All Comics Big And Small And Dangly.

August 11, 2009 6:40 AM

Where The New Comics At?: In addition to my many other hats I may be getting a job reviewing new erotica/sexuality/explicit etc comics in the future. I'd get my pick of any comic/graphic novel to review as long as it includes some element or discussion of sex or sexuality or whatever. The problem is that I have no idea what the new releases are and I can't seem to find a centralized list of upcoming titles with enough description.

Where should I be looking for new and upcoming titles from big and small publishers, ideally with some description so I can tell what the hell it is?

posted by The Whelk to media & arts (8 comments total)

Try Commie Comics.
posted by RichardS at 6:44 AM on August 11

Diamond Comics has a near monopoly on comic book distribution, so their distributor catalog, called "Previews", is a fairly comprehensive source for upcoming comics. It lists comics about 3 months before the show up on store shelves, with small blurbs about each one. Most comics stores sell Previews to their customers, or you can find the content at the link above.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 7:10 AM on August 11

Diamond also publishes an adult Previews catalog. You can request one from your local comic book shop.
posted by mrsshotglass at 7:12 AM on August 11 [1 favorite]

I seem to remember a while back that Heavy Metal magazine had pages and pages of that sort of thing, descriptions included. Mind you, these weren't comics with 'some element or discussion of sex', these were straight up about sex, and made no bones (sorry) about it.
posted by Pragmatica at 7:14 AM on August 11

Allow me to put aside my seething envy for a moment and strongly recommend that you start with Eros Comix, an imprint of Fantagraphics Books that may be the single biggest publisher of erotic comics going at the moment. Bud Plant also carries a lot of this kind of stuff, also Eurotica.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:52 AM on August 11

Check out Last Gasp, which distributes small press/sexually explicit/comics publications, including the recently released Best Erotic Comics 2009 (edited by a friend of mine, and she knows lots and lots about erotic comics, as you can imagine, so if you want an intro, mefimail me).
posted by rtha at 8:55 AM on August 11

The problem is that I have no idea what the new releases are and I can't seem to find a centralized list of upcoming titles with enough description.

My darling The Whelk, not knowing that demonstrates that you're a bit of a n00b in the field (the answer is a) Diamond Previews, b) the Haven catalog [which seems to be called Comics! now], and c) the Last Gasp site for the editions too teensy for Haven to bother with). Also, don't forget to go to the comic store and talk to the people who work there--they know.

I recommend a crash course in comics culture before you start reviewing. The essential trade sources are Comics Worth Reading, The Beat at Publishers Weekly, Bleeding Cool, CBR, and The Comics Journal.

Best of luck to you with this!
posted by Sidhedevil at 10:12 AM on August 11

Thank you all. My immense gratitude is equal only to my profound ignorance before you helped.

Yay!
posted by The Whelk at 7:03 AM on August 12