Emilee Denich’s twelve-page story Autoerotic, presented under her pseudonym Ghostgreen, is one of sixteen short contributions by comic strip artists to the Iron Circus Comics anthology Smut Peddler Presents: Sex Machine. The simple narrative revolves around a character named Cole and a fully-automated, benevolent smart home AI robot named Ocho. To spark an intimate connection, Ocho creates a data chip that plugs directly into Cole’s neural implants, allowing Cole to step into a simulated virtual reality space where Ocho can manifest a humanoid avatar to share an intimate connection with Cole. True to Denich’s distinct artistic voice, the story explores identity and connection within a sci-fi setting, matching the human–AI interaction with a stylised, fluid exploration of the virtual reality interface.

The publication history of Sex Machine demonstrates how independent crowdfunding can successfully support niche, creator-owned comic book anthologies. In August 2018 Iron Circus publisher C. Spike Trotman and editor Amanda Lafrenais launched a fifteen-day campaign on the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform. The fundraising effort captured immediate interest, with 2,822 backers pledging a total of $106,973, quintupling the original production goal. Iron Circus managed a swift production turnaround, distributing the initial digital and physical print editions to its campaign backers in November 2018. The trade paperback volume, featuring a striking foil cover by artist Anaïs Maamar, was released to the book trade in April 2019.