{{short description|Sexually explicit comedy webcomic}} {{Infobox comic strip | fgcolor = | bgcolor = | title = Oglaf | image = File:Oglafwarning2020.png | alt = | caption = The warning page which appears to first-time readers, who must state they are over 18 to proceed | author = Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne | current = | illustrator = | website = {{URL|https://www.oglaf.com/}} | status = | first = 2008<ref name="InternetArchive">{{cite web|title=Oglaf site map |access-date=2022-05-23 |url=https://web.archive.org/web/sitemap/https://www.oglaf.com/ |website=Internet Archive Wayback Machine}}</ref> | last = | altnames = | syndicate = | publisher = | genre = | rating = | preceded by = | followed by = }} '''''Oglaf''''' is a sexually explicit comedy webcomic produced by Australians Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne.
== Authors and publication == ''Oglaf'' is produced by Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne,''<ref name="ComicsAlliance">{{cite web|last=Marie|first=Tara|date=October 27, 2016|title=Sexual Fantasy: Should You Be Reading 'Oglaf'?|url=http://comicsalliance.com/oglaf-reading-guide/|website=ComicsAlliance|publisher=Townsquare Media Inc.|language=en}}</ref>''<ref name="Paste">{{Cite web|last=Howard|first=Tini|date=December 2, 2015|title=10 Sexy Comics You Won't Hide Under Your Bed|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/12/10-sexy-comics-you-wont-hide-under-your-bed.html|website=Paste Magazine|publisher=Paste Media Group|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Escapist" /><ref name="Patreon">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Trudy & Doug are creating comics|url=https://www.patreon.com/oglaf|access-date=2020-10-28|website=Patreon|language=en-US}}</ref> though this is not stated anywhere on the comic's website; reviewer Shaenon Garrity said in 2012 that the comic was "technically anonymous but instantly recognizable" as the work of Cooper and Bayne.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Garrity|first=Shaenon|date=March 26, 2012|title=VERT! and the Single Girl|url=http://www.tcj.com/vert-and-the-single-girl/|access-date=2020-10-27|website=|language=en-US}}</ref>
A 2013 ''Sequential Tart'' article said that "the site... doesn't tell who creates it",<ref>{{Cite web|last=Moondaughter|first=Wolfen|date=2013-02-18|title=Not Safe for Work (So Check Them Out at Home!): Risqué Webcomics on Sexuality and Gender Identity|url=http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=2376|access-date=2020-10-28|website=www.sequentialtart.com}}</ref> while a 2016 Paste Magazine article credited the comic to "Bodil Bodilson".<ref name="RR40otB">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2016-11-11|title=Required Reading: 40 of the Best Webcomics|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/11/required-reading-40-of-the-best-webcomics.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202032914/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/11/required-reading-40-of-the-best-webcomics.html|archive-date=2017-02-02|access-date=2020-10-28|website=Paste Magazine}}</ref> In 2025 The Comics Journal interviewed Cooper and Bayne as the authors of Oglaf, with them attributing this ambiguity to themselves being bad at self-promotion.<ref name="TheComicsJournal">{{Cite web|last=TheComicsJournal|date=2025-11-10|title=Talking Oglaf with Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne: 'We'd stay up all night drawing stuff to make each other laugh'|url=https://www.tcj.com/talking-oglaf-with-trudy-cooper-and-doug-bayne-wed-stay-up-all-night-drawing-stuff-to-make-each-other-laugh/|access-date=2025-11-11|website=TheComicsJournal|language=en}}</ref>
The Patreon page for ''Oglaf'' states that the comic is made by "Trudy & Doug"<ref name="Patreon" /> and the printed books are credited to them.<ref name="ThriftBooks">{{Cite web|last=ThriftBooks|title=Oglaf Book One book by Doug Bayne|url=https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/oglaf-book-one_doug-bayne_trudy-cooper/9758498/|access-date=2021-04-05|website=ThriftBooks|language=en}}</ref>
Cooper and Bayne had previously worked together on ''Platinum Grit''<ref name="ComicsAlliance" /> and had also animated a music video together for Violent Soho.<ref>{{Citation|title=Violent Soho - Canada (Official Video)| date=7 February 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEt9Jx8pN1M|language=en|access-date=2021-04-05}}</ref>
According to the website, the comic "started out as an attempt to make pornography [and] degenerated into sex comedy pretty much immediately."<ref name="Sneddon">{{Cite web|last=Sneddon|first=Laura|date=2013-05-25|title=Syndicated Comics|url=https://www.comicsbeat.com/24-hours-of-webcomics-oglaf/|access-date=2020-10-27|website=The Beat|language=en-US}}</ref> A new comic is released online each Sunday.<ref name="ComicsAlliance" /> The first two collections have been published in book form by TopatoCo,<ref name="ComicsAlliance" /><ref name="Paste" /> and a third book was crowdfunded on Kickstarter in July and August 2020.<ref>{{cite web|title=Oglaf Book 3 by Make That Thing|url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/topatoco/oglaf-book-3|access-date=July 22, 2020|website=Kickstarter}}</ref> A fourth book was crowdfunded in September 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oglaf Book 4 PRE-ORDER Complete! Shipping Late October and Available f |url=https://go.topatoco.com/products/og4 |access-date=2023-09-19 |website=TopatoGO |language=en}}</ref>
==Setting and style== The comic takes place in a medieval fantasy realm; a reviewer for ComicsAlliance described it as "a world created by shoving every existing fantasy world into a blender and setting it on puree."<ref name="ComicsAlliance" /> ''Oglaf'' has no overarching story, though does have many recurring characters and storylines.<ref name="ComicsAlliance" />
It features many explicit sex scenes;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comicsalliance.com/best-webcomics-ever-this-week-1-29-12/|title=Best Webcomics Ever (This Week) 1.29.12|website=ComicsAlliance|publisher=Townsquare Media Inc.|language=en|date=January 29, 2012|first=Aaron|last=Colter}}</ref> reviewers have called it "really REALLY pornographic"<ref name="Sneddon" /> and "extremely, extraordinarily NSFW."<ref name="Raunchy Blend" /> The initial story is about a man named Ivan who is apprenticed to a sadistic sorceress who forbids him to masturbate, or else his ejaculations come to life and report him.<ref name="Raunchy Blend">{{Cite web|url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/5794874/raunchy-webcomic-oglaf-blends-low-humor-and-high-fantasy|title=Raunchy webcomic "Oglaf" blends low humor and high fantasy|last=Davis|first=Lauren|work=Gizmodo|date=April 23, 2011|language=en-US|publisher=G/O Media}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://comicsalliance.com/oglaf-webcomic-review/|title='Oglaf': The Best Sexy Fantasy Comic You Can't Read at Unsexy Work|website=ComicsAlliance|language=en|date=December 26, 2011|first=Lauren|last=Davis|publisher=Townsquare Media Inc.}}</ref> Comics have included shapeshifters, interspecies romance, fountains of youth, enchanted body parts, magical sex toys, and "bedroom injuries with a literal ice queen".<ref name="Raunchy Blend" /> The archive notes which comics are less explicit.<ref name="ComicsAlliance" />
Cooper has noted that many of the early ''Oglaf'' strips have material that "we'd never do now", due to issues regarding sexual consent.<ref name="TheComicsJournal"/>
==Reception== Inverse praised ''Oglaf'' for its depictions of gender and sexuality<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.inverse.com/article/14283-nsfw-comics-oglaf-sex-criminals|title=9 Dope Comics About Sex, From 'Sex Criminals' to 'Oglaf'|website=Inverse|date=April 14, 2016|language=en|publisher=BDG Media Inc.|first=Emily|last=Gaudette}}</ref> and The Escapist noted its inclusion of people of colour and LGBTQ+ characters.<ref name="Escapist">{{Cite news|url=https://www.escapistmagazine.com/five-webcomics-im-reading-that-you-should-too|title=Five Webcomics I'm Reading That You Should Too|work=The Escapist|date=March 18, 2016|language=en-US|publisher=Enthusiast Gaming LLC|first=Phil|last=Kahn}}</ref> ''Oglaf'' won a Silver Ledger from 2016 Ledger Awards, which acknowledge excellence in Australian comic art and publishing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://australiancomicsjournal.com/wp/2016-ledger-award-winner-announced/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724032341/http://www.australiancomicsjournal.com/wp/2016-ledger-award-winner-announced/|archive-date=July 24, 2018|title=2016 Ledger Award winners announced!|website=The Australian Comics Journal|date=April 16, 2016|language=en-US|first=Gary|last=Chaloner}}</ref> In 2013, it was called the Best X-Rated Strip by NJ.com.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/12/the_best_webcomics_of_2013.html|title=The best webcomics of 2013|work=NJ.com|date=March 29, 2019|language=en-US|first=Tris|last=McCall|publisher=Advance Local Media LLC}}</ref> It was rated #1 in the Romance and Erotica category by ComicsAlliance for 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comicsalliance.com/best-romance-erotica-comic-2016/|title=ComicsAlliance's Best Of 2016: Best Romance/Erotica Comic|website=ComicsAlliance|language=en|date=December 21, 2016|publisher=Townsquare Media Inc.|author=CA Staff}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://comicsalliance.com/comicsalliances-best-of-2016-all-the-winners/|title=ComicsAlliance's Best of 2016: All The Winners|website=ComicsAlliance|language=en|date=December 30, 2016|publisher=Townsquare Media Inc.|author=CA Staff}}</ref> Oglaf.com was named one of the top porn sites for women by Cosmopolitan in 2017.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/news/a43169/the-best-porn-sites-for-women/|title=The 19 Best Porn Sites for Women|date=April 26, 2018 |website=Cosmopolitan|first=Jill|last=Hamilton|language=en-US|publisher=Hearst Magazine Media}}</ref>
A reviewer for ComicsAlliance called ''Oglaf'' "some of the funniest smut on the web" and said, "imagine the funniest geek you know tried really hard to write magical porn, but they couldn't stop it from being laugh out loud funny. That's ''Oglaf''...as dirty as it is, [it] somehow manages to be one of the lightest and most upbeat comics filled with sex that you're ever likely to find."<ref name="ComicsAlliance" />
A reviewer for io9 said, "It's the webcomic that unleashes the full, perverted potential of the high fantasy genre – the perfect comic for anyone who likes their dick jokes with a side of swords and sexually frustrating sorcery"<ref name="Raunchy Blend" /> and also said it deserved to be nominated for an Eisner Award.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Davis|first=Lauren|date=2014-04-16|title=51 Awesome Webcomics The Eisners Have Completely Failed To Recognize|url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/51-awesome-webcomics-the-eisners-have-completely-failed-1563898141|access-date=2020-10-27|website=io9|language=en-us}}</ref> Paste Magazine included it in an article on "40 of the Best Webcomics" in 2016, saying "If only all porn was as funny as ''Oglaf'', the comic that made you laugh until you cried".<ref name="RR40otB" /> Writing on Comic Book Resources, author Tim Seeley said that ''Oglaf'' "seems just as content making weird political jokes as it is making dick jokes. In addition to being smartly written, it's beautifully illustrated, and portrays a variety of sexualities and kinks, which ought to please any kind of pervert."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-04-29|title=What Are You Reading? with Tim Seeley|url=https://www.cbr.com/what-are-you-reading-with-tim-seeley/|access-date=2020-10-27|website=CBR|language=en-US}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{official website}}
Category:2000s webcomics Category:2010s webcomics Category:2008 webcomic debuts Category:Australian webcomics Category:Comedy webcomics Category:Erotic comics Category:Fantasy webcomics Category:Fantasy parodies Category:LGBTQ-related webcomics Category:Parody webcomics Category:Sex comedy Category:Webcomics in print Category:Australian comedy websites Category:LGBTQ speculative fiction