Ever wonder what goes on behind the booth at a comic convention? How much work actually goes in to making sexy books? Look no further, because I’m giving you a peek behind the curtain on how selling sexy comics in person looks!
Max and I handmake all our own zines, sell them, package them and ship them out all ourselves from our little apartment and I was excited to share that human part about Topaz Comics (our own website & shop that we run).
Due to payment processor issues I wish I could sell the physical copy of “I Built You a Sex Machine” in my shop but alas. You can get it digitally on itch.io or on Filthy Figments though.
All of our other works you can buy from Topaz Comics Shop or get access to my PDF archives on Patreon! I’m just opening USA shipping again but for books & zines only due to tariffs.
If you want to know if Max and I are doing any in-person events, you can sign up for my free newsletter on my website or my Patreon and I’ll be sure to let folks know when my next one is!
Matt’s Added Note
After your done signing up to Jey’s Patreon… come and sign up to OJST’s too! Help enable us to hire more artists and keep this site going week to week.
Places where we show up:
Bluesky
Mastodon
Pillowfort
(you can also follow For Free (like so) on Patreon)
And the others, that we’d rather avoid, but still post to for now:
Twitter
Instagram
Facebook
Always looking to get more Reddit exposure too! So do feel free to post work from our updated-format catalogue
↓ Comic Transcript
Page 1
Selling Sexy Comics, an Hourly Comics Day Special by Jey Pawlik, done in cool minty green tones with heavy blacks and black linework, with some oranges and yellows just on books and the booth. Jey is a white nonbinary person with short black cropped hair and big rectangular glasses wearing various cozy sweaters and cardigans. Jey’s partner, Max, is a white agender person with short tidy hair and wearing a button-up with a sweater on top and jeans.
Narration: 7pm – the night before the con
Jey and Max are working at their table, printing, folding, stapling and cutting a huge pile of zines. Max says “I cannot wait to finally get this zine out there!”
Jey replies “Me too, it was a lot of work but I think it’s our sexiest one yet.”
Max says “And you drew Betty’s orgasm splash page so well, Jey!”
Jey slips a belly band on the zine “I Built You A Sex Machine” with a blurb about the comic, the price and a big 18+ notice. Jey says “It’s too bad though.”
Max asks “What is?”
Jey replies “That we can only sell these in person and not in our own online shop that we own! UGH Payment processors shouldn’t be allowed to restrict our smut. Adults should be allowed to buy porn!”
Max agrees and says “I know, but at least we still have in-person shows we can sell these at.”
Narration: 10pm
Two suitcases are ready to go with a handwritten ribbon above them “all packed”, while Max and Jey look exhausted. Max wearily says “Well, that’s the last of it, finally.” Jey is on the ground giving a thumbs up.
The two get ready for bed, brushing their teeth and washing their faces. Jey says “Shows are a lot of work, huh? Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it.”
Narration: 11pm, 12am, 1am
Max and Jey are in bed and Max replies “Sure, but remember after every show we always say something like: That was fun, let’s do it again!”
Jey says “That’s true! I hope the zine sells well.”
Max says “Me too.”
Page 2
Narration: 8am
Jey and Max are still in bed with the covers over their faces. One says “I don’t wanna get up.”
The other says “It’s cold out there.”
Narration: They got up.
An announcement says “Next station: TMU” as Max and Jey are sitting on the subway with their suitcases and big winter coats.
Jey gets stuck in the snow trying to pull the heavy suitcase through the snowy Canadian winter. Jey yells out “Oh no, I’m stuck! Max, hold up!”
Narration: 9am
As Max and Jey are setting up their booth, Jey asks “Did you see that line outside?”
Max looks excited and says “Yeah, wow! People are hungry for comics!”
Jey says “Speaking of hunger, here’s your bagel.” And hands Max a paper bag to xer surprise with an “Oh!”
The two eat their bagels in the “Last moment of calm” and they both say “Yum!”
Narration: 10am
The booth is all ready and set up. Jey and Max look at one another. Jey says “Okay, I’m getting pumped now!”
Max replies “YEAH! Let’s sell some porn!” as a crowd of people start piling in to the hall.
Page 3
Jey and Max are working the booth with a crowd walking around them, showing how busy the show is. Some people are peeking over at the wares. Jey says “If you’re looking for sexy trans comics, we’ve got you!” and Max says “We’ve got a story in this sexy anthology about a trans Paul Bunyan!”
Narration: 12pm
Max comes back to the booth with a take-out bag and says “I’m back with lunch!” while Jey is melting into the table and saying “yaaaaaaay~”
The two of them eat their very accidentally messy sandwiches with the comments: Ahh, yum! Delicious energy. This is so messy! And spicy. Ohh, it’s so good tho~
A very beautiful customer comes by the table and points to a book while saying “May I buy this one?” while Max and Jey are attempting to finish their very messy sandwiches in a panic. The sandwiches are dripping everywhere.
