''Fetus-X'' was a weekly romantic horror comic written and drawn by Eric Millikin and Casey Sorrow. Millikin is an American artist and former human anatomy lab embalmer and

dissection Dissection (from Latin ' "to cut to pieces"; also called anatomization) is the dismembering of the body of a deceased animal or plant to study its anatomical structure. Autopsy is used in pathology and forensic medicine to determine the cause of ...

ist.Zabel, Joe (June 14, 2004).
Cutting Up The Dead: An interview with Eric Millikin
". ''The Webcomics Examiner'' Sorrow is an internationally known American illustrator and printmaker. ''Fetus-X'' has been published in newspapers, books, and as a

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...

since late 1999.Bennet, Brandon (August 1, 2002).
Guest appearance helps ‘Fetus-X’ move forward
". ''The State News'' The first ''Fetus-X'' comics were drawn by artist Casey Sorrow, who later left to create the comic ''Feral Calf''. The storylines of ''Fetus-X'' generally revolve around Millikin's use of the

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

in both romantic relationships and battles with various ghosts, demons, aliens, and monsters. The artwork is

mixed media In visual art, mixed media describes work of art, artwork in which more than one Art medium, medium or material has been employed. Assemblages, collages, and sculpture are three common examples of art using different List of art media, media. M ...

, combining expressionist paintings with found objects. The text is often written in free verse. Early comics are in black and white, but after 2002 most are full color.

History

Millikin began drawing horror comics by age one-and-a-half, when he made crayon drawings of ghosts terrorizing him during toilet-training. By second grade, he was making teachers profane birthday cards showing his school burning down.Breithaupt, Christy (July 26, 2006).
Dark visions: MSU grad's 'Fetus-X' comic earns national recognition
". '' Lansing State Journal'' The first ''Fetus-X'' newspaper strips were published in spring 2000 in

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

's '' The State News''. Immediately there were problems with censorship, Catholic League protests, and threatened cancellation. After the Catholic League protested the comic and then MSU president M. Peter McPherson declared he wanted it banned, the comic strip was removed for being too controversial. During the controversy over the comic, many people protested on both sides of the issue. Those who were against the comic protested on religious grounds. One said, "As a born-again Christian, I just wanted to notify the writers of “Fetus-X” that the comic strip svery offensive. ... I pray that one day you will come to know the power of the cross." Another warned, "Do you remember what happened when they said, 'not even God can sink the '' Titanic''?' There are certain things you just don’t joke about. ... keep your blasphemy to yourself." Those in favor of the comic said that "I would not hesitate to liken 'Fetus-X' to the

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

of comic strips ... It is the courage, imagination and talent of both the band and the strip that will set them apart from the other flavors of the week and earn them both places in artistic history." And: "It's frustrating to see the ultimate goal of political correctness gain precedence over the basic principle that Casey Sorrow and Eric Millikin have the artistic right to their own opinions." After six months, ''The State News'' cancelled the comic strip despite support from some readers. It continues to be published on the web and in many college newspapers and in alternative newspapers such as Detroit's '' Metro Times''Millikin, Eric (April 13, 2005).
Holy Shit, the Pope is Dead
'' Metro Times'' and the '' University Reporter''. In the fall of 2002, ''Fetus-X'' became part of the subscription-based online

alternative comics Alternative comics or independent comics cover a range of American comic book, American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alterna ...

anthology Serializer, a spin-off of the successful webcomics site Modern Tales. Other comics on Serializer included '' Achewood Sunday Edition'', '' The Magic Whistle'', and '' Little Laurie Sprinkles''.Hart, Tom and Joey Manley (Oct. 21, 2002).
Modern Tales And Tom Hart Launch Serializer.Net Today
". In the fall of 2005 ''Fetus-X'' became a free comic on Webcomics Nation. In June 2006, Millikin was interviewed in the book '' Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists,'' edited by award-winning syndicated editorial cartoonist Ted Rall. ''Attitude 3'' also includes other webcomics such as '' Cat and Girl'', '' Dinosaur Comics'', '' Diesel Sweeties'', and '' The Perry Bible Fellowship''.Rall, Ted (2006). '' Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists'', New York: Nantier, Beall, Minoustchine. . After being offline due to a server crash, Serializer relaunched in October 2006, under the editorship of Eric Millikin.Xerexes, Xaviar (Dec. 2006).
The Comixpedia End of 2006 Roundtable
.MacDonald, Heidi (Oct. 12, 2006).
Serializer.net returns
". ''Fetus-X'' was among the comics on the relaunched serializer, along with '' A Softer World'', '' Idiot Box'', and '' Templar, Arizona''.Bors, Matt (Oct. 24, 2006).
Serializer.net
".

