Sex in the Comics: Sex Around the World, 2 of 4

Here were the captions underneath these pictures in part of the the final chapter of Sex in the Comics. See previous Saturdays for other installments of the book. Yeah, I know the text of the comics are in 'funny talk' but the computer has translation programs if you don't know the languages and are desperate to read them.

Guy Peellaert, Pravda. Pravda was the tough female leader of a motorcycle gang—she displayed a brawling attitude towards sex and no heart of gold.

Jacques Lob and Georges Pichard, Ulysse. Ulysses meets the siren Calypso in this updated and (very) updated adaptation of Homer's Odyssey.

Georges Pichard, Paulette. Another in a long line of victimized French heroines, Paulette showed more spunk than most. Here she finds solace (and more) from a soul sister.

Phillipe Druillet, Wuzz. In an odd twist on the Faustian legend an old wizard, rejected by women because of his age and his ugliness, creates his own.

Jacques Tardi, Bascuale à Charlot (“Charlot's Rocker”—a slang word for guillotine). A hunted murderer seeks a few moments' escape with a hooker, only to be pursued by his fate in the guise of a drooling, dwarfish old man in a black suit and a bowler hat.

Setbon and Coutelis, Plage-Man. Plage-Man (“Beach-Man”) is a justice fighter who has taken it upon himself to keep law and order (not to mention morality) on French beaches—clearly a job for a superhero. Here he cools down an amorous couple.

Guiseppe Montanari, Goldrake, Goldrake (affectionately called “Goldy” by his many female admirers) is a secret agent in the mold of James Bond, who likes to mix pleasure with business.

Nicolino Dal Principe, Teodora. Theodora is famous in history for rising from courtesan to emperor of Rome. This series of comic books is an entirely uncanonical account of her adventures.

Guido Crepax, La Casa Matta (“The Mad House”). Crepax is indisputably the greatest poet of sexual ecstasy that the comics have ever produced. This is one of his more lyrical variations on this theme.

Luciano Secchi and Paolo Pifferio, Fouché, un Uomo nella Rivoluzione. In this curious hronicle of the French Revolution the authors imply that the protagonists, monarchies and revolutionaries alike, were motivated by sex more than by power or justice. Here Marie-Antoinette bestows her favors on The Duke of Lauzun, a cousin of her royal husband, the much cuckolded Louis XVI.

<"http://www.thrillingdetective.com/pezzo.html">Vittorio Giardino, Sam Pezzo. Giardino is the Italian artist closest to Crepax in spirit and tone. Here he proves that a couple needs not be naked to convey sexual rapture.

Vittorio Giardino, Little Ego. Giardino is also the author of this uncensored (and delightful) pastiche of McCay's Little Nemo. Is nothing sacred?

Ray Collins (a pseudonym), Jezabel Vuole Marire (“Jezabel Wants to Die”). A brazen hussy makes a play for her cousin's boyfriend—but is rebuffed.

Paolo Ghelardini and Piercarlo Macchi, Portafortuna (“Good Luck Charm”). Eros and Thanatos: after meeting a handsome stranger, a young girl dreams of her first night of love only to have a rendezvous with death.

Milo Manara, Click! In this ribald tale worthy of ""Boccacio, a frustrated scientist manages to place a brain implant designed to trigger sexual frenzy in the beauty who spurned him—with predictable results.

Enric Sió, Mara, Sió has been the pioneer of sexual experimentation in Spanish comics. Here, in a ""Bunuel-like tableau, he contrasts the free interplay of a young couple discovering love within the constricting ritual of the Church.