Jey says “MRF – one moment!”
Narration: 2pm
An older bearded customer comes by the booth and ponders about one of the books silently. Max and Jey great them happily.
The customer picks up a book and looks through it without a word and leaves without buying anything.
Max and Jey shrug. Max says “Well, not everything is for everyone.”
Jey nods “And that’s okay!”
Page 4
Narration: 3pm
A family interact in front of the booth, Jey and Max smile and wave from afar. The mother with a grin pointing and saying “Hey hun, I may be a minute. Can you take her to the kids books?”
The husband, carrying a baby in a baby harness on his chest says “You got it, take your time (heart emoji)” with a wink.
The mother comes over and slaps her hands on the booth and says “Okay, tell me about your smut! I’m here for queer, trans, and all things sexy!”
Jey lifts up their new zine and says with knowing smile “Might I interest you in our brand new ‘I Built You A Sex Machine’? It’s exactly what it sounds like!”
The mother exclaims “OHHHH?~”
A cute transmasc customer comes by the table in fishnets, dark nail polish and piercings. While holding a book they say “WOW! This was made for me!”
Max and Jey tell them “We DID make it for you!”
A fancy femme couple come to the table, one a bit shy while her partner asks “Do you have any transfemme stuff?”
We reply “We sure do!”
An older nonbinary person comes to the table and says “Hi, I’m with The Beguiling (a Toronto bookstore) and we want your books in store!”
Jey pops into the frame shocked and says “WHAA?! Absolutely!”
A 20-something customer comes to the booth and asks “Wait, you’re Jey Pawlik? Like, from Oh Joy Sex Toy?”
Jey sits at the booth and happily says “Oh yeah, that’s me!”
The customer excitedly asks “Wow wow! I love those comics. Do you have an Oh Joy book?”
Jey replies “Not yet, but I’m thinking about it~”
The customer picks up another book instead and says “I’ll buy this one for now then!”
Page 5
Narration: 5pm
The bearded customer from 2pm comes back to the booth looking shy and picking up the book their were looking at before. They tell us “Hi, um. I’d like this one, please. It just means so much to me.”
Jey and Max are ecstatic with Jey thinking “They came back?!” and saying out loud “O-of course, thank you!!”
Once the customer leaves, Max and Jey say “It meant so much to them!!!” with tears streaming down their faces and hearts all around them.
Narration: 6pm
Max and Jey pack up their booth, stacking chairs, folding the table cloth and putting books in their suitcases.
On the subway again, the two lean on one another while in their big winter jackets and holding their suitcases. Jey says “Hey, Max.”
Max replies “Yeah, Jey?”
Jey says sleepily “I think I love making comics.”
Max, also sleepily, says “You know what? Me too.”
Narration: 7pm
Jey and Max are back at home on their couch and absolutely spent while there’s a pizza box and two beers on their coffee table.
Jey says “Thanks for doing another show with me. That was a lot of fun!”
And Max replies “Yeah~ Let’s do that one again next year.”
Selling Sexy Comics, an Hourly Comics Day Special by Jey Pawlik was transcribed by Jey Pawlik on January 26, 2026
Selling Sexy Comics, an Hourly Comics Day Special by Jey Pawlik, done in cool minty green tones with heavy blacks and black linework, with some oranges and yellows just on books and the booth. Jey is a white nonbinary person with short black cropped hair and big rectangular glasses wearing various cozy sweaters and cardigans. Jey’s partner, Max, is a white agender person with short tidy hair and wearing a button-up with a sweater on top and jeans.
Narration: 7pm – the night before the con
Jey and Max are working at their table, printing, folding, stapling and cutting a huge pile of zines. Max says “I cannot wait to finally get this zine out there!”
Jey replies “Me too, it was a lot of work but I think it’s our sexiest one yet.”
Max says “And you drew Betty’s orgasm splash page so well, Jey!”
Jey slips a belly band on the zine “I Built You A Sex Machine” with a blurb about the comic, the price and a big 18+ notice. Jey says “It’s too bad though.”
Max asks “What is?”
Jey replies “That we can only sell these in person and not in our own online shop that we own! UGH Payment processors shouldn’t be allowed to restrict our smut. Adults should be allowed to buy porn!”
Max agrees and says “I know, but at least we still have in-person shows we can sell these at.”
Narration: 10pm
Two suitcases are ready to go with a handwritten ribbon above them “all packed”, while Max and Jey look exhausted. Max wearily says “Well, that’s the last of it, finally.” Jey is on the ground giving a thumbs up.
The two get ready for bed, brushing their teeth and washing their faces. Jey says “Shows are a lot of work, huh? Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it.”
Narration: 11pm, 12am, 1am
Max and Jey are in bed and Max replies “Sure, but remember after every show we always say something like: That was fun, let’s do it again!”
Jey says “That’s true! I hope the zine sells well.”
Max says “Me too.”
