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Free Pass
Free Pass is an intoxicating tale of liberty, privacy, and shame, set in the sticky place where sex, politics, and technology come together.
George Orwell said "You are free to be a drunkard, an idler, a coward, backbiter, a fornicator. You are not free to think for yourself."
Huck and Nadia are enjoying their working in Big Tech and developing an adventurous sex life. Together they fantasize about opening their relationship with a "free pass" to sleep with certain friends or celebrities. It's all in good fun.
But Huck is leading a double life. As a national election looms, he grows more and more uncomfortable with his company’s unelected authority over internet discourse.
When the couple receives a bizarre gift — a cutting-edge humanoid sex AI that can morph into anyone — their worlds of fantasy, trust, and consent are thrown into blissful chaos.
In a society growing more divided each day, Huck struggles with the pressure to uphold boundaries at work... while everything is collapsing at home.
Julian Hanshaw follows his acclaimed graphic novels Tim Ginger and Cloud Hotel with an intoxicating new tale of liberty, privacy, and shame, set in the sticky place where sex, politics, and technology come together.
George Orwell said "You are free to be a drunkard, an idler, a coward, backbiter, a fornicator. You are not free to think for yourself."
Huck and Nadia are enjoying their working in Big Tech and developing an adventurous sex life. Together they fantasize about opening their relationship with a "free pass" to sleep with certain friends or celebrities. It's all in good fun.
But Huck is leading a double life. As a national election looms, he grows more and more uncomfortable with his company’s unelected authority over internet discourse.
When the couple receives a bizarre gift — a cutting-edge humanoid sex AI that can morph into anyone — their worlds of fantasy, trust, and consent are thrown into blissful chaos.
In a society growing more divided each day, Huck struggles with the pressure to uphold boundaries at work... while everything is collapsing at home.
Julian Hanshaw follows his acclaimed graphic novels Tim Ginger and Cloud Hotel with an intoxicating new tale of liberty, privacy, and shame, set in the sticky place where sex, politics, and technology come together.
- GenresGraphic NovelsComics
192 pages, Paperback
Published June 7, 2022
4 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 1, 2022
Huck and Nadia are a highly sexual couple working for a tech/social media giant (basically Google/YouTube). Though their group-sex experimentation fantasies remain just that, a friend one day gifts them a prototype sex doll that can morph into a number of set models. And then Nadia hacks the menu so that anyone with images on the internet can be turned into their sex doll. Oh, the depravity of the future!
Julian Hanshaw’s latest comic Free Pass is (I think) a critique of contemporary Western culture and the murky areas it’s headed. I liked parts of it but also found others fairly unremarkable.
I was intrigued with the main storyline of where Huck and Nadia’s lives and relationship would go once they became obsessed with the sex doll. It ultimately doesn’t go anywhere or say anything profound, but I was at least interested in finding out what happened next, and it wasn’t totally underwhelming.
Other aspects of the book are less impressive. There’s a countdown to the “election” in lieu of chapters, possibly alluding to the way that social media shapes our real world via perceptions of political candidates, stoking fires in voters, driving those divisions deeper and making our world extremely partisan. I agree, but that’s quite a banal point, if that is what Hanshaw’s shooting for - otherwise, I have no idea why this election stuff is in the book.
Similarly obvious is the observation that tech companies seem to expect and rigidly enforce a certain (extreme leftwing) viewpoint in its workers, and that policing free speech online is a tricky line to walk. Fair enough, but again it’s another banal point to make - Hanshaw’s not saying anything new or enlightening about this topic.
Huck is fixated on percentages of birds making it to life and, even then, their lives are brutal and short, which is another seemingly pointless tangent unless it’s symbolic of the “approved” comments that don’t get deleted from social media by him/his company and he’s saying - what, that the experience social media is providing is limiting life, or something?
That’s the main problem with this book: Hanshaw’s points are either clear and obvious or vague and muddled, and none of it gels together well. Maybe he’s saying the internet has warped our sexual selves, although Huck and Nadia seem to be an unusual couple and were the way they are prior to the sex doll anyway. I agree that online social discourse and democratic political systems could use a shake-up (your choice is one of two parties, really?), but Hanshaw’s conclusion - that anticlimactic ending - isn’t a solution, or at least not an effective one.
Hanshaw’s at his best when he’s centred on storytelling and Huck and Nadia’s sexual sci-fi adventure was mostly compelling, though it could’ve been better if the book had been more focused on this rather than including those uninteresting political discussions drizzled in throughout. And I do like Hanshaw’s unusual art with his odd-looking characters and wonderful use of colour.
Free Pass (as in “hall pass” where you would allow your partner to sleep with someone, usually a celeb, without consequence) is original for the most part and I enjoyed the main story, but it’s not very successful in making a powerful or thoughtful contemporary statement on Western culture that I think Julian Hanshaw hoped it would. Still, it’s worth a look if you’re interested in this creator.
Julian Hanshaw’s latest comic Free Pass is (I think) a critique of contemporary Western culture and the murky areas it’s headed. I liked parts of it but also found others fairly unremarkable.
I was intrigued with the main storyline of where Huck and Nadia’s lives and relationship would go once they became obsessed with the sex doll. It ultimately doesn’t go anywhere or say anything profound, but I was at least interested in finding out what happened next, and it wasn’t totally underwhelming.
Other aspects of the book are less impressive. There’s a countdown to the “election” in lieu of chapters, possibly alluding to the way that social media shapes our real world via perceptions of political candidates, stoking fires in voters, driving those divisions deeper and making our world extremely partisan. I agree, but that’s quite a banal point, if that is what Hanshaw’s shooting for - otherwise, I have no idea why this election stuff is in the book.
Similarly obvious is the observation that tech companies seem to expect and rigidly enforce a certain (extreme leftwing) viewpoint in its workers, and that policing free speech online is a tricky line to walk. Fair enough, but again it’s another banal point to make - Hanshaw’s not saying anything new or enlightening about this topic.
Huck is fixated on percentages of birds making it to life and, even then, their lives are brutal and short, which is another seemingly pointless tangent unless it’s symbolic of the “approved” comments that don’t get deleted from social media by him/his company and he’s saying - what, that the experience social media is providing is limiting life, or something?
That’s the main problem with this book: Hanshaw’s points are either clear and obvious or vague and muddled, and none of it gels together well. Maybe he’s saying the internet has warped our sexual selves, although Huck and Nadia seem to be an unusual couple and were the way they are prior to the sex doll anyway. I agree that online social discourse and democratic political systems could use a shake-up (your choice is one of two parties, really?), but Hanshaw’s conclusion - that anticlimactic ending - isn’t a solution, or at least not an effective one.
Hanshaw’s at his best when he’s centred on storytelling and Huck and Nadia’s sexual sci-fi adventure was mostly compelling, though it could’ve been better if the book had been more focused on this rather than including those uninteresting political discussions drizzled in throughout. And I do like Hanshaw’s unusual art with his odd-looking characters and wonderful use of colour.
Free Pass (as in “hall pass” where you would allow your partner to sleep with someone, usually a celeb, without consequence) is original for the most part and I enjoyed the main story, but it’s not very successful in making a powerful or thoughtful contemporary statement on Western culture that I think Julian Hanshaw hoped it would. Still, it’s worth a look if you’re interested in this creator.
July 26, 2022
There are some points made about social media, privacy, and politics but they get lost in a muddle of relationship drama and frequent sex scenes. In the end, I'm just not sure what the point of the book is and don't really care.
September 11, 2022
This was...interesting? I guess that's the best way to describe it. I didn't really dislike it though, I've read way weirder things. It was just meh. The character's were horrible people but they were well written even thought they sucked. The artwork was fine. It was all just fine. I feel this author was trying to make some commentary on technology and how it gets in the way of really talking to your partner and being present in your relationship. Bleh.
November 6, 2023
This comic is absolutely not going to be everyone's cup of tea - the choppy pacing, the eccentric art style, the frequent sex scenes, etc. - but I drank it up and wanted more. "Free Pass" is what you'd get if an episode of "Black Mirror" aired on MTV's "Liquid Television" animation showcase and, if you understand those reference points, you'll get just how cool that all sounds. Slapping together A.I. sex-bots, social media misinformation, relationship drama, dragonflies, and a contentious election cycle, Julian Hanshaw's freaktastic comic is unlike anything else I've read. I love adventurous, unique creators who make adventurous, unique art and "Free Pass" certainly fits the bill. I will definitely be checking out more of Hanshaw's work.
March 6, 2023
So, what exactly is the hook? Sure, the over-the-top sex, but with the advent of the internet that is passe. In the end you are left with an odd mix of sex, sex toys (imaginary), "Big Tech", social alienation, and politics. None of this seems to work, why does the guy always seem to be sweating? No, each element appears to have been masticated, passed though the alimentary canal and lands in a faux Pollack tableau. But at least the hero is knocking on doors at the end (perhaps on a AI sex toys for all platform?).
August 10, 2025
This was a pretty nuanced view of politics through using sex, comment moderation and tech bros. I kind of liked it. It does break up the common narrative around both sides and may offer something to the american people.
Most who won't read this because of being prudish.
There is at least one moment that feels more real than others and breaks the solidarity of choosing and holding a side when it comes to reality. And that is pretty cool. I would recommend this to folks who are a little sick of the binary system in the US.
Most who won't read this because of being prudish.
There is at least one moment that feels more real than others and breaks the solidarity of choosing and holding a side when it comes to reality. And that is pretty cool. I would recommend this to folks who are a little sick of the binary system in the US.
April 29, 2025
Very surprised at the low ratings on this one.
Maybe it shouldn't be surprising though. It definitely felt more like a novel than what I've come to expect from "graphic novels". But for me, that was an entirely good thing.
Although the art was good, it was the rich story that really shown through. It wasn't a dystopian story of sex robots, political divide, and big brother white-washing and control...those were just some realistic elements in the story of the growth two people.
Maybe it shouldn't be surprising though. It definitely felt more like a novel than what I've come to expect from "graphic novels". But for me, that was an entirely good thing.
Although the art was good, it was the rich story that really shown through. It wasn't a dystopian story of sex robots, political divide, and big brother white-washing and control...those were just some realistic elements in the story of the growth two people.
January 17, 2022
Thanks to Edelweiss+ for the DRC of this title.
The premise of Free Pass started off interesting but the reality of it just ended up being confusing and off the rails weird.
Plus the artwork did nothing for me, very pedestrian.
The premise of Free Pass started off interesting but the reality of it just ended up being confusing and off the rails weird.
Plus the artwork did nothing for me, very pedestrian.
July 2, 2022
I've read a few of Henshaw's other books, so I was hoping to like this. The story is kind of all over the place - there's a total of three plots wrapped inside of one short book. I would have preferred to read them separately.
February 25, 2023
I can't put my finger on it but I didn't like this graphic novel. A lot of muddled politics intermingled with a fantasy about a sex robot. Every chapter counts down to the date of an impending election but somehow it doesn't feel important?
April 9, 2023
A solidly OK read.
Really unsympathetic characters and a really wonky storyline. Colour work is cool and wandered towards a couple of interesting points, only to whiff it in the end and sink back into jumbledness.
Really unsympathetic characters and a really wonky storyline. Colour work is cool and wandered towards a couple of interesting points, only to whiff it in the end and sink back into jumbledness.
April 16, 2024
This was interesting - I enjoyed the sci fi / sex robot / relationship elements (defs a spoiler) but the political parts weren't as interesting to me. I understood the loose links that were being made but I wasn't super invested. It was engaging though - I read it all in one go!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 16, 2022
🤷🏻♀️
Read
August 18, 2022fuck off lol
September 26, 2022
Surprising, thoughtful and fun. Love the art.
November 21, 2022
This sounded like fun but was quite dull really.
July 13, 2023
Sexy time with humanoid sex AI robots.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews