Pilcher Tim. - Erotic Comics,A Graphic History. Volume 1: From birth to the 1970s

An exquisite gag cartoon by Bill Ward.

EROTIC COMICS

Tim Pilcher

Foreword by Aline Kominsky Crumb

First published in the United Kingdom in 2008 by

ILEX

210 High Street

Lewes, East Sussex

BN7 2NS

www.ilex-press.com

Copyright 2008 The Ilex Press Limited

This book was conceived by:

ILEX

Cambridge

England

Publisher: Alastair Campbell

Creative Director: Peter Bridgewater

Managing Editor: Chris Gatcum

Art Director: Julie Weir

Designer: Jonathan Raimes

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
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the British Library

ISBN 978-1-904705-22-7

ePub ISBN 978-1-908150-19-6

Mobi ISBN 978-1-78157-147-7

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Aline Kominsky Crumbs portrait of Christian Coudures (the other husband), for the postcard series, 6 Nudes with Baguettes.

It makes me laugh to imagine anyone finding my comic work erotic, and in general I can say the same thing about most Underground comic art. This work is meant to shock, its vulgar, gross (especially mine), ugly, slimy, shows way more than you need or want to see, and its not really meant to turn you on. I consider my depictions of sex as anti-erotic, absurd and ridiculousexposing the human underbelly in all its hideousness!

My husband, Robert Crumb, is violent, twisted, and often satirical in his sexy stories. Some poor souls, who unfortunately share his sexual perversions and unsavory fixations, might find his work good masturbation material, but it is definitely not sex fantasy material for the masses. There are a few Underground artists who actually draw fabulously sexy females My personal favorites are Gilbert and Jaime Hernandeztheir adoration and lust for the female body is a real turn-on. I also love Spains tough bitches as theyre scary and beautiful.

Of course, I get aroused by Crumbs sick work because many of the female objects of desire resemble me and this appeals to my extreme narcissism! And I even admit that I enjoy the way the wimp attacks these powerful females, although heres a scoop for youI never think Robert goes far enough in his sadistic exploitation of the Obnoxious Amazons body, with the exception of Devil Girl! I wonder how many other people in the world would share this fantasy with me? Maybe Im twisted? So anyway, moving along

Checking out the material in this book, I keep wondering what makes art, or anything for that matter, erotic? Is it work that directly lines up with our own sexual proclivities that turns us on and nothing else? Probably But obviously there are other subtle sociological factors that contribute to making art powerful. For example, Victorian erotic art is sexy mainly because it is so forbidden. It is also beautifully drawn and all the details of daily life are so lovely that the nastiness of the act is loaded and provocative.

The oriental art is so delicate The sex organs look like flowers, or exotic little animals. I dont know what to make of the old Japanese erotic imagesit makes me feel like a giant hairy gross beast! I know it appeals to a lot of people, especially those who dont like to think of sex as yucky, juicy, and messy!

The 1920s through the 50s were the golden age of humorous porno, especially in America. Theres a lot of great looking work and this is the epoch of the illustrated dirty joke, double entendre, and embarrassing mishap. Theres an exuberance to a lot of this work and its all real healthy and normal sexuality that culminates with Playboys sophisticated adult humor of the 50s and 60s. Of course, I cannot relate to it at all, being an over-the-hill summer-of-love kind of free spirit monster!

So anyway, I guess Ill just go on encouraging my husband to squeeze my face and jump on my butt in public until were too old to care, and well let all of you analyze just how twisted and kinky we are!

ALINE KOMINSKY CRUMB

Aline Kominsky Crumb and her husband, Robert Crumb, A couple a nasty raunchy old things bare all in their brutally frank Self Loathing Comics #2 (1997).

Erotica has a long, illustrious history, dating back to mankinds earliest artistic endeavours, from simple fertility statues to scenes portraying every type of congress imaginable. From 5th century Greek urns and ancient Roman mosaics, to the Japanese shunga prints and Indian Kama Sutra of the 18th and 19th centuries, erotic and arousing art has held a very important position within the history of creativity.

So it is no surprise that as the human race has developed more sophisticated ways of expressing ideas, erotic art would be at the forefront. As simple illustrations started to develop into cartoon art, using speech balloons and sequential imagery to portray an ongoing narrative, the birth of comic strips would invariably be entwined with the birth of erotic comics.

But erotica has always been the preserve of the upper classes, and not meant for the plebeian masses, for fear it might deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences, as the Victorians put it. Obviously the upper classes were above such base desires and could appreciate the work purely for its artistic merit. This laughable attitude prevailed for decades, and coupled with the fact that comics and cartoonserotic or nothad always been given short shrift by the intelligentsia, it meant that erotic comics were doubly dammed.

Viewed very much as low art for the masses, it is only within the last 20 years that a certain amount of respectability has been afforded to this mass-produced art form. Yet history reveals that fine artists have long been influenced by their less feted brethren. Pablo Picasso, for example, was a huge comic fan, and an avid reader of the New York Journals comic strip Katzenjammer Kids. The strip was created by German immigrant Rudolph Dirks in 1897, and inspired Picasso towards modernism. His own work wears its cartoon inspiration on its canvas, particularly in his more erotic work, such as his cartoon sketches Couple (1964) and the lesbian Femmes Nues a la Fleur (1971).