Jenny and Drake: The Deleted Scene!

The dustjacket for the Dover Publications edition of Border Worlds (2017).

The recent Dover Publications hardcover collection of Border Worlds is complete and exhaustive, including even the original color back-up features culled from Megaton Man #6-10 (Kitchen Sink Press, 1985-1986) along with the seven black-and-white comic book issues (1986-1987). One slight alteration, however, is the omission of a two-page scene from the eighth issue, the adults-only one-shot Border Worlds: Marooned #1 (1990).

The sequence as presented in the Dover edition; two pages were removed in between these two, and Drake's erect penis was elided from the first two panels on the left-hand page.

"The original idea was to remove the scene to avoid distribution problems," says creator Don Simpson. "It was a move with which I wholeheartedly agreed; it was their money, after all, and as I say in the interview with Steve Bissette included in the book, I no longer see transgressing boundaries of eroticism as necessarily having anything to do with artistry. In any case, the original editor, Drew Ford, planned on removing them; Pete Lenz, the editor who saw the book through to completion, did not insist upon it, but I already accepted it, so that's how we decided to proceed."

In the scene, Drake removes his clothing; we see his unaroused genitals clearly, then his erection. "We decided to Photoshop those out," said Simpson. "Originally, it was important to me to show Drake's genitals as much or more than Jenny's, and in the original version, that was true, but when we shortened the scene, unfortunately, his had to go."

The sequence in the original issue of Border Worlds: Marooned #1 showed Drakes' genitals clearly in the first two panels of the left-hand page, Drake performing cunnilingus on Jenny on the first panel of the subsequent page, and Jenny mounting Drake, his erect penis clearly penetrating her vagina.

In the original version, Drake kneels before Jenny, and in the elided pages, he reverently performs cunnilingus her. At this point, the scene goes silent; no speech balloons, thought balloons, or other text interfere with the images, suspending the passage of time. "The close up is on Jenny's face as Drake goes about licking her," the artist recalls. "It was important for me to focus on her response rather than on his earthy desires, at that moment." She then mounts Drake, his erect penis clearly penetrating her vagina. "That was the panel that made Kitchen Sink decide to put an 'Adults Only' label on the book, whereas the seven-issue series that preceded it was labeled only 'For Mature Readers.'"

On the next page, Jenny continues to mount Drake, achieving orgasm; the two cuddle, his drained cock clearly spent. The entire sequence is presented without words or sound effects.

The scene continues on the following page, as Jenny continues to ride on top of Drake; the expression on her face suggests that she is fully in charge and achieves orgasm. "I thought it was important to show Jenny on top and going for what she wanted," says Simpson. "She's the protagonist of the narrative and it is her story. He's not doing her; she is definitely doing him."

At the same time, the silence of the scene made it stand out from the rest of the issue. "Words determine the passage of time in comics, to a great extent," the artist explains. "I didn't want the scene to go by too fast, or have to draw too many pages to show the entire duration of their fuck. Of course I could have gone on for pages and pages, but then it would have become an Underground comic."

The original pencil sketch of the intercourse scene on two 5.5" x 8.5" sheets of bond paper.

Long-time fans may miss the sequence, although there is plenty of material left to earn the "mature readers" tag the dark science fiction series originally bore: nudity, profanity, just-off-camera sex, and a violent attempted rape that results in the attacker's death. But fans just discovering the series may wonder what the fuss about such a simple and direct sex scene is about.

"To me it wasn't essential to the narrative, but it was an important breakthrough for me in terms of a more honest approach to my work," says Simpson. "While I was working on Marooned, I also was beginning to experiment with my very first Underground Comix, which clearly had a different intent. As I say in the Afterword of the hardcover, eroticism and narrative aren't really compatible, and I think those pages could be elided without harm to the story."

The hardcover addition includes 30 all-new pages forming a new conclusion to Jenny's story.

The loss of Border World's most sexually explicit moment is offset in the Dover edition by a new 30-page conclusion, which offers readers a satisfying denouement to the extant series. "It's not the end of Jenny's story by any means," says Simpson. "Where she goes from here, and whether I continue the saga of the space station of further explore her inner world - or both - remains to be seen."

The Border Worlds hardcover can be ordered from Amazon and elsewhere online, or through your local independent comic book and graphic novel dealer.