Comics are Sexy

All you need to know to prove comics can be sexy is ask me how the majority of my new visitors find this blog. Believe it or not, they are searching for "Erin Esurance," the animated chick with the pink hair in the TV commercials. You would not believe how much fan art there is out there featuring Erin naked and/or in compromising positions.

A recent radio spot for Toyota features their spokescartoon Mr. Opportunity dealing with a love-struck human woman. Obviously Toyota has picked up on the fuss. I personally think Mr. O is kinda hot...but the consensus online tells me an awful lot of people find him really irritating.

Yep, people are actually debating about the sex appeal of cartoons. Cool, isn't it?

My personal favorite comic book series is Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise. While PG-13 rated, it features a lot about sex, and I love that Terry chose to tell his stories of sex and romance with graphic novels. I'm attracted to all three of the main characters, frankly--Katchoo, Francine, and David. Check out Katchoo embracing David from one of Terry's fabulous covers and tell me that isn't a beautiful thing.

As I posted recently, I may be moving a new graphic novel series into my top spot soon: Neil Gaiman's The Sandman. I've just met the fellow, but how can you not be attracted to a gaunt guy with great cheekbones and David Bowie hair, who dresses all in black and is the lord of dreams? Countless artists have portrayed the Sandman, aka Morpheus, including Michael L. Peters, who did this marvelous version. Who knows, I may try my own eventually.

I am also reading Hy Bender's The Sandman Companion, and I found in this book some interesting observations which suggest a possible explanation for the erotic effect comics can achieve. This particular medium mixes verbal narration, which is processed by the left brain, with imagery that is processed by the right. Thus the entire brain is engaged, nearly simultaneously, with the story. When there is erotic content of any kind, it will be just that much more potent.

If I envy anyone in the world, it's comic artists, people like Michael L. Peters, Terry Moore, and the astonishingly wonderful Alex Ross. I guess that's why I felt compelled to do portraits of all my characters, and published my deck of cards, Diana's Deck.

And now you understand why one of the coolest things that ever happened to me as an author was seeing my first piece of fan art, this gorgeous scene from "Abigail's Archer" from my Soulful Sex Volume I collection, done by C.C. Rogers.

Just imagine if not just this one scene, but an entire Diana Laurence erotic tale could be illustrated! That's a world I can only dream of...and knowing how comics can work, I'm sure it would be quite the erotic triumph. Hey, Alex Ross--I need you desperately, sir!