Category: ‘How To’ Books

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The Incredible Story of Cooking – From Prehistory to Today: 500,000 Years of Adventure


By Stéphane Douay & Benoist Simmat, with Christian Lerolle, Robin Millet & Joran Tréguier, translated by Montana Kane (NBM)
ISBN: 978-1-68112-340-0 (HB) eISBN: 978-1-68112-341-7

Usually this bit is about sex or swearing, but here I’m issuing another culinary advisory. If you are vegan, squeamish or can be upset by fish, cetaceans and other really cool animals comedically killed, butchered and consumed, do not buy this book. It’s really not for you.

The purview of graphic novels and illustrated narrative has expanded to mirror every aspect of prose print and even TV broadcasting these days. One of the most engaging for me and many others is historical investigations, breezy documentaries and fact-based investigations and speculations… and even well-researched cookbooks. Here, direct from the continent via those fine folks at NBM, is a graphic treat that combines all of that…

The history and development of cuisine has fascinated most people and this bold venture agues wittily and quite convincingly that this is the most likely way it all unfolded…

Author, economics journalist and comic book writer Benoist Simmat is mostly known to us for Wine, A Graphic History which sold over 100,000 copies in France and has been translated into many languages, but if you drink poshly you might also have seen his satirical bande dessinée collaboration with Philippe Bercovici – Robert Parker: Les Sept Pêchés capiteux. The ambitious tome under review here is likely to be just as popular, especially as it is expansively limned by comics veteran Stéphane Douay.

Born in Le Havre, the picture maker tried assorted jobs – like radio operator and actor/juggler – before settling into drawing for money. He has illustrated strips for over two decades with Matiè re fantô me, Commandant Achab, Les Anné es rouge & noir, Ririri, Don Quichotte dans la Manche, and strips in several collective albums to his great credit. In 2006, he began the Matière Fantôme series. I don’t know if he or Simmat ever worked as cooks or sous chefs…

The cookery class – extravagantly footnoted throughout – commences with their ‘Foreword – The Oldest Story in the World’ before carrying us back to Africa and a quick menu of the species that preceded us in Chapter 1 ‘The Slow Emergence Of Prehistoric Cuisine’. Beginning by examining the capture of fire by Homo erectus, the ice ages of 700,000-500,000 years ago and the first recorded/found recipes found in sites across Asia, the gastro-journey explores with wit, charm and a soupcon of silliness how chucking the latest killed catch onto flames, hot stones and embers not only introduced a whole new range of flavours but also kickstarted the discipline of bacterial control and food hygiene…

With the addition of plants as comestibles and/or flavour enhancers and preservatives, and scavenging increasingly supplanted by farming, the science of food had begun, and as neanderthals and homo sapiens spread across the globe, experts and specialists began carving out their own niches in tribes all advancing as cooking and eating together bound families and individuals into nascent societies…

The second chapter highlights ‘Dinner Tables Of The First Great Civilizations’, sampling moments and menus of Sumer and the origin of beer and trade; Mesopotamia, breadmaking and the invention of status-enhancing banquets; Assyria, the start of gender-specific cooking roles and Egypt’s embracing of salad as well as food for haves and have nots…

Also visited is proto-imperial China as its founders confirmed the link between food and health and formalised the cuisine that has conquered the modern world: a proud claim also true of its contemporary realms in the Indus valley who propounded a connection between certain edibles and a healthy soul, before the chapter closes with a round-up of the state of play in early African and Mesolithic American nations…

The combination of anecdotal snippets, hard archaeological fact and speculation all backed up with unearthed recipes continues in the same breezy manner, encompassing ‘Culinary Passions Of The Ancient Greeks And Romans’, ‘The Trade Routes of the Far East’, ‘Castle Life’ and ‘The New Worlds’ before offering deeper insights into modern eating habits and its politically-charged, commercially ruthless dominance as philosophically demarcated and defined in ‘Bourgeois Revolutions 1: Gastronomy’ and ‘Bourgeois Revolutions 2: Capitalist Cuisine’…

From there it’s a short hop into today’s fashionably foody forum in ‘The Era Of Light Eating’ briefing on “taste activism”, macrobiotics and other fad foodisms, fair trade, fast food vs junk food, biodiversity, compassion in farming, food miles, technological advances (like microwave cookers and air fryers), the power of “Big Food”, foods that harm us, the diet industry and so much more that makes eating a political choice and how staying alive is now a balancing act between health, production, pleasure and authenticity…

Following a summation asking where it will all end and how will we get there, this fabulous buffet of fact and fun wraps up with ‘Recipes’: detailing 22 significant dishes the reader can make, culled from the historical archive and the entirety of human experience across the planet.

