This is the one hundred seventieth entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Our one hundred seventieth random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is trying to create some exceptionally sexy mosquitos. It’s Live Hot Bugs (Waiting for YOU on Proxima Centauri b!!), by L Reeves, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

A speculative mini-comic about making sexy bugs for the good of humanity.

You see, we have to make the bugs sexy. It’s for the good of humanity!

As the tagline says, Live Hot Bugs is a short 12-page comic. Given the title and tagline, I was expecting something very silly, but it’s actually fairly grounded, if still humorous. Taking place on Proxima Centauri b after its colonization by humans, it follows a team of scientists who are trying to eradicate the mosquitoes that tagged along from Earth. The pests are vectors for disease, you see, and this research team had the idea to get rid of them by bioengineering a new strain of male mosquito that will only yield male offspring (the males don’t bite). The problem is that female mosquitoes have no interest in mating with these new males. The scientists just can’t figure out how to get these bugs to get it on.

Here’s where I thought things would get silly, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that there are no mosquito strip clubs involved. The researchers have a scientific problem, and they approach it with scientific thinking. The situation is still pretty funny, but also rings true as the type of thing that might happen in a research lab. Sometimes you have to track down an unknown cause of a problem, and sometimes that problem (and its cause) are pretty weird. The premise is also somewhat based in reality: the bioengineering company Oxitec had the same idea to eradicate mosquitoes as a way of curtailing disease right here on Earth, but has only done limited deployments (partially due to concerns about ecosystem disruption). Oxitec’s mosquitoes have successfully mated in the wild, however; the detail about the new bugs not being sexy enough is L Reeve’s invention.

My copy of Live Hot Bugs includes the short story upon which the comic is based (also penned by L Reeves) as a bonus. It’s an interesting read, after reading the comic. It’s not much longer than the comic is, and many sections of dialogue are reused verbatim in the comic. The main difference is that the story contains a bit more exposition, and explanations for certain scenes where the comic simply illustrates. A few parts felt clearer to me in the short story, but one scene in particular made great use of the visual aspect of the comic. I think I slightly prefer the comic overall, but it was cool to see how the story started and was then translated to a different medium.

I don’t have much more to say about this one, lest I enter spoiler territory. It’s a quick read, but funny and with surprisingly interesting science at the core of its premise. If that sounds intriguing to you, and you missed it in the bundle, Live Hot Bugs (Waiting for YOU on Proxima Centauri b!!) is sold for a minimum price of $3 (with the short story thrown in for an extra $2).

That’s 170 down, and only 1571 to go!