Page 2
Narration: 8am
Jey and Max are still in bed with the covers over their faces. One says “I don’t wanna get up.”
The other says “It’s cold out there.”
Narration: They got up.
An announcement says “Next station: TMU” as Max and Jey are sitting on the subway with their suitcases and big winter coats.
Jey gets stuck in the snow trying to pull the heavy suitcase through the snowy Canadian winter. Jey yells out “Oh no, I’m stuck! Max, hold up!”
Narration: 9am
As Max and Jey are setting up their booth, Jey asks “Did you see that line outside?”
Max looks excited and says “Yeah, wow! People are hungry for comics!”
Jey says “Speaking of hunger, here’s your bagel.” And hands Max a paper bag to xer surprise with an “Oh!”
The two eat their bagels in the “Last moment of calm” and they both say “Yum!”
Narration: 10am
The booth is all ready and set up. Jey and Max look at one another. Jey says “Okay, I’m getting pumped now!”
Max replies “YEAH! Let’s sell some porn!” as a crowd of people start piling in to the hall.
Page 3
Jey and Max are working the booth with a crowd walking around them, showing how busy the show is. Some people are peeking over at the wares. Jey says “If you’re looking for sexy trans comics, we’ve got you!” and Max says “We’ve got a story in this sexy anthology about a trans Paul Bunyan!”
Narration: 12pm
Max comes back to the booth with a take-out bag and says “I’m back with lunch!” while Jey is melting into the table and saying “yaaaaaaay~”
The two of them eat their very accidentally messy sandwiches with the comments: Ahh, yum! Delicious energy. This is so messy! And spicy. Ohh, it’s so good tho~
A very beautiful customer comes by the table and points to a book while saying “May I buy this one?” while Max and Jey are attempting to finish their very messy sandwiches in a panic. The sandwiches are dripping everywhere.
Jey says “MRF – one moment!”
Narration: 2pm
An older bearded customer comes by the booth and ponders about one of the books silently. Max and Jey great them happily.
The customer picks up a book and looks through it without a word and leaves without buying anything.
Max and Jey shrug. Max says “Well, not everything is for everyone.”
Jey nods “And that’s okay!”
Page 4
Narration: 3pm
A family interact in front of the booth, Jey and Max smile and wave from afar. The mother with a grin pointing and saying “Hey hun, I may be a minute. Can you take her to the kids books?”
The husband, carrying a baby in a baby harness on his chest says “You got it, take your time (heart emoji)” with a wink.
The mother comes over and slaps her hands on the booth and says “Okay, tell me about your smut! I’m here for queer, trans, and all things sexy!”
Jey lifts up their new zine and says with knowing smile “Might I interest you in our brand new ‘I Built You A Sex Machine’? It’s exactly what it sounds like!”
The mother exclaims “OHHHH?~”
A cute transmasc customer comes by the table in fishnets, dark nail polish and piercings. While holding a book they say “WOW! This was made for me!”
Max and Jey tell them “We DID make it for you!”
A fancy femme couple come to the table, one a bit shy while her partner asks “Do you have any transfemme stuff?”
We reply “We sure do!”
An older nonbinary person comes to the table and says “Hi, I’m with The Beguiling (a Toronto bookstore) and we want your books in store!”
Jey pops into the frame shocked and says “WHAA?! Absolutely!”
A 20-something customer comes to the booth and asks “Wait, you’re Jey Pawlik? Like, from Oh Joy Sex Toy?”
Jey sits at the booth and happily says “Oh yeah, that’s me!”
The customer excitedly asks “Wow wow! I love those comics. Do you have an Oh Joy book?”
Jey replies “Not yet, but I’m thinking about it~”
The customer picks up another book instead and says “I’ll buy this one for now then!”
Page 5
Narration: 5pm
The bearded customer from 2pm comes back to the booth looking shy and picking up the book their were looking at before. They tell us “Hi, um. I’d like this one, please. It just means so much to me.”
Jey and Max are ecstatic with Jey thinking “They came back?!” and saying out loud “O-of course, thank you!!”
Once the customer leaves, Max and Jey say “It meant so much to them!!!” with tears streaming down their faces and hearts all around them.
Narration: 6pm
Max and Jey pack up their booth, stacking chairs, folding the table cloth and putting books in their suitcases.
On the subway again, the two lean on one another while in their big winter jackets and holding their suitcases. Jey says “Hey, Max.”
Max replies “Yeah, Jey?”
Jey says sleepily “I think I love making comics.”
Max, also sleepily, says “You know what? Me too.”
Narration: 7pm
Jey and Max are back at home on their couch and absolutely spent while there’s a pizza box and two beers on their coffee table.
Jey says “Thanks for doing another show with me. That was a lot of fun!”
And Max replies “Yeah~ Let’s do that one again next year.”
Selling Sexy Comics, an Hourly Comics Day Special by Jey Pawlik was transcribed by Jey Pawlik on January 26, 2026