I was disappointed after reading the first issue of Future Sex. Yes, both components of the title were there. The magazine was definitely geared toward sex. The cover showed us a softly photographed naked woman holding a knife behind her back. The insides mostly contained nude photos of women with big bazooms, and had a few articles like "Lucid Sex Dreaming," and "Brave New Porn!" Some futuristic aspects also accompanied the magazine, including pages of text superimposed over a grid-like background with molecular diagrams scattered about, an article about VR sex, and a few graphics that suggested electricity and high tech.
But if all I wanted was sex and future tech, I'd be reading Playgirl, and, er, bOING-bOING! I was hoping that Future Sex would better fuse these two subjects together, so that the sexy photos would be done in a hot, eccentric, digitally tweaked way. A few shots of men would be fun too! I was also hoping for more meaty subjects I could sink my teeth into (so to speak). I wanted to read about salacious stuff that had fallen off the edge, into recondite territory.
So here I was, ready to throw Future Sex into the dud category, when issue #2 hit the newsstands. Phew! Even the cover is more interesting and future-sexy, with a guy and gal clad in VR data bikinis. Their very realistic-looking gear is actually Mike Saenz computer graphics superimposed over the photo. Pretty cool.
The articles are a bit juicier and closer to the other side. You can read about "smart aphrodisiacs," "Nixpix" - an adult BBS which contains X-rated stories, pictures, and correspondence, and an interview with Mike Saenz, who designed Mac Playmate and is now working on the domineering DonnaMatrix, his version of "the perfect virtual girlfriend." An article about an ex male porn star ("What, Me Impotent?") isn't new-fashioned at all, but had me laughing. In fact, a few of the articles were written with a healthy sense of humor.
The photo department, un- fortunately, is still weak. The women are attractive, as they were in the premiere issue, and the pictures are artistic. So if that's all they are going for, and if that's all the readers are expecting, then great. No problem. But do we need yet another magazine with the same old brand of nude looks and poses? Why play it so safe?
Future Sex has come a long way in the space of only two issues. The layout is pretty sharp and the contents, both written and pictorial, have been injected with more wit and style than it had before. It'll be interesting to see how the magazine progresses. After all, how much future/high-tech can be incorporated into something as primitive and basic as sex? Will there be anything left to write about after another issue or two? I sure hope so!
(Carla Sinclair)
ACCESS:
Future Sex
Lisa Palac, editor
1095 Market Street #809
San Francisco, CA 94103
Quarterly, $4.95/issue, $18/yr.
Graphic: photo of Lisa Palac
