Well-written adult graphic novels?
December 6, 2010 8:20 PM Subscribe
Are there any good (as in, engaging and quite possibly well-written) erotic adult graphic novels?
I'm not looking for outright porn (although the sexier the better, natch), and I would like something that is at least reasonably well-written.
I'm a straight male, mid-30's, married. The wife has been enjoying some of the stuff I've been bringing home lately (Preacher, Y, Proof), and I want something we can both enjoy.
I'll be monitoring the thread. Thanks!
I'm not looking for outright porn (although the sexier the better, natch), and I would like something that is at least reasonably well-written.
I'm a straight male, mid-30's, married. The wife has been enjoying some of the stuff I've been bringing home lately (Preacher, Y, Proof), and I want something we can both enjoy.
I'll be monitoring the thread. Thanks!
Seconding Lost Girls. You should also try and track down Peter Milligan's/Ted McKeever's The Extremist.
posted by KingEdRa at 9:12 PM on December 6, 2010
posted by KingEdRa at 9:12 PM on December 6, 2010
Married-to-a-man woman here. Just so you know, I also liked Y: The Last Man and did not enjoy Lost Girls. It's really surreal & literary, not like a lot of other more mainstream Alan Moore stuff you might have enjoyed.
posted by brainwane at 9:19 PM on December 6, 2010
posted by brainwane at 9:19 PM on December 6, 2010
Whereas I found Lost Girls turgid and rather well disappointing. De gustibus sera sera.
—And here's the trouble with "graphic novel" as a, well, a category: do you mean comics pieces of any length gathered together in a book-sized volume? In the which case, Colleen Coover's Small Favors stories are pretty much the gold standard for fun and frolicsome comics smut [Fantagraphics, Amazon]. I've also been fond of Vittorio Giardino's gorgeous if retro Little Ego strips. But these are strips and shorts; if by "graphic novel" you mean something more, well, novelistic, hmm. Omaha the Cat Dancer is rightly cited as a groundbreaking trailblazer, but it's more a soap opera in structure than a novel, and I couldn't tell you how well it's aged. —There's six volumes of Empowered out by now, and it's surprising how much deeper it turns out to be than the one-note joke that kicks it off, but the combo of satire and melodrama may I fear be an acquired taste. —Also, Lee and Kaluta finally finally finished a version of Starstruck in comics form, so there's that.
posted by kipmanley at 9:48 PM on December 6, 2010
—And here's the trouble with "graphic novel" as a, well, a category: do you mean comics pieces of any length gathered together in a book-sized volume? In the which case, Colleen Coover's Small Favors stories are pretty much the gold standard for fun and frolicsome comics smut [Fantagraphics, Amazon]. I've also been fond of Vittorio Giardino's gorgeous if retro Little Ego strips. But these are strips and shorts; if by "graphic novel" you mean something more, well, novelistic, hmm. Omaha the Cat Dancer is rightly cited as a groundbreaking trailblazer, but it's more a soap opera in structure than a novel, and I couldn't tell you how well it's aged. —There's six volumes of Empowered out by now, and it's surprising how much deeper it turns out to be than the one-note joke that kicks it off, but the combo of satire and melodrama may I fear be an acquired taste. —Also, Lee and Kaluta finally finally finished a version of Starstruck in comics form, so there's that.
posted by kipmanley at 9:48 PM on December 6, 2010
ymmv, but i'm a fan of omaha the cat dancer. also: the work of r. crumb. and, while it's straight up porn, pretty much all the women i know, even the straight ones, love small favors
posted by nadawi at 9:54 PM on December 6, 2010
posted by nadawi at 9:54 PM on December 6, 2010
I'm not going to google for it right now for reasons pertaining to my employment status, but you need to check out the work of Milo Manara.
posted by Dr Dracator at 10:41 PM on December 6, 2010
posted by Dr Dracator at 10:41 PM on December 6, 2010
Milo Manara is very much about the beautiful erotic drawings, not so much about the "reasonably well written".
I've enjoyed what I've seen, mostly, but I was definitely looking for outright porn.
posted by lydhre at 5:48 AM on December 7, 2010
I've enjoyed what I've seen, mostly, but I was definitely looking for outright porn.
posted by lydhre at 5:48 AM on December 7, 2010
I'm a woman who loved Y the Last Man and most Alan Moore stuff, but Lost Girls was just about the least sexy erotica I've ever read. YMMV.
posted by Gordafarin at 6:35 AM on December 7, 2010
posted by Gordafarin at 6:35 AM on December 7, 2010
Glad to see some props for Omaha the Cat Dancer. I read it in the 90s and it was the first thing that popped into my mind to recommend when reading your question. Now I will have to check out some of the others recommended here.
posted by xenophile at 10:24 AM on December 7, 2010
posted by xenophile at 10:24 AM on December 7, 2010
I thought Lost Girls was a fascinating book (especially the art), but it made me never want to have sex ever again.
I know there is a whole subgenre of erotic Japanese manga targeted at women, so maybe your local mangatorium stocks some?
posted by Sidhedevil at 12:45 PM on December 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
I know there is a whole subgenre of erotic Japanese manga targeted at women, so maybe your local mangatorium stocks some?
posted by Sidhedevil at 12:45 PM on December 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
The XXXenophile Big Book of Fun is probably more on the porn side, but it's porn-with-a-plot, and well-written.
posted by Jacqueline at 1:35 PM on December 7, 2010
posted by Jacqueline at 1:35 PM on December 7, 2010
Seconding Small Favors. My wife's mostly-straight, but I bought it for her and she's enjoyed it. It's cute, fun, and well drawn.
posted by SNWidget at 5:32 PM on December 7, 2010
posted by SNWidget at 5:32 PM on December 7, 2010
As I haven't read it, I can't speak to its quality but I know that Gilbert Hernandez (of Love and Rockets fame) did an adult comic called Birdland.
posted by jaybeans at 10:05 PM on December 8, 2010
posted by jaybeans at 10:05 PM on December 8, 2010
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posted by jb at 8:24 PM on December 6, 2010 [3 favorites]