Characters and plot

Typical plots of ''Fetus-X'' comics involved the title character Fetus-X interacting with a lab rabbit named Bunny. Fetus-X was a psychic zombie fetus floating in a jar of formaldehyde who may or may not be Millikin's missing conjoined twin or his clone from an alternate timeline or dimension.

Critical reaction

In their review of serializer.net, '' The Comics Journal'' wrote: "It's a pleasure to see strips like ... ''Fetus-X'' use the newspaper format for far more daring, entertainingly perverse work ... 'Fetus-X''would be perfectly at home at a good alternative weekly or a great college paper."Wood, Mariko (March 2003). "Download: Good Comics and Baud Web Comics". '' The Comics Journal'', No. 251, p. 38. In their review of ''Attitude 3'', the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is ...

wrote that "the visual style of Eric Millikin’s ''Fetus-X'' 'crosses

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( ; ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work ''The Scream'' has become one of Western art's most acclaimed images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dread of inher ...

with an incipient victim of high-school suicide.'" Flagg, Gordon (August 2006). "Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists". ''

'', p. 23. Since 2000, ''Fetus-X'' has been the target of protest campaigns organized by the Catholic League for its "blasphemous treatment of Jesus".Michigan State President Acts Presidential
". (November 2000). ''Catalyst Journal of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights'' "This particular comic is offensive to Catholics and Christians," Catholic League spokesman Patrick Scully said in August 2002. "It completely ridicules the Catholic faith and is not funny." The '' Hartford Advocate'' has called Millikin a "borderline sociopath." ''Fetus-X'' was named one of the best webcomics of 2004 by '' The Webcomics Examiner'', who called it "one of the sharpest political commentaries available. In an era where presidents are treated as messiahs, and questioning the fatherland’s foreign policies is socially unacceptable, Eric shows how necessary it is to yell at the top of your lungs about the madness of it all." In 2006, ''Fetus-X'' was nominated for multiple Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards including Outstanding Comic, Outstanding Single Panel Comic, and Outstanding Romantic Comic. It (referred to as "''Foetus-X''") was later disqualified for not meeting the Award's defined genre criteria for romance comics. In 2007, ''Fetus-X'' was again nominated for multiple Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards including Outstanding Romantic Comic. It was not disqualified from the romance category in 2007. ''Fetus-X'' was used along with '' Penny Arcade'', '' American Elf'' and '' Questionable Content'' as an example of comics using the web to create "an explosion of diverse genres and styles" in

Scott McCloud Scott McCloud (born Scott McLeod; June 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist and comics theorist. His non-fiction books about comics, ''Understanding Comics'' (1993), '' Reinventing Comics'' (2000), and '' Making Comics'' (2006), are made in comic ...

's 2006 book '' Making Comics''.McCloud, Scott (2006). '' Making Comics'', New York: Harper Collins Publishers. , p. 227.

Side projects

Eric Millikin has won awards for his illustrations for major newspapers such as ''

The Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United S ...

''."News is honored by sports editors". (February 28, 2003). ''The Detroit News'', p. 1H. Casey Sorrow's illustrations have appeared in publications like ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

.'' ''Feral Calf'' is a comic by former ''Fetus-X'' artist Casey Sorrow. It is about feral fish people doing strange things to each other and is also hosted on Webcomics Nation. Eric Millikin and Casey Sorrow also created the holiday Monkey Day (celebrated December 14) as an opportunity to educate the public about monkeys, as a holiday that supports evolution rather than religious themes, and an excuse to throw monkey-themed costume parties.McKenzie, Charlie
Holiday monkey business
". (December 8, 2005). ''Hour (Montreal, Quebec)''"". (December 8, 2005). ''Los Angeles City Beat''

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Official websiteSerializerFeral Calf
2000s webcomics American webcomics Horror webcomics Political webcomics Romance webcomics Webcomics in print fr:Fetus-X