BustArtist’s grOw/cinema: The Ever-Expanding Universe – Episodes 2 through 21

Good morning everyone,

Welcome back to There She Grows! Today’s review will discuss BustArtist’s grOw/cinema: “The Ever-Expanding Universe” Episodes 2 through 21. The previous review of this series only covered the first episode. (NOTE: Click here to read that.) Since then, twenty more episodes have been released. Those ranged in length from 50 to 91 pages, called frames. The Ever-Expanding Universe began in mid-February 2017 while the most recent iteration came out in mid-September 2022. Therefore, this post will have to cover more than five years of work, that’s a lot!

(SIDE NOTE: Click here to read an interview with BustArtist and here to read a review of grOw/cinema 2, another currently ongoing BustArtist series.)

The Ever-Expanding Universe’s first season ended with Episode 18, and the second season started with Episode 19. It was unclear why those particular episodes were picked. Part of me would prefer if the splits were yearly. Since this series began in 2017, Season 2 could have started with the first episode in 2018, then Season 3 in 2019, etc., etc. Instead Season 1 included episodes from February 2017 until March 2022. Maybe they can only contain eighteen episodes? It’s possible that Episode 19 was significantly different, in some way that this reviewer did not notice, so a new season was required. Does this make a huge difference? No, not at all. This is merely a suggestion to clarify the seasons.

This series follows the adventures of Carl “the Cock” Sagin (a reference to famous American astronomer and author Carl Sagan). In the initial episode a strange anomaly 22,000 miles* from Earth collapsed in on itself and released a beam of light which struck Carl. This light or energy gave him Godlike abilities to reshape reality and alter people’s minds. Carl uses these newly-granted super powers to make his secret crush Heidi into his girlfriend, to have sex with faculty members, to fuck fellow students, to have intimate relations with Heidi’s mother and sister, and to alter his own body as well as those of numerous women.

* When viewed as a PDF, on page 10 in Episode I the anomaly was described as being 22,000 kilometers away, but on page 14 it was described as being 22,000 miles away. Miles, kilometers, toMAYto, toMAHto, they’re all the same, right? 😉

The most significant positive quality of this illustrated story was the creativity shown in the many fantastical transformations. This series showcased blueberry expansion (a woman turns purple, inflates until she resembles a giant blueberry, and lactates juice), breast expansion a.k.a. B.E. (up to immobilizing dimensions), butt expansion, cum inflation, female muscle growth, height increase for women primarily but also a man, lip pumping, nipple extending and hardening, penis enlargement, profuse lactation, vaginal swelling, etc! (NOTE: BustArtist’s often-seen motif of ordinary man with giant cock was also present throughout.)

Additionally, multiple buildings were destroyed and several outfits were ruined by rapid growth. (NOTE: Fear not lunch ladies! There were no negative consequences as a result of the wrecked cafeteria, because Carl decreed that it’s destruction would not be a hardship.)

By the way, in a June 2022 post (go here to read it) I humbly suggested that BustArtist try something groundbreaking. I speculated that “… a man and a woman might yearn to copulate as a pair of giants …” since to the best of my knowledge BustArtist had never drawn a giant couple in any of his works published since the 1990s. Well, lo and behold, Carl became a giant in September 2022, during the latest episode!

Carl grows into a giant in order to fuck an equally huge college professor. Thank you BustArtist for trying something new!

Sex scenes were also varied. I tried to count the total number of Carl’s sexual partners, but lost track after running out of fingers and toes 😉 To give some examples, a trio of cheerleaders perform oral sex on him, cheerleaders fuck another cheerleader’s hardened nipples, several ladies help a mini-giantess fuck a cock several times longer than the mini-giantess, a giantess inserts Carl into her pussy then uses him and his incredibly huge cock (which was much longer than the rest of his body) like a strap-on to fuck another giantess, etc. All of that was great.

Regarding negatives, there were a few problems. The most significant was a lack of consent. At the very beginning, it was established that Heidi already had a boyfriend, identified as “some jock.” Carl separated them and made Heidi his girlfriend without asking her opinion. To be fair, he was daydreaming and didn’t realize yet that he had the power to make daydreams come true. Still, even in Episode XXI after several days have passed, Carl never stopped to think whether or not Heidi desired to be in an intimate romantic relationship with him. In the same fashion, he cuckolds Heidi’s father Bud and changes people’s sexual orientation without a single thought about the morality of those acts. Carl conducts conversion therapy on several women, meaning he alters their sexual orientation, without the slightest concern or taking a brief pause to consider if they wanted to change.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but thinking about the implications it sure seems like Carl raped a lot of people. That conclusion may feel too dark for this presumably light-hearted material, but what else should readers assume? If I’m wrong, then please let me know!

Conversely, others DID take consent into account. For instance, the woman in the following image:

Instead of disregarding women’s desires, Carl could have made himself physically attractive to win their affection. His body transforming into an outstandingly muscular specimen of manhood with “cum gutters,” to borrow the phrase for well-defined abdominal muscles made famous by the animated series “Rick and Morty.” In an instant, he could become knowledgeable about academic subjects or general topics that interest the ladies. With a mere thought, Carl could transform into a master bartender capable of creating spectacular cocktails. Anyone fancy a Grasshopper? (I do!) It’s reasonable to assume that a handsome and ripped Carl who was also an expert mixologist as well as intelligent and a gifted conversationalist would grab attention.

Yet, Carl merely mandated that women like him using wishes like the following:

“Any public sexual activity by me is fine with everyone.“

“Vera is super horny for me.“

“Why couldn’t we already know this test stuff and she instead wanted to fuck!”

Additionally, people in this story were “flat” (meaning their personalities definitely not the female chests!) and one-dimensional. They didn’t act or behave in a realistic manner. To be crystal clear, there is nothing wrong with enjoying stories only about sex. However, at the same time, when we as creators make such content we should also acknowledge that we are limiting the potential audience. Gentle growth fans, like myself, will enjoy BustArtist’s work. However, those of us who make such content should not be surprised when it only attracts a relatively small audience, because there is nothing to the content except fetish fuel.

The Ever-Expanding Universe has been published for over five years and is composed of hundreds of pages. Yet, through all of that none of the characters were given anything beyond the most minimal of personal traits. Carl’s personality is that he likes having a big cock and voluptuous women, nothing else.

No idea what type of food he enjoys, even though he has already been to the college cafeteria and to a drive-through restaurant. Those were missed opportunities. Could have made him do something unexpected such as declare that he wasn’t fond of tacos (I’ve never met anyone who didn’t appreciate tacos!) or have him announce a love for a specific brand of chocolate cookies (like the Martian Manhunter). In Episode XVIII, a co-ed named Madison brought food from Burrito Bell, Chick-Fill-Up, and McRonald’s to Carl’s dorm room, but Carl himself never expressed an aversion or craving for those fast-food joints. All we know is that he likes “food” which is, to put it mildly, rather generic.

In the same vein, Carl wishes for a fully-stocked liquor cabinet “… full of mixers, beers, wine coolers, and ice.” inside his spruced-up room. Apparently, he did not care what types of beer or wine coolers. This could have been a chance to have him wish for specific beers and named liquors, for example Natty Light and MD 20/20 (a.k.a. Mad Dog), that he had become accustomed to as a college student who typically does not have a lot of money. (NOTE: Yes, I understand that he could wish for expensive adult beverages, but he is probably most familiar with the cheap stuff.)

Carl eats food and drinks water plus unspecific liquor. Apparently, he is only taking one class, “Intro to Astro Physics.” Although, whether that coursework was for his Major or if it was merely an elective was unknown. He has no interest in anime, board games, books, manga, movies, sports, video games, etc. (NOTE: Old man Solo is assuming that those things are still enjoyed by college students.) He doesn’t appear to be particularly generous. For example, he gave himself a “huge” dorm room (complete with a “kick-ass sound system”), but did not do the same for his friend Neil or his girlfriend Heidi. When it comes to defining qualities, Carl was a “nothingburger.” He was boring.

A counter-argument could be that a narrow focus was the goal and the intent was to consciously limit the comic’s appeal to only a relatively small number of people. Using that line of reasoning, perhaps the plan was to purposely omit character depth or development and merely make erotic imagery for readers to store in their spank bank.

However, if the characters had any sort of personalty than it could be attractive to more people. To give an example, the 1992 horror-comedy “Army of Darkness” was my first introduction to Bruce Campbell’s work and to his most famous role, Ash Williams. Bruce brings a distinct charisma to his roles with which earns him a surprisingly large following for a self-described “B-movie actor.” For those of you also familiar with Ash Williams, an often-incompetent man who nonetheless is brave when necessary and loyal to his friends, imagine if he was in a GTS comic! Sure he’s an action hero, not a porn star, but the point is that a protagonist with charisma and humor would broaden the appeal. Crafting a memorable character is not easy, but a failed attempt would be better than no attempt.

Moving on to less significant issues, there was a minor inconsistency in the opening scrolls. Sometimes names were spelled with the first letter in upper-case and the rest of the name in lower-case, as is normal in modern English. However, at other times names were spelled with all letters in upper-case. Sometimes they were displayed in both ways on a single page.

Lastly, background textures were often very plain, resembling original PlayStation (PS1) quality. For instance, the ground in the following screenshot was a perfectly smooth and unvarying color without details.

Similarly, while Vera in the following screenshot looked good, the kitchen behind her was flat. In particular, the counter top and plates on the shelf looked bad.

Overall though, The Ever-Expanding Universe is recommended. As already stated, its appeal is limited. Nonetheless, it includes a veritable cornucopia (or smörgåsbord if you prefer) of innovative transformations and fun sex scenes. So, gentle growth fans should enjoy this. Just don’t think about the implications of Carl’s actions.

That’s it for now folks. Until next time, keep growing!

This review was written by SolomonG and is protected under Fair Use copyright law.

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