Exploitation Now

Need We Say More?

Exploitation Now was the first Web Comic from Michael Poe (Creator of Errant Story and Does Not Play Well With Others) that ran from 2000 to 2002 on Keenspot. Initially the comic followed in namesake in the form of two characters: Ralph Givememore, definitely not a Moogle and Bimbo Moneymaker. Two roommates who pretty much messed around with each other while making as many sexual jokes as possible. Soon, another character, Jordan Kennedy, a very sarcastic self-proclaimed "Evil Genius" joins them and not long after Bimbo's sister, Bush Moneymaker, is brought into the cast. However the latter two characters soon started to become the focus of the comic as more of Jordan's backstory was known. And the series quickly took a dark turn.

Still floating around the net since its end, you can read it here.

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Tropes used in Exploitation Now include:

• Arm Cannon/Artificial Limbs: Jordan's left arm.
• Bilingual Backfire: One comic had Jordan and Bush hitching a ride on a bus full of Asian girls from an anime con. One of the girls in front of them notices the two and seeing Bush, thinking she a fellow Asian (since Bush is half Asian) starts to mock Jordan in her native tongue thinking Jordan can't understand her. However it turns out Bush can't understand the language but Jordan can and quickly lets the girl know she not amused.
• Bittersweet Ending: Jordan confronts the agency that ruined her life and manages to destroy their headquarters. But Bush is unfortunately killed in the process.
• Breaking in Old Habits: Among other improvements, Jordan fitted her prosthetic hand with a vibrator mode...
• Broken Bird: Jordan once you learn of her past.
• Cast Pages always Lie: Jordan's provided cast page during the original run said that she was the only one smart enough to have a no-nudity clause in her contract. While this got her out of a Naughty Tentacles scene (the in-story reason being the monster disliked Americans girls), she was eventually shown taking off her top.
• Cerebus Syndrome: Started off as an off color comedy. But once Jordan became the focus...
• Dead Baby Comedy
• Demoted to Extra: Ralph and Bimbo. It was Lampshaded.
• Expy: Yeah Ralph is totally not a Moogle. Where would you get that idea?
• Genre Savvy: All of the characters, hero, villain or otherwise.
• Groin Attack: Poor Ralph
• Killed Off for Real: Bush
• Kill Sat: Mere childsplay for Jordan to hack one and becomes a major plot point later on.
• Life or Limb Decision: Though it's pretty easy to decide since it's the prosthetic one.
• Mad Scientist: Jordan
• Ms. Fanservice: Gee no points for guessing why she's named Bimbo.
  • It's sort of a Non-Indicative Name though since most people (and dictionaries) use 'bimbo' as a term for a Brainless Beauty and Bimbo is relatively smart.
  • Also the comic itself explains that she's named Bimbo because her mother is not a native English-speaker and does not make good decisions while high on hospital-grade painkillers. It's the same reason her sisters have similarly embarrassing names. Bimbo is more accurately Ms. Fanservice because she's the sort of person that, when faced with the need to make rent, decides to star in a few porno movies rather than get a real job or do a zany get-rich-quick scheme.
• My Name Is Not Durwood: Ralph gets this a lot on the nature of his species.
• Naughty Tentacles: Cthulhu in an earlier strip and Lord Naughtinus later on.
• No Fourth Wall: The characters are quite aware they're in a comic and often hang lampshades about it. Mostly this is reserved for Bimbo and Ralph though.
• Refuge in Audacity
• Road Show: Most of the focus on Jordan and Bush is them traveling.
• Shout-Out: Plenty, have fun finding them.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Became pretty obvious halfway through the strip's run that Poe preferred messing with Jordan.
  • Lampshaded heavily in the comic itself when Bimbo and Ralph are actually shocked when the comic returns to featuring them for awhile. This carried over into Does Not Play Well With Others, which had Naga and Fran panic OOCly when Jordan showed up, absolutely certain she'd usurp main character status. (They were right.)
• Webcomic Time: Jordan takes the time to divulge her backstory during a shootout which took two months to get through.
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Bush questions this to a tentacle monster when its waiting for a female swordswoman to finish her transformation. He thinks about then tells her not to mention it again.
• You Bastard: Poe constantly grumbles about what perverts his readers are. In fact, the title of the comic can in itself be seen as this.