The world of cartoonist James Newland
Story by: Mike Miksche
Photography by: Comics by James Newland
October 18, 2020
Have you ever imagined Snoopy in a gimp suit? Cartoonist James Newland has, and it’s how he describes the style of the crazy-ass comics he creates. He explains that after he left university in 2015, he discovered the leather and rubber world, which became a huge inspiration for his illustrations. He has also found influence in the work of Tom of Finland (“That is such an obvious answer,” he says), as well as Harry Bush, Étienne, and George Quaintance. Interestingly though, his fetish comics don’t include sex, or at least fucking, and explains that fetish has never been about sex for him.
Drummer caught up with Newland to learn more about his work, his inspiration, and his take on sex and fetish.
Drummer: What made you decide to focus on fetish comics versus doing the sort of Saturday morning cartoons that inspired your work?
James Newland: Personally, I don’t think it’s like I chose one over the other. Everything I do is inspired by a long line of influences throughout my entire life that led me to draw the way I do and to think of kink in the way that I do. The only difference is the audience my work is created for, and quite honestly, drawing for the fetish community is pretty rewarding.
What Saturday morning cartoons influenced you the most?
Firstly, I think I have to explain what a Saturday morning cartoon is. I use the term for cartoons, in general, to be honest, but the phrase is in reference to those times as a kid when you would sit down in front of the television all morning long without having to go to school and just let cartoons completely melt your mind away. It’s a really tough question, though. I’ve watched so many. I would have to answer with Looney Tunes. The show was filled with comedy and wrote “the rules” for so many cartoons that followed, and it influenced me in shaping my own sense of humor. There is a timelessness to that cartoon that I really believe will be remembered for generations to come.
What do Saturday morning cartoons and your comics have in common?
The big thread that I hope travels through my work is fun. A thing a lot of people don’t tend to notice in my work is that I don’t really draw sex. I just don’t really enjoy drawing it. I find it boring. When it comes to how I look at fetish, I want there to be a plot. A fantasy for me has to have a storyline, and that is the connection to cartoons for me. A sexual fantasy may climax with sex, but there is a whole episode of stuff that comes before the credits roll.
You mentioned before that fetish for you has never been about sex, and that you don’t “showcase penetration” in your work as a result. Can you explain this a little more?
Sex as an act is about fucking. Sex as an idea is so much more! I’m an artist. I could draw absolutely anything in the world, and there are far more erotic experiences in our daydreams than simply having a good dicking.
I avoid drawing sex by focusing on the interaction of people outside of it. Arguably one of my biggest fetishes is “power exchange,” the clear difference in power between a submissive and a dominant. As easily as I could draw a leather daddy having his dick sucked by his boy, I could go and find a video of that with no difficulty at all. What I want to focus on is that relationship. To portray a domestic relationship between people outside of sex is what makes me happy. The way they speak to each other, following rules of D/s interactions. Through this, I hope people can look at my comics and easily imagine themselves in these lifestyle positions.
Do you think that if fetish becomes about sex or sexual intercourse, then it’s still fetish? Or is this just vanilla to you?
People can call fetish whatever they want, but for me, I don’t see sex as part of it. Sex is the credits. An example I will bring up is bondage, to be tied up, to be put into a position of power loss where someone else controls you, where you cannot free yourself. This is not about sex. It’s about that power play, and that is what is arousing in that scenario. If the two people then have sex, it is taking the focus away from the bondage. Vanilla is a pretty broad statement to make in the world of kink, with so many people being into so many things; it’s all a matter of perspective. Is foot worship on the same level of fetish as electroplay or long-term anal-plug training? Of course, it is. It’s entirely how you frame these things and if you are personally into it. I am not into anal myself so, of course, I don’t think much of it in the realm of fetish, but that does not in the slightest mean it is not valid as a fetish. It’s just not mine.
Do you think we should redefine the word “sex” to include fetish without sexual intercourse?
How you define anything is a very personal choice. So no, I don’t think you need to change the dictionary at all. What I want people to do when they think about the world of fetish and sex is to think deeply about how they define themselves. Who you play with and how you play is your personal choice. Our kinks run so deeply in our psyches, and, as fetishists, we’ve taken these interests to a level where we are actively exploring our sexual quirks. My work stressing that sex doesn’t need to be visible doesn’t erase the idea of sex, it just brings attention to its absence and makes people think of it more. There is an invisible “to be continued” essentially written on everything I do if you really want to believe everything about how arousal needs to lead to sex. As the audience, you get to choose how you read anything.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
