09.20.07 5:00 AM CDT
• After After Hours
• Josh Robertson
It’s great when communities look after their own—perhaps someday when we’re old and infirm we’ll sit around gumming the fat with the boys from Esquire and GQ at the Home For Aged Magazine Editors Who Can No Longer Read 8-point Type Much Less Relate to the 18-34 Reader Demographic.
In comics-land, Jim McLauchlin (a Playboy contributor) and some other poobahs have formed the Hero Initiative, a nonprofit that looks after comic creators in need. Worth checking out is The Ultimate Spider-Man 100 Project, a book that collects 100 Spider Man covers mocked up by famed comics artists specifically for the charity.
The images in the book are all reproductions of the original drawings that were auctioned off—save one. Frank Cho’s depiction of a curvy Mary Jane fresh out of the shower and showing impressive booty was deemed too risqué. Maybe it was the bare buttocks, maybe it was the suggestive position of Spidey’s thumb—whichever the case, Mary Jane was made to cover up. Here’s a larger version of the sexier cover.
Fans of European arty/dirty comics will immediately detect Cho’s inspiration: The Italian artist Paulo Eleuteri Serpieri, whose obsession with the healthy, well-turned female rump has fueled several graphic novels about a nymphomaniac named Druuna who goes to weird planets full of depraved monsters who just want to violate her from behind. Or something like that. The plot takes a backseat to her back yard; if you ever encounter a copy (not something you’ll find at the comics store in the mall), don’t fret over whether it’s in English, French or Swahili. Druuna’s ass is the story, and Serpieri himself might be hard pressed to explain the rest. Here’s a tame gallery of Serpieri’s feminine ideal at The Painted Anvil.
(There’s also an official Druuna site—just be careful where you click. It’s got popup ads for hardcore sites, and many of the images of Druuna are much more graphic than what’s posted at The Painted Anvil.)
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Comments on this entry:
Frank Cho, the artist who produced this Spiderman drawing, has often worked with Playmate Tiffany Taylor as his model. Playboy should devote some space to publishing some results of that particular collaboration.
Great stuff Mr. Robertson. Thank you for providing the links . . .
I can now see why Spiderman is so cool, I finally get it!
Frank Cho is the man!!!