Pole dance is no joke, as you can see in this comic by Juliette Taka! This comic is perfect to share on OJST’s birthday month, since pole dancing is near and dear to my heart. I danced the poles for almost ten years, until health-stuff got in the way- and I miss it every day. Fortunately strip clubs abound and I can scratch that pole dancing itch by watching the pros work their magic!
April is our Pledge Drive month and our patrons have already received two bonus comics over on the Patreon! We’re a small, independent publisher and we will survive this year with your patronage, which pays our diverse cartoonists to produce comics on topics that are being forced off of mainstream internet platforms. In exchange for your sign-up, you get bonus, exclusive posts that are not public to the normies! Come join our party.
Want bonus content and keep OJST up and running? It’s easy! We’ve got two Patreons that support what we do AND a bunch of bonus comics available for any of you ready to sign up. Check it out:
– The Oh Joy Sex Toy pay-per-comic Patreon to directly support these comics
– The Erika Moen Monthly/Yearly Patreon with my many art projects
AND if you’d like to make a supportive donation outside of the Patreons – please just email.
↓ Comic Transcript
Today’s comic is drawn by Juliette Taka. It utilizes a strong-edged line work with cartoonish characters and simple, but vibrant backgrounds. It feels easy, friendly, and accessible, while also being full of life, and evocative! Juliette shows herself at different ages, and self-describes for the transcription as such: Kid Juliet is a skinny girl with a pixie haircut and dark hair. Adult Juliet is a a slightly larger but still, short skinny girl with long, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. She is a flat-chested woman with short dark hair and a petite stature and self-identities with a tomboy appearance. Juliet goes by she/her pronouns.
Page 1
The comic starts with Kid Juliette, lying on her back in the living room next to her mother as she reads a newspaper on the couch. Juliette is playing on her Gameboy.
Narration - ‘Until I hit 17, sports had always been a big part of my life. Well, the usual teen sports anyway.’
Juliette’s mother - ‘Which sport do you want to do this year?’
Kid Juliette - ‘Pokémon trainer!’
Juliette’s mother - ‘All right, dance it is!’
The panel shows us kid Juliette swirling a ribbon in dance practice, wearing a one-piece as she thinks to herself - ‘I feel so awkward…’
Next, we see Juliette, talking to a teacher on a track and field as other children run past
Kid Juliette - ‘I want to do long jump.’
Teacher - ‘Too bad. Today is cross-country training.’
The page ends with Kid Juliette swimming. An instructor shouts from outside of the panel - ‘10 more laps! You are training to win!’
Kid Juliette thinks to herself, mid-stroke - ‘I’d rather be in bed…’
Page 2
Narration sits on top of the first panel, which contains a pair of swimming goggles all wet and left on the floor.
Narration - ‘I liked to work out – but I couldn’t find anything I loved.’
Juliette is now, aged up in her adult era, she sits on the couch with her laptop in her lap wearing some stripy pajamas, she scrolls over Instagram and one message pops up.
‘Kate Sunday, 13th of March
… Pole dancing hurts like hell lmao’
Juliettepauses her scrolling for a second and thinks to herself - ‘Huh? Why does stripping hurt? Maybe she’s in a bondage club or something?
She continues to scroll going past hundreds of different people dancing on a pole holding incredible poses, and defying gravity.
Narration - ‘Intrigued, I looked at her posts and watched a lot of pole dance videos…’
Sound effect - ‘Scroll scroll scroll’
Juliette exclaims aloud - ‘Ooo pole Dance!?’
Narration - ‘… For eight hours straight!’
Sound effect - ‘Scroll, scroll scroll’
Is now deep in the twilight hours Juliette holds up her laptop in triumph.
Narration - ‘My obsession was born!’
She shouts out loud - ‘All right! I booked a class! Pole dance, here I come!’
Page 3
A tentative Juliette peaks her head around a door, looking inward.