Graded Easy, Elaborate or Difficult and spanning recent to ancient the list opens with ‘Anti-waste Velouté – Italy’ and includes ‘Vegan Hamburger – England’; ‘Chicago Hot Dog – USA’; ‘Chow Mein Noodles – China’; ‘Cincinnati Chili – USA’; ‘Fish Ceviche – Peru’; ‘Homemade Ketchup Sauce – USA’; ‘Herring and Potatoes in Oil (Hareng Pommes À L’Huile) – France’; ‘Authentic Paella Valenciana “Mixta” – Spain’; ‘Fish & Chips – England’; ‘Woodcock Hash in Beauvilliers-style Croustade – France’; ‘The Aztec Taco – Mexico’; ‘Chicken Marengo – France’; ‘Cassava-Plantain Fufu with Mafé Sauce – Ivory Coast’; ‘Pork Vindaloo – India’; ‘Oyakodon Donburi – Japan’; ‘Maestro Martino’s Macaronis – Italy’; ‘Lamprey Pâté – France’; ‘Beef Plov – Uzbekistan’; ‘Maza Bread – Greece’; ‘Roman Garum – Italy’ before ending at the beginning with ‘Prehistoric Confit – France’…

The art of food and pleasures of eating have never been better appreciated or shared than in books like these, blending fun and exoticism with the tantalising yet satisfying anticipation of gustatory consumption. Academically robust and steadfast, the book’s ‘Bibliography’ and ‘Acknowledgements’ sections are huge but fascinating, making this a simply delightful dish: an inviting comics divertissement that absolutely whets the appetite for more… and maybe a snack to accompany the ingestion…

The Incredible Story of Cooking – From Prehistory to Today © Les Arènes, Paris, 2021. © 2024 NBM for the English translation.

The Incredible Story of Cooking – From Prehistory to Today: 500,000 Years of Adventure will be published on 10th September. 2024 and is available for pre-order now. NBM books are also available in digital formats.
For more information and other great reads see NBM Graphic Novels.

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A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer and Trans Identities


By Mady G & J.R. Zuckerberg (Limerance Press/Oni Press)
ISBN: 978-1-62010-586-3 (PB) eISBN: 978-1-62010-587-0

Here’s a handy rule of thumb for getting along. People get to decide what to call themselves. You get to accept and agree with them, as long as no one is being actually harmed or just mind your own business. That assessment is to be made by Law, not personal belief or some higher calling. If you can’t accept their definitions of themselves, you have the right to leave people alone and never interact with them. Okay?

We are the Naming Primate. If we encounter something unknown and/or scary, we give it a description, definition and title and accept it into our ever-expanding understanding of Reality. It’s what enabled us to take over this world. Naming things is generally a good thing and allows us to navigate the universe. Some people, however, use the power of naming to isolate, ostracise and wound. They are not doing it right. People like us have plenty of really fitting names for people like them when they abuse our gift.

In reality though, it seems like every time we make a move towards greater inclusivity, some faction of retrograde, regressive backwards-looking churl or biological luddite manufactures a reason (usually cribbing the lexicon of science to mask opinionated complete tosh) to prove why we can’t all get along. Dudes: take a look in a mirror…

I personally favour retaliation, but the only way to truly counter them is with understanding, so here’s a book that offers plenty of names and definitions we should all be adding to our own lexicons.

I’ve frequently/perpetually argued comic strips are a matchless tool for education: rendering the most complex topics easily accessible and displaying a potent and lasting facility to inform, affect and alter behaviour. Here’s a timely revisit and splendid example of the art form using its great powers for good…

The Quick & Easy Guide series has an admirable record of addressing uncomfortable issues with taste, sensitivity and breezy forthrightness, offering solutions as well as awareness or solidarity. Here, coast-to-coast cartoonists Mady G. & J. R. Zuckerberg collaborate on a bright and breezy primer covering the irrefutable basics on establishing one’s own sexual and gender identity (including the difference between those terms), safely navigating all manner of relationship and exploring the spectrum of experiences available to consenting adults.

