Europe 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 as
The Royal Dildo and
The Royal Orgy. 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 called
fumetti neri that were filled with explicit pornographic scenes. Creators such as
Milo Manara started as artists making those comics have produced a body of erotic comics since the 1970s. German cartoonist
Ralf König began producing explicit gay-male comics in the 1980s. Belgian
Tom Bouden has produced several albums featuring the sexual adventures of young gay men.
North America Some of the earliest erotic comic books in North America were so-called
Tijuana bibles, which first appeared in the 1920s. 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 as
Alberto Vargas,
Archie Comics artist
Dan DeCarlo,
Jack Cole,
LeRoy Neiman, and later
Olivia De Berardinis and
Dean Yeagle.
Little Annie Fanny, a multi-page strip by
Harvey Kurtzman and
Will Elder, was a frequent feature through the 1980s. Annie had trouble keeping her clothes on, a trend seen also in the strips
The Adventures of Phoebe Zeit-Geist, Wally Wood's
Sally Forth, and
Penthouses
Oh Wicked Wanda! by
Ron Embleton.
Penthouse would later put out a number of erotic comic magazines:
Penthouse Comix, ''Penthouse Men's Adventure
and Penthouse Max
with the likes of Adam Hughes contributing artwork. Most recently, Penthouse
revived the series as Penthouse 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 as
Kake by
Touko Laaksonen ("Tom of Finland") in the 1950s and
Harry Chess by
Al Shapiro ("A. Jay") in the 1960s. Comics by creators such as
Michael Kirwan and
Brad Parker were popular in magazines featuring pornographic photos. The
Meatmen anthology series, published from the late 1980s to the early 2000s, featured a variety of gay erotic comics by creators such as
Belasco,
John Blackburn,
Bill Schmeling ("The Hun"), Shapiro,
Jon Macy,
Dom Orejudos ("Stephen"), Laaksonen,
Bill Ward, and
Oliver Frey ("Zack"). Although
gay 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 by
Patrick Fillion published by
Class Comics, and the wordless graphic novels written by
Dale Lazarov. Some erotic comics grew out of the
underground comix scene, such as
Cherry by
Larry Welz, which parodied
Archie Comics. The later rise of independent black and white comics publishers in the 1980s and 1990s include a number of erotic titles, such as
Omaha the Cat Dancer by
Kate Worley and
Reed Waller, which combined sexually explicit material with a melodrama featuring
anthropomorphic animals. Other so-called "furry" erotic comics emerging in this period were
Genus and
Milk published by
Radio Comix.
XXXenophile by
Phil Foglio blended science fiction and fantasy scenarios with sexual situations, and the webcomic
Oglaf by
Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne combines humor and diverse sexuality with medieval fantasy tropes. In 1990, Fantagraphics established their
Eros Comix imprint, reprinting titles by
Wally Wood and
Frank Thorne,
Gilbert Hernandez'
Birdland, and dozens of other titles, eventually producing a
backlist 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. By the late 1990s, the imprint was no longer profitable, and discontinued releasing new material. In 2012,
Iron Circus Comics revived the indie title
Smut 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.
Japan manga. Sexual images have long been a part of Japanese illustrated art, such as ''
The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife which depicts a woman in sexual congress with two octopuses. Such works were largely suppressed by the government, however. As the Japanese manga ("comics") market developed after World War II, erotic dramas such as Ero Mangatropa
(1973), Erogenica
(1975), and Alice
(1977) were produced. In 1979, manga artist Azuma Hideo produced Cybele
, which featured sexually explicit stories with characters drawn in a cute, "cartoony" style, which led to the rise of lolicon anthologies featuring precocious girls, such as Lemon People and Petit 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 into
yaoi. 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 in
sadomasochistic sex with each other. Around these works developed the genre of
bara manga, which features men in stories written for gay and bisexual men.
India 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 series
Savita Bhabhi, about the sexual adventures of a bored, emotionally neglected housewife, has challenged these legal restrictions.
Kirtu, the publisher of the
webcomic also publishes other erotic comics series online on its website.
Savita Bhabhi was later adapted into an animated
web film of the
same name in 2013 by Kirtu. == See also ==