Juliette - Er, hi, I’m here for the class…’
A pole coach hanging off the side of the pole, while maintaining some splits, welcomes Juliette in, she is a tall, flexible woman in her 30s with long auburn hair tied in a messy bun on her head. She’s both curvy and muscular.
Coach - ‘Please come in!’
Juliette looks on with wide eyes - ‘Holy moly! Can you teach me to do this?!’
Coach - ‘Sure. We’ll start with the basics.’
A Juliette dressed in tight and short sportswear hops onto the pole, doing some very basic spins and gripping it between her legs.
Juliette - ‘This is awesome! I feel free! I feel strong!’
Her eyes are filled with stars - ‘Everything is fun, and I don’t mind the effort!’
It’s the end of the session, and Juliette holds her beaten arms up. She’s covered in bruises and scrapes, her hair disheveled, but she wears a big victorious grin. She marches past the Coach.
Juliet - ‘Wow, look at my bruises and pole burns! I’m a warrior!’
Coach - ‘Impressive! See you next week?’
Juliet - ‘You bet!’
Page 4
We are shown a wide panel of multiple Juliettes at different times, each on the pole, doing a different pose. Some are elegant others dynamic. The final illustration is of Juliette fresh out of the shower wearing a towel, flexing her muscles, and being impressed by how strong she’s become. Narration - ‘With pole dancing, I experienced overwhelming joys… Choreography! First inversion! Spinning! Feeling stronger!
Narration: …and painful lows.
We see Juliettedropping from the pole, around her like tendrils are three dark and inky word balloons each one with a negative inside of it;
Injury. Plateauing. Fear of heights.
Undaunted, Juliette marches back up to the pole, stepping on the black inky balloons from before. She looks determined.
Narration - ‘But I kept going, no matter what! Because I loved it with all my heart!’
A happy-looking Juliette, lifts her finger up and continues - ‘YOU MUST WONDER: what did she gain besides these killer abs?’
Page 5
This page is one very large illustration with a little bit of narration, and Juliette talking at the end. It’s a giant shot of the pole studio with all these different dances, hanging, inverting, spinning, and hand-standing. They’re a diverse group, with all kinds of bodies, genders and ethnicities, and all of them look like they’re having fun. In the middle is Juliette, happy as could be.
Narration - ‘I found a safe space, where I could be myself. I gained a deep understanding of my body. I discovered my limits and boundaries, and how it felt to push and test them. I learned to embrace the discovery and journey.
Juliette - ‘And most importantly… I gained a wonderful community, that helps me change my life for the better!’
---
Today's lovely comic was made by Juliette Taka who can be found on Instagram; https://www.instagram.com/takajuliette
It was then posted and transcribed on Oh Joy Sex Toy by Matthew Nolan on 4/15/24 who asks you yo come and support the site on Patreon to ensure we can continue to make these sorts of comics in the future! https://www.patreon.com/OhJoySexToy
Page 1
The comic starts with Kid Juliette, lying on her back in the living room next to her mother as she reads a newspaper on the couch. Juliette is playing on her Gameboy.
Narration - ‘Until I hit 17, sports had always been a big part of my life. Well, the usual teen sports anyway.’
Juliette’s mother - ‘Which sport do you want to do this year?’
Kid Juliette - ‘Pokémon trainer!’
Juliette’s mother - ‘All right, dance it is!’
The panel shows us kid Juliette swirling a ribbon in dance practice, wearing a one-piece as she thinks to herself - ‘I feel so awkward…’
Next, we see Juliette, talking to a teacher on a track and field as other children run past
Kid Juliette - ‘I want to do long jump.’
Teacher - ‘Too bad. Today is cross-country training.’
The page ends with Kid Juliette swimming. An instructor shouts from outside of the panel - ‘10 more laps! You are training to win!’
Kid Juliette thinks to herself, mid-stroke - ‘I’d rather be in bed…’
Page 2
Narration sits on top of the first panel, which contains a pair of swimming goggles all wet and left on the floor.
Narration - ‘I liked to work out – but I couldn’t find anything I loved.’
Juliette is now, aged up in her adult era, she sits on the couch with her laptop in her lap wearing some stripy pajamas, she scrolls over Instagram and one message pops up.
‘Kate Sunday, 13th of March
… Pole dancing hurts like hell lmao’
Juliettepauses her scrolling for a second and thinks to herself - ‘Huh? Why does stripping hurt? Maybe she’s in a bondage club or something?
She continues to scroll going past hundreds of different people dancing on a pole holding incredible poses, and defying gravity.
Narration - ‘Intrigued, I looked at her posts and watched a lot of pole dance videos…’
Sound effect - ‘Scroll scroll scroll’
Juliette exclaims aloud - ‘Ooo pole Dance!?’
Narration - ‘… For eight hours straight!’
Sound effect - ‘Scroll, scroll scroll’
Is now deep in the twilight hours Juliette holds up her laptop in triumph.
Narration - ‘My obsession was born!’
She shouts out loud - ‘All right! I booked a class! Pole dance, here I come!’
Page 3
A tentative Juliette peaks her head around a door, looking inward.
Juliette - Er, hi, I’m here for the class…’
A pole coach hanging off the side of the pole, while maintaining some splits, welcomes Juliette in, she is a tall, flexible woman in her 30s with long auburn hair tied in a messy bun on her head. She’s both curvy and muscular.
Coach - ‘Please come in!’
Juliette looks on with wide eyes - ‘Holy moly! Can you teach me to do this?!’
Coach - ‘Sure. We’ll start with the basics.’
A Juliette dressed in tight and short sportswear hops onto the pole, doing some very basic spins and gripping it between her legs.
Juliette - ‘This is awesome! I feel free! I feel strong!’
Her eyes are filled with stars - ‘Everything is fun, and I don’t mind the effort!’
It’s the end of the session, and Juliette holds her beaten arms up. She’s covered in bruises and scrapes, her hair disheveled, but she wears a big victorious grin. She marches past the Coach.
Juliet - ‘Wow, look at my bruises and pole burns! I’m a warrior!’
Coach - ‘Impressive! See you next week?’
Juliet - ‘You bet!’
Page 4
We are shown a wide panel of multiple Juliettes at different times, each on the pole, doing a different pose. Some are elegant others dynamic. The final illustration is of Juliette fresh out of the shower wearing a towel, flexing her muscles, and being impressed by how strong she’s become. Narration - ‘With pole dancing, I experienced overwhelming joys… Choreography! First inversion! Spinning! Feeling stronger!
Narration: …and painful lows.
We see Juliettedropping from the pole, around her like tendrils are three dark and inky word balloons each one with a negative inside of it;
Injury. Plateauing. Fear of heights.
Undaunted, Juliette marches back up to the pole, stepping on the black inky balloons from before. She looks determined.
Narration - ‘But I kept going, no matter what! Because I loved it with all my heart!’
A happy-looking Juliette, lifts her finger up and continues - ‘YOU MUST WONDER: what did she gain besides these killer abs?’
Page 5
This page is one very large illustration with a little bit of narration, and Juliette talking at the end. It’s a giant shot of the pole studio with all these different dances, hanging, inverting, spinning, and hand-standing. They’re a diverse group, with all kinds of bodies, genders and ethnicities, and all of them look like they’re having fun. In the middle is Juliette, happy as could be.
Narration - ‘I found a safe space, where I could be myself. I gained a deep understanding of my body. I discovered my limits and boundaries, and how it felt to push and test them. I learned to embrace the discovery and journey.
Juliette - ‘And most importantly… I gained a wonderful community, that helps me change my life for the better!’
---
Today's lovely comic was made by Juliette Taka who can be found on Instagram; https://www.instagram.com/takajuliette
It was then posted and transcribed on Oh Joy Sex Toy by Matthew Nolan on 4/15/24 who asks you yo come and support the site on Patreon to ensure we can continue to make these sorts of comics in the future! https://www.patreon.com/OhJoySexToy