Comics Stripped

Benzinga highlights a new exhibit on comic books that's opened recently at the Museum of Sex.

From the article...

During the Great Depression, before Joe Shuster's illustration of Superman gave comics a mainstream voice in 1938, many other cartoonists dabbled in the creation of “dirty drawings.” This risqué artwork featured busty women, fetishes, bondage, homosexuality and other explicit sexual encounters. Beginning January 13, the Museum of Sex will flip through the pages of erotic history to reveal how the comic book medium has been used over time to depict sexual fantasy, poke fun at taboo topics and lampoon icons of popular culture. The exhibit, aptly named Comics Stripped, will feature drawings from the Great Depression to the present, all which remind us of the fun, frivolity and impact of sexual expression and innuendo on our lives.

Comics Stripped, an illustrated exploration of the dirty drawing, will feature more than 150 artifacts, including original drawings, illustrated books, comic books, magazines and videos. The exhibit addresses the adult nature of comics and cartoons, a concept now widely popularized in television series like The Simpsons and Family Guy on FOX and Ugly Americans shown on Comedy Central. The exhibit is tantalizing, racy and is sure to stoke more than a few libidos.

Tom of Finland, a prominent artist in gay comic culture, once said, “If I don't have an erection when I'm doing a drawing, I know it's no good.” It's a metric used by many erotic cartoonists, whose fantasies are found splayed across the printed page for their reader's enjoyment.