Customer Reviews

Best Erotic Comics 2008

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Editor Greta Christina says in the Introduction to her Best Erotic Comics 2008 that she used two criteria in her selection process: she wanted comics with "serious literary/artistic merit" and comics that were "hot." Both of these were necessary conditions. A comic that had one but not the other didn't make the cut.

Fair enough. But these criteria for determining what's "erotic" are boggy, even allowing for the fact that "erotic" is notoriously hard (and probably impossible) to define tightly. "Hot," of course, is unabashedly subjective. "Serious literary/artistic merit" is less so, but Christina says nothing to explain what she means by the standard except that it connotes "thoughtful, insightful, engaging, funny, poignant, political, and/or exceptionally well-drawn." Not much help there.

I bring this up because it seems to me that the comics included in this volume--which Christina claims is the first in a series--are seriously mixed in quality. Part of what's going on is undoubtedly a matter of taste: Christina's aesthetic and erotic tastes don't match up perfectly with mine. But part of it is the needless ambiguity of the standards she claims to have used in putting the volume together. Perhaps a more thoughtful discussion of what she means by "erotic" would've helped her be less scatter-gunned in her selections and more consistent in choosing high quality ones.

Ellen Forney's cover as well as her "Handy Map to Erogenous Zones" and "After House"; Colleen Coover's playful "A Bondage Tale"; Vince Coleman's "Flying to New Heights"; and Dori Seda's "F--- Story" are perfect examples of what this book could've contained: teasingly sexy, funny, playful, unconventional, tender, well-executed. Equally good but more serious selections include Quinn's "The Eternal Idol"; John Cuneo's "The Best Field Trip Ever"; and Daphne Gottlieb and Diane DiMassa's "Jokes and the Unconscious."

But why Trina Robbins' "Pets," which depicts sex and nudity but clearly isn't intended to be erotic in any sense of the word? Why "Talk Show Queers," which is too long and succeeds in making what should've been hot sex yawningly tedious? Why the sadistic selections from Toshio Saeki--beautifully drawn, granted, but erotic only to folks who get off on torture and mutilation? And what "serious literary/artistic merit" could one possibly claim for Phoebe Gloeckner's "An Evening in Prague," Gilbert Hernandez's "You're an Artist," Susannah Breslin's "My, My American Bukkake," or Ralf Konig's "Sniffing Around" (which at least has the merit of being funny)? For that matter, how are any of these selections "hot" in any reasonable sense of the word?

Why no Alison Bechdel? No trans-comics? And why the inclusion of pre-2008 erotic comics in a volume that announces itself as collecting the best of 2008? (Christina provides an unconvincing rationale in the Introduction.)

Here's a free piece of advice for Last Gasp Publishers. Don't rely on a single editor to put together future volumes in this series. Doing so almost inevitably means publishing volumes that really wind up being "Best Erotic Comics according to the Editor." Invite the leading erotic comic artists to jointly edit future volumes. It can only be an improvement.

This first in the annual series shows comics that aren't just designed to turn you on (though some of them surely will), but also tell humorous, honest stories about a range of sexualities, using various artistic styles that show readers just how many ways one can interpret sex. The sex here isn't sanitized or trying to necessarily show any typical idea of "hot sex." In other words, while it's sexy, it's not necessarily something you're going to open and immediately start jerking off to (though you very well might as you go through the book).

There's kinky sex, lesbian sex, dogs talking about their owners (or rather, "the man with the can opener") having sex. Erika Moen's tribute to her silver bullet vibrator, and its ability to give her her first orgasm, when she feared she was lagging behind her peers, is one that many women will be able to relate to. There's everything from cock and ball torture to a man going down on himself to Susannah Breslin's journalistic take on bukkake, where she interviews and examines the motives of the participants, male and female, with an open-minded, curious tone. Some, like "Talk Show Queers," don't need dialogue to get their point across, while others rely more heavily on textual storytelling in addition to the visuals.

Ellen Forney's artwork is a favorite of mine as well, from her eye-catching cover art to her diagram of the human body's erogenous zones to "After Hours." Seasoned sex writer Greta Christina is out to provoke discussion, identification, lust, and much more with this collection. Thankfully, it's so much more than just naked bodies, but gets at the ways we think, talk, and feel about sex. She's included some classics as well as newer work. I appreciated the variety of styles included here, and as a relative newcomer to the world of comics, plan to check out work by some of the artists that are new to me. And, perhaps best of all, is that the series is taking submissions for the 2009 edition, if this one inspires you to submit something of your own (or something you've seen that's particularly hot).

Greta Christina knows her stuff. She always delivers the best books. I'm her big fan, and love how she thinks and sees. Best Erotic Comics is the best!

Annie Sprinkle, Ph.D. Sex worker turned Sexologist, and Author of Spectacular Sex.