Development
Grace Crowley has been drawing comics since she was a child, and shortly after completing university, she found herself working for a publisher that specializes in educational comics, presenting realistic stories about specific heavy issues. Crowley stated that Loxie & Zoot "kind of flowed out of that to a degree," noting that she was also reading many alternative, indie, and underground comics at the time. Crowley had enjoyed several visits to nude beaches during university, and figured a story about nudism could tap into a niche market. [1] Crowley got one half-page cartoon of Loxie & Zoot published in an Australian nudist magazine in 1997, and in 1998, she started experimenting with publishing her story as a webcomic. However, because she was making the story up as she was going and was more focused on her day job, Crowley only managed to post nine pages before Loxie & Zoot went on an extended hiatus. Crowley attempted again in 2000, and managed to post the webcomic's first storyarc of 120 pages. On advice from Reinder Dijkhuis, Crowley transferred her webcomic to Keenspace in 2003, which prompted her to think more broadly of Loxie & Zoot's target audience. [2]
Alternative comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which in the past have dominated the American comic book industry. Alternative comic books span a wide range of genres, artistic styles, and subjects.
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, including explicit drug use, sexuality, and violence. They were most popular in the United States between 1968 and 1975, and in the United Kingdom between 1973 and 1974.
A nude beach, sometimes called a clothing-optional or free beach, is a beach where users are at liberty to be nude. Nude beaches usually have mixed bathing. Such beaches are usually on public lands, and any member of the public is allowed to use the facilities without membership in any movement or subscription to any personal belief. The use of the beach facilities is normally anonymous. Unlike a naturist resort or facility, there is normally no membership or vetting requirement for the use of a nude beach. The use of nude beach facilities is usually casual, not requiring pre-booking. Nude beaches may be official, unofficial, or illegal.
In an interview with The Webcomics Examiner , Crowley stated that she "wanted to do a comic that went totally against the convention of comics of nudists that presented them all as young hour-glass figured women and chesty men." Furthermore, Crowley wanted to subvert the practice of strategically drawing nude characters from the waist up or partially obscured in order to cover genitals, playing against the taboos and stereotypes of nudity and sexuality. [1]
Physical attractiveness is the degree to which a person's physical features are considered aesthetically pleasing or beautiful. The term often implies sexual attractiveness or desirability, but can also be distinct from either. There are many factors that could influence one person's attraction to another, with physical aspects being one of them. Physical attraction itself includes universal perceptions common to all human cultures such as facial symmetry, sociocultural dependent attributes and personal preferences unique to a particular individual.
A taboo is an implicit prohibition on something based on a cultural sense that it is excessively repulsive or, perhaps, too sacred for ordinary people. Such prohibitions are present in virtually all societies. On a comparative basis taboos, for example related to food items, seem to make no sense at all as what may be declared unfit for one group by custom or religion may be perfectly acceptable to another.
Crowley went on to create the superhero webcomic Magellan for the platform Graphic Smash. Crowley also created some webcomics for Webcomics Nation. [2] After the conclusion of Loxie & Zoot, Crowley began the spin-off webcomic The Bare Pit.
Webcomics Nation was a webcomic hosting and automation service launched on July 29, 2005 by Joey Manley. Unlike Manley's previous webcomic sites, Webcomics Nation was based on user-generated content and relied on online advertisement revenue, which increased in viability in the second half of the 2000s. Webcomics Nation was merged into Josh Roberts' ComicSpace in 2007, which eventually closed down in 2013.
