Aline Kominsky-Crumb: "Erotic Comix"

It makes me laugh to imagine anyone finding my comic work erotic, and in general I can say the same thing about most Underground comic art. This work is meant to shock, it's vulgar, gross (especially mine), ugly, slimy, shows way more than you need or want to see, and it's not really meant to turn you on. I consider my depictions of sex as anti-erotic, absurd and ridiculous—exposing the human underbelly in all its hideousness!

My husband, Robert Crumb, is violent, twisted, and often satirical in his "sexy stories."/ Some poor souls, who unfortunately share fits' sexual perversions and unsavory fixations, might find his work good masturbation material, but it is definitely not sex fantasy material for the masses. There are a few Underground artists who actually draw fabulously sexy females... My personal favorites are Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez—their adoration and lust for the female body is a real turn-on. I also love Spain's tough "bitches" as they're scary and beautiful.

Of course, I get aroused by Crumb's sick work because many of the female objects of desire resemble me and this appeals to my extreme narcissism! And I even admit that I enjoy the way the "wimp" attacks these powerful females, although here's a scoop for you—I never think Robert goes far enough in his sadistic exploitation of the Obnoxious Amazon's body, with the exception of Devil Girl! I wonder how many other people in the world would share this fantasy with me? Maybe I'm twisted...? So anyway, moving along...

Checking out the material in this book, I keep wondering what makes art, or anything for that matter, erotic? Is it work that directly linesup with our own sexual proclivities that turns us on and nothing else? Probably... But obviously there are other subtle sociological factors that contribute to making art powerful. For example, Victorian erotic art is sexy mainly because it is so forbidden. It is also beautifully drawn and all the details of daily life are so lovely that the nastiness of the "act" is loaded and provocative.  The oriental art is so delicate...

The sex organs look like flowers, or exotic little animals. I don't know what to make of the old Japanese erotic images—it makes me feel like a giant hairy gross beast! I know it appeals to a lot of people, especially those who don't like to think of sex as yucky, juicy, and messy!

The 1920s through the '50s were the golden age of humorous porno, especially in America. There's a lot of great looking work and this is the epoch of the illustrated dirty joke, double entendre, and embarrassing mishap. There's an exuberance to a lot of this work and it's all real healthy and normal sexuality that culminates with Playboy's sophisticated adult humor of the '50s and '60s. Of course, I cannot relate to it at all, being an over-the-hill summer-of-love kind of free spirit monster!

So anyway, I guess I'll just go on encouraging my husband to squeeze my face and jump on my butt in public until we're too old to care, and we'll let all of you analyze just how twisted and kinky we are!