A Descent into Dullness

Lost Girls, by Alan Moore & Melinda Gebbie, is a three volume set of graphic volumes. The story is centered around the meeting of adult versions of Alice (Alice in Wonderland), Dorothy (Wizard of Oz) and Wendy (Peter Pan) at a hotel in Europe just before the start of World War I. In fact the assassination of Ferdinand ends volume two. The three women meet and discover that each had a fantasy dream-world as teens. Worlds that they tied into their early sexual experiences. This begins a torrid lesbian affair between the three women. Alice is portrayed as an older woman (likely in her 50s), Wendy a middle-aged middle-class wife (looking to be in her 30s) and Dorothy as a touring young woman (late teens or early 20s). The trio take turns telling their stories in-between and during various graphic sexual acts. Their activities also grow to include the more libertine hotel guests and staff. After finishing their stories the three women depart on their separate ways, just ahead of the advancing German army. The trio of hardbound volumes is marked at $75 (though I found my copy on sale at Amazon for $48)...

Moore (from various interviews on the book) seems to have been trying to create something new and groundbreaking in the field of erotica, similar to some of his more high-brow efforts in the standard comics medium. I can't really tell whether he succeeds in this. For an adult comic its definitely at the top end. It easily matches in quality adult comics like Xxxenophile or Omaha the Cat Dancer. As “real” art? I'm just not qualified to call this. Gebbie's artwork in the collection is gorgeous and evocative. As a work of feminism literature it seems to have failed (at least from what I've gathered from the comics/feminism area of the blogosphere). Story wise, its average. The characters in it are relatively well developed, though its a bit lacking in any really deep plot. For that I'd recommend the more all-ages webcomic Cheshire Crossing.

Is it worth buying? Maybe. For an erotic comic $75 is steep. Probably more than I spent for all six volumes of Xxxenophile. If it hadn't been for the discounted price I likely would not have bought it. And I'm still unsure whether the collection succeeds as anything more than high-end porn. But as porn it succeeds very well. Straight sex, gay (male and female), group, anal, costume, bondage and more are represented. But again, the price tag is high for porn. If you're a hard-core Moore fan, well than you probably already found a way to pick it up. For the more casual fan, if the concept of three literary characters having sex attracts you than I'd say try and find a sale or second-hand copy.

Garfield themed Vampire snuff fic!

Because the pain MUST be shared!