justice, Adult

312 pages, Paperback

First published November 14, 2017

About the author

Erika Moen is a freelance cartoonist born June 25, 1983 and graduated with an Illustrated Storytelling self-designed degree from Pitzer College in 2006. She lives in Portland, Oregon where she has been a member of Periscope Studio since 2008. Having created comics for well over a decade, her work has been published by Dark Horse, Image, Villard and Scholastic, among many others. In addition to creating comics, she also regularly teaches classes and guest lectures on the subject in high schools and colleges around the country. She has been happily married to Matthew Nolan since October 2008.

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally made it through all four of the fun, sexy, and informative volumes of this series that my wonderful wife gifted me for Christmas! I'm so disappointed to see that there haven't been any collections since 2017 even though the website seems to have been continuously updated since then.

I suppose I'll try following the site updates, but I just know that's not going to work out. More books please!


FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: (All material by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan except where noted)

Introduction / Laura Hudson

The Strips
• Introduction Comic
• RodeoH Harness
• Flint Dildo
• Period Sex
• What IS Sex?
• Quickshot Sleeve
• Lucie Blush Porn
• Rumble Vibrator
• Pay for Porn
• Amorino Rabbit
• Doxy Die Cast Vibrator
• Frolic Me Porn
• Pelvic Exam
• Blewit Sleeve
• Pole Role Model - Shannon Gee Interview
• Vaginal Douche
• Leo Dildo
• Uber Lube
• Colossus & Ride On Extenders
• Black Label Esse Chaise Lounger
• Cock Talk (penis anatomy)
• Vesper Vibrator
• Queer - A Graphic History
• STI Testing
• Nova Rabbit
• Motorbunny Vibrator
• Squirting
• XO Flo Menstrual Cup
• Tiger Vibrating Dildo
• Flip Zero Sleeve
• What the Fuck's a Cuck?
• Best Of!

Guest Strips
• Boot Blacking / Niki Smith
• A Work in Progress / Sarah Winifred Searle
• A Night In / Kickingshoes [Kelly and Nichole Matthews]
• How to Survive a Dungeon Party / Stormy
• Pegging / Kasimir Lee
• Fursuits / Grey White
• Murrsuits / Marley Smith (Matsuka)
• Eding / Kino
• Vestibulodynia / Capp [Alex Assan]
• Talking Mental Illness / Vicky Leta
• Curved Penis / Daz [Daryl Toh]
• Piercings / Ray Nadine
• Play Talk / Glitched Puppet [glip]
• Appearances / Mady G
• Wax / Niki Smith
• Ballbusting / Sicklyhypnos
• Lingerie / Genevieve FT
• 24/7 BDSM / TeMeL
• Puppy Play / Alex Reeder
• Kupala Night / Panna N [Katarzyna Witerscheim]
• After Care / Ariel Vittori

Bonus
• Hourly Comics Day
• Introduction Erikas
• DAR! - Revisited

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another really fun volume of this series. Loved the non-toy topics covered, and even learned some new things. This volume also has 1/3 - 1/2 of the pages as guest comics, which is always fun, and this time a lot of the guest strips were educational topics, not just erotica.

The only downside to this volume is that the intro wasn’t very detailed, so if this is your first volume, you’ll be a bit out of the loop. Don’t start with this one.

However, it’s great, just like the rest. I love that this sex ed comic is available in print for those who need or like this format, accessible in libraries (in this format, as most library Internet filters block the website, BOO), and joyful and fun. Highly recommend.

[Soobie has fog in her brain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I read it faster than the third one. I struggled with the third one because it was my first Oh Joy Sex Toy book and I didn't know how it worked. So I read all Erika's contributions one after the other and it got boring. This time I mix my reading: a little bit of Erika's comics a a few pages of the contributors. It worked better for me that way.

I guess I won't ever be as adventurous as Erika and Matthew but these books are a nice way to learn what other people enjoy. There's a few options in there... I wouldn't even have thought them by myself.

And yeah, there are thousands of words to describes the lady parts and the family jewels. I've never heard most of them!

Well, the first volume got lost in the mail and I had to re-order. Now I just have to get my hands on the second one.

[Greta · Rating 2 out of 5]

After 4 volumes, it's getting boring. I bet the fifth will be 75% guest strips.

[R C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun collection. As usual, I especially enjoyed the guests comics featured.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say, I love Oh Joy Sex Toy! Such great art, educational comics, and body positivity. This volume is no exception.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just such a great series.

[Theo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, fun, and cute!

[Dylan Zucati · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am going to write one review for all four Oh Joy Sex Toy collections. If I tried to write four separate reviews, I’d be saying largely the same thing four different times and it wouldn’t do any of them justice. If you feel at all inclined to read these collections but don’t have access to them, yes you do they’re all online! www.ohjoysextoy.com has every comic from all four volumes of these books; this comic was the first one I found on tumblr way back in 2013. Personally I’m a big fan of reading them in the bound version, but if you want accessibility and searchability you should just head over to their website.

I don’t know enough about the complexities of sex positive culture to explain the scope of the educational reach this comic has had. I can tell you when I first read it in college, I started to see myself, or rather the community I wanted to see myself a part of, in these comics. A community that put personal pleasure above stigma, but never gave up consent for the sake of anyone else’s enjoyment. When I began to read OJST I thought less about what other people would perceive of my pleasure, and more about what I could do to achieve it. Now my personal journey is a lot more fraught and complicated than “read a comic, now you’re gay”, but the comic allowed me to see being bisexual as natural. When I became more okay with my bisexuality, it helped me separate that identity from my personal sexual perversions and come to accept those as well. I say perversions as a self-described pervert because there’s no shame allowed here, unless you’re into it and have laid out safe boundaries with your shame scene partners.

As a white man, I see myself in most things; my bisexuality would isolate me a little but even that has become more mainstream. The best part about OJST is that everyone else has the opportunity to be seen as I am. It doesn’t matter what parts you do or don’t have, what your hair, skin, or body looks like. Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan draw bodies trying out all of these sex toys, positions, and sexual dilemmas with the most diverse cast of characters I have ever seen. The “Masturbateers” were created because as Moen says, “While we love our sex toys, we’re both modest exhibitionists, so we like to depict “the business” through these free-loving characters! Their pronouns as individuals are “They, Them and Their” and they refer to their genitalia by their medical, anatomical names. The Masturbateers’ sexuality is: Horny.” Either Moen and Nolan appear in every comic, talking the reader through the topic and giving the sense of recurring characters to the series while allowing the diverse maturbateers to show you how it’s done. Sometimes it can be very clinical, but sometimes it’s straight up sexy! I won’t lie, I’ve been turned on plenty of times reading these by bodies I’ve never seen in porn.

Oh Joy Sex Toy isn’t just an ad space for toys looking to get good reviews by sending free products. No matter their relationship with the company in question, and a few do sponsor the website itself, Moen and Nolan always give a completely honest review of their experience. I’ve seen them compliment toys they practically threw away, critique toys that they swear by every time they’re mentioned. They always give you a fair assessment of the toy, and will let you know if they think the problem is the toy not gelling with their bodies or sexual inclinations. I never felt their bias get in the way of me understanding the pros and cons of an item.

At its heart, Oh Joy Sex Toy is educational. I have added more sex ed books to my bookshelf through OJST than any other resource. When I wanted to understand more about contraceptives or what it was like for a pornstar in this world, OJST is where I found the most information told in the clearest way. I know it’s not saying much, but I learned more reading this comic than the american education system ever attempted to teach me. There are plenty of non-sexual, sex-related topics covered and if I had to teach my theoretical child about something I have no experience with, say a UTI, Oh Joy Sex Toy is where I would go first. This website (and book[s]) may not be something you are even remotely interested in hearing about, but if someone had passed along the url when I was in middle school, it would have saved me a lot of lost time and made me much more comfortable with the body I have today.

[Jen Potter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across this title in the graphic novel section of my branch library. I’ve had great success in finding new favorite authors and series by randomly checking out books, so it was a no brainer to check this out.

The illustrations and writing are fun and approachable. I like that there are a range of body types and gender identities represented, and the guest artist feature was a great way to be exposed to artists that were new to me.

[Ashley Holstrom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will always read Oh Joy Sex Toy, forever and ever, amen! Vol. 4 is another delightful collection of sex toy reviews, among other sex-related topics, and this time there are lots of bonus comics from other creators at the end.

From Comics to Get Through a Reading Slump at Book Riot.