A major aspect of us People Primates is that we spend a lot of our lives trying to work out who we are. It takes varying amounts of time and emotional effort for every individual… and lots of honesty.

It’s like most work. It can be unwelcome, laborious, painful and even dangerous and nobody should attempt it too soon or alone. Moreover, all too often, assistance and advice offered can be unwelcome and stemming from somebody else’s agenda. In my own limited experience for example, any sexual guidance offered by anybody with a religious background is immediately suspect and a waste of breath. Perhaps your experience is different. That’s pretty much the point here. In the end, you have make up your own mind and be your own judge…

Unlike me, A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer and Trans Identities takes no sides and offers no bias as it runs through the fundamentals, but only after a Foreword from cartoonist and author Roz Chast and an Intro by Mady lay out the rules of engagement on the attaching and utilisation of the labels and roles gradually becoming common modern parlance…

Micro lectures are set during a wilderness trek where an agglomeration of troubled humans have a group teaching encounter under the supervision of a “Queer Educator” endeavouring to define for them the nature of ‘Queerness’. The useful commentary, educational asides and plentiful laughs are generated by a colony of snails avidly observing proceedings like a raucous, bonerless and bewildered Greek Chorus. Such gastropods, as I’m sure you recall from school, are either male, female, hermaphroditic or something else entirely, depending on what time it is. Now that’s perspective…

Subjects covered with forthright verve, clarity and – crucially – wry wit begin with ‘What is Queer?’, proffering terms for defining Sexuality and Gender subdivided into Bisexuality, Asexuality, Pansexuality amongst many other permutations. These and later lessons are illustrated with examples starring primarily neutral vegetable critters dubbed The Sproutlings who are conveniently pliable and malleable…

‘What is Gender Identity?’ digs deeper, discussing Gender vs Sex via a little biology tutorial before ‘Now… What’s Gender Expression?’ expands the debate, determining modern manners and ways of signalling the wider world what one has decided is a person’s (current, but not necessarily permanent) status. The chat comes with carefully curated real-world examples…

This is all fine in an ideal world, but contentious, often life changing problems that can occur are tackled head-on in ‘What Does Dysphoria Mean?’: detailing examples of traumas accompanying the realisation of not being how you believe you ought to be. Divided into Physical, Social and Non-Binary Dysphoria, the examination includes ways of combatting the problems and more case histories courtesy of the human wilderness students…

In swift succession ‘So, what is Asexuality?’ and ‘What does it mean to Come Out?’ offer further practical thoughts and prospective coping tactics before vital life lessons are covered in ‘Here are some Relationship Basics’.

Also included here are an “Outro” by Zuckerberg and a section of activities including ‘Design a Pair of Friendship Jackets’, ‘Create Your Own Sprout-sona!’ and ‘How to make a Mini Zine!!’ as well as information on ‘More Resources!’ and Creator Biographies.

I hail from a fabulous far-distant era where we happily ravaged the planet without a qualm but believed emotional understanding led to universal acceptance. We’re apparently smarter about the planet now, and it’s wonderful (if a bit disappointing) to see the quest to destroy intolerance and ignorance still continues. This witty, welcoming treatise offers superb strategies for fixing a pernicious issue which really should have been done and dusted decades ago.

Hopefully, when we all share appropriate, non-evocative, un-charged terms for discussing human sexuality and gender – such as seen here – we can all make decisions and assessments to build a fairer, gentler world for everybody…
A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer and Trans Identities™ & © 2019 Mady G & J.R. Zuckerberg. All rights reserved.

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The Cartoon Life of Chuck Clayton (Archie & Friends All-Stars volume 3)


By Alex Simmons, Fernando Ruiz, Al Nickerson & various (Archie Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-879794-48-1 (TPB/Digital edition)

For more than 80 years Archie Comics and its eponymous superstar Archie Andrews has epitomised good, safe, wholesome fun