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Erotic comics areadult comics which focus substantially on nudity and sexual activity, either for their own sake or as a major story element. As such they are usually not permitted to be sold to legal minors. Like other genres of comics, they can consist of single panels, shortcomic strips,comic books, orgraphic novels/albums. Although never a mainstream genre, they have existed as a niche alongside – but usually separate from – other genres of comics.
During the mid-20th century, most comics were produced for children, and in North America the contents of most comics were constrained by theComics Code Authority to be suitable for children. Consequently, erotic comics have sometimes been subject to criticism and extra scrutiny compared to other forms of erotic art and storytelling. Additionally, the application oflaws against child pornography to materials featuring fictional characters with no legal ages, have varied internationally and regionally.
Erotica has been a feature of comics almost since the medium was developed.Marie Antoinette,Louis XVI, and other aristocratic subjects were caricatured in sexually explicit pamphlets such asThe Royal Dildo andThe Royal Orgy.[1]
In modern times, European countries have generally been liberal in allowing sexually explicit material in comics. In the 60s censorship in Italy led to comics for adults calledfumetti neri that were filled with explicit pornographic scenes. Creators such asMilo Manara started as artists making those comics have produced a body of erotic comics since the 1970s. German cartoonistRalf König began producing explicit gay-male comics in the 1980s. BelgianTom Bouden has produced several albums featuring the sexual adventures of young gay men.
Some of the earliest erotic comic books in North America were so-calledTijuana bibles, which first appeared in the 1920s.[2] They were typically eight-page black-and-white pamphlets featuring artwork that ranged from very good to very crude. The subject matter was usually sexual adventures of well-known comics characters, political figures, and movie stars, produced without permission. Sold under the counter in places such as tobacco stores and burlesque houses, millions of Tijuana bibles were sold at the height of their popularity in the 1930s. They went into a steep decline after World War II and by the mid-1950s only a small trickle of new product was still appearing on the market.
Men's magazines of the second half of the 20th century were common venues for erotic comics, particularly single-panel gags featuring naked women or couples in sexual situations.Playboy magazine debuted in 1953, and featured single panel cartoons by artists such asAlberto Vargas,Archie Comics artistDan DeCarlo,Jack Cole,LeRoy Neiman, and laterOlivia De Berardinis andDean Yeagle.Little Annie Fanny, a multi-page strip byHarvey Kurtzman andWill Elder, was a frequent feature through the 1980s. Annie had trouble keeping her clothes on, a trend seen also in the stripsThe Adventures of Phoebe Zeit-Geist, Wally Wood'sSally Forth, andPenthouse'sOhWicked Wanda! byRon Embleton.Penthouse would later put out a number of erotic comic magazines:Penthouse Comix,Penthouse Men's Adventure andPenthouse Max with the likes ofAdam Hughes contributing artwork. Most recently,Penthouse revived the series asPenthouse Comics and released it in an ongoing bi-monthly format in 2024.
Early comics produced for gay and bisexual male readers often focused on sexual situations, such asKake byTouko Laaksonen ("Tom of Finland") in the 1950s andHarry Chess byAl Shapiro ("A. Jay") in the 1960s. Comics by creators such asMichael Kirwan andBrad Parker were popular in magazines featuring pornographic photos. TheMeatmen anthology series, published from the late 1980s to the early 2000s, featured a variety of gay erotic comics by creators such asBelasco,John Blackburn,Bill Schmeling ("The Hun"), Shapiro,Jon Macy,Dom Orejudos ("Stephen"), Laaksonen,Bill Ward, andOliver Frey ("Zack"). Althoughgay comics have expanded to cover a variety of genres, erotica has continued to be popular, sometimes incorporated into other genres, such as the erotic superheroes byPatrick Fillion published byClass Comics, and the wordless graphic novels written byDale Lazarov.
Some erotic comics grew out of theunderground comix scene, such asCherry byLarry Welz, which parodiedArchie Comics. The later rise of independent black and white comics publishers in the 1980s and 1990s include a number of erotic titles, such asOmaha the Cat Dancer byKate Worley andReed Waller, which combined sexually explicit material with a melodrama featuringanthropomorphic animals. Other so-called "furry" erotic comics emerging in this period wereGenus andMilk published byRadio Comix.XXXenophile byPhil Foglio blended science fiction and fantasy scenarios with sexual situations, and the webcomicOglaf byTrudy Cooper and Doug Bayne combines humor and diverse sexuality with medieval fantasy tropes.
In 1990, Fantagraphics established theirEros Comix imprint, reprinting titles byWally Wood andFrank Thorne,Gilbert Hernandez'Birdland, and dozens of other titles, eventually producing abacklist library of over 40 collected editions. The imprint was popular enough that it is credited with making the company – otherwise known for its "artistic" and "literary" works – financially solvent.[3] By the late 1990s, the imprint was no longer profitable, and discontinued releasing new material.[4]
In 2012,Iron Circus Comics revived the indie titleSmut Peddler as a brand of erotic comics created by and for women (with male co-creators allowed on female-led teams), publishing both paperback anthologies of short stories, and longer stand-alone features.
Sexual images have long been a part of Japanese illustrated art,[5] such asThe Dream of the Fisherman's Wife which depicts a woman in sexual congress with twooctopuses. Such works were largely suppressed by the government, however. As the Japanesemanga ("comics") market developed after World War II, erotic dramas such asEro Mangatropa (1973),Erogenica (1975), andAlice (1977) were produced.[6] In 1979,manga artistAzuma Hideo producedCybele, which featured sexually explicit stories with characters drawn in a cute, "cartoony" style,[7] which led to the rise oflolicon anthologies featuring precocious girls, such asLemon People andPetit Apple Pie.Shotacon, a corresponding genre of erotic comics featuring precocious boys also developed. Erotic manga aimed at men are referred to as "seijin-muke manga" (成人向け漫画) or "ero manga", and those aimed at women are called "ladies comics" (レーディーズ・コミック).
In the 1970s,shōjo manga ("comics for girls") began featuring platonic relationship stories between boys, which developed intoyaoi. This genre, created primarily by women for female readers, features stories of young men in romantic and sexual relationships, many of which are sexually explicit.
In the 1980s,Gengoroh Tagame began producing erotic manga drawn from his own sexual interests, featuring large, masculine men engaging insadomasochistic sex with each other. Around these works developed the genre ofbara manga, which features men in stories written for gay and bisexual men.
Although production and distribution of pornography is illegal in India, it remains popular, and a small industry of erotic comics has developed there in the early 21st century. The seriesSavita Bhabhi, about the sexual adventures of a bored, emotionally neglected housewife, has challenged these legal restrictions.Kirtu, the publisher of thewebcomic also publishes other erotic comics series online on its website.Savita Bhabhi was later adapted into an animatedweb film of thesame name in 2013 by Kirtu.
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