Looking glass, twister, neverland

Sixteen years in the making, this month Top Shelf Productions finally published Lost Girls, a classic bit of pseudo-Edwardian erotica (or pornography, if you prefer) involving three women of three ages in a hotel, discussing their amorous exploits in explicit detail. While porn isn’t exactly hard to come by, and even erotica has become commonplace in this wired age, three aspects distinguish this work from others of its type.

First, it is a hardcover graphic novel — three slipcased volumes of full-color illustrated erotica telling an actual story. Second, the writer is Alan Moore — writer, musician, mage, and provocateur — well-known for his deconstruction of heroic myths and complete indifference to social conventions. Third, and to the minds of many, most importantly, the three women telling their erotic histories are named Wendy, Dorothy, and Alice. You are probably familiar with them.

Months before its publication the book was already controversial. Some people have taken offense at the use of well-known and popular characters for such a project, particularly characters from books primarily seen as children’s stories. Others inherently dislike and distrust the subject matter, feeling that any book which deals with human sexuality is automatically suspect. And amazingly enough, there is still a large group of adults who feel that any book combining words and pictures is for kids, and should be written accordingly.

I won’t speak of the content of the book until I’ve read it myself. Fortunately, my copy arrived today, so a review shouldn’t be long in coming. I can report, however, that the production values are great; it is a library quality set, with thick paper, beautiful printing, sturdy bindings, and lovely design. Based purely on this I am happy with the value received, and it isn’t a cheap book.

If you are interested in more detail while I am reading, here are some links to interviews with the creators, advance reviews, and a little bit about the controversy. Please note that many of these links include sample illustrations from the book, so if you don’t want to see line drawings of naked people or explicit sex acts, turn off images in your browser or something.

• Top Shelf Productions, publishers of Lost Girls
• The current status of the Peter Pan copyright is in dispute. Neil Gaiman provides a bit of background.
• Never Neverland: Peter Pan and perpetual copyright.
• The Onion’s A.V. Club has an in-depth interview with Moore.
• Nerve interviews Moore and Gebbie.
• Nik Derga of Blogcritics offers this analysis, with comparisons to Moore’s other work.
• Suicide Girls (totally not safe for work) offers separate interviews with Moore and Gebbie.
• Neil Gaiman’s review, which gave me the impetus to spend a big chunk of cash on a book I’d never seen.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Edwardian porn to read.

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