‘Contact High’ Is An Eisner Nominated Digital Comic That Will Make You Feel All The Ways

Writer: James F. Wright / Artist: Josh Eckert / Independent What if it was illegal to touch another person? We live in a world that still grapples with universal acceptance of all sexual orientations and gender identities, so it isn’t too hard to imagine a future where those reservations are taken a few steps further. If you couldn’t hug your mom, or breastfeed your baby… If you couldn’t kiss your boyfriend or help an old lady across the street… What kind of world would this be? Contact High, an Eisner nominated Digital Comic, answers that question while making your eyes puffy. To be more specific, the story is set in a not so distant looking future where human touch is outlawed like a drug, and regarded as a disease. Those who seek it out are imprisoned, and the inmates are subjected to therapy-like sessions that manipulate them into accepting things as they are. We follow Ziggurat on his first day in jail, as he grapples with whether he will continue to live this bleak existence or fight for something that should be a basic human right. Because of the nature of the story, there’s no way you can’t relate to Ziggurat. He has motivations that I think we would all have if we were in his place. I’m telling you, you’re gonna need a tissue box.

I first picked up Contact High from Co-Creator James Wright at Emerald City Comic Con. At conventions, I try to buy as much self-published creator-owned material as I can before my bank account starts to look at me sideways. Luckily, t…