The Spider Garden (Spider Garden Book One) [Paperback]

Michael Manning (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1995

In the mansion of the androgyne Shaalis, leather concubines wait to serve Hir every whim.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: NBM Amerotica (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561631175
• ISBN-13: 978-1561631179
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,265,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Manning is an illustrator, animator, tattoo designer and comix artist/writer. His best known works include THE SPIDER GARDEN and TRANCEPTOR graphic novel series and the art collection INAMORATA. His artwork has been featured in galleries and museum exhibits in the US and internationally. While he is primarily known for his erotic sf/fantasy work, his comix adaptations of horror/suspense stories can be seen in Graphic Classics' HORROR & ADVENTURE CLASSICS anthologies. To see more of Michael's artwork, please visit his web site: http://www.thespidergarden.net. His LiveJournal has the latest updates on new projects and events: http://metalweb.livejournal.com/

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous draughtsmanship, oblique storytelling, kinky sex, March 16, 2001

By 

Sebbo "cardinal_sebbo" (Somerville, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Spider Garden (Spider Garden Book One) (Paperback)

Many of my favorite comix share the quality of appearing to be self-contained artifacts dropped in from a different world, like the encyclopedia volume in Borges' "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius." They create little worlds with a totally persuasive ecology and aesthetic. Some examples of this have been THB #1 by Paul Pope, Louis by Metaphrog, New Hat by Tom Hart, and Cave-In by Brian Ralph (only the last of those is available through Amazon, unfortunately).

The Spider Garden and its sequel, Hydrophidian, overflow with this quality. Drawing on Japanese woodblock prints and Cyberpunk science fiction, Manning creates an engrossing world of intrigue and decadence.

It's worth emphasizing that Spider Garden is also extremely kinky and explicit fetish porn. It's rare that someone creates a work of artistically ambitions erotica where the sexual heat is not stifled by the author's pretentions, but here the intricate and subtle plot and the extensive sex scenes achieve a symbiotic relationship that increases the power of both.

Manning has only begun to explore the world he suggests in these books, and his output is notoriously slow. I hope to see many more volumes of this story before he ends the series.

Note: Unfortunately, like so many NBM books, the binding is lousy. The content bears repeated re-readings, but the spine does not.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Manning's best work ..., February 18, 2001

By 

SH in Tampa "SPH" (Tampa FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Spider Garden (Spider Garden Book One) (Paperback)

This graphic novel is the tale of the Shaalis, an androgyne living a high tech mansion surround by her human pets and intelligent machines. Inside her special Garden, leather clad concubines wait to service her every whim while she engages in political machinations with her various other world peers.

A somewhat convoluted plot, it has all the Manning signature elements of high quality illustration and incredibly inventive settings. This book is executed in Manning's heavy, black line illustration that is very reminiscent of Japanese wood cuts. The settings and the characters are original and beautifully rendered. This book has something to appeal (or offend) almost everyone - elaborate costumes, bondage, bestiality, female bisexuality and good old hardcore sex. Interesting and inventive - I can't wait to see the next book in the series, Hydrophidian.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars aubrey beardsly meets latex, November 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Spider Garden (Spider Garden Book One) (Paperback)

the fetishism isn't cheesy. the sex isn't cheesy. the storyline is engaging and artwork is absolutely beautiful. it left me wanting more . . . and within two minutes of me showing my copies to various friends they were shoving money into my hands, begging me to order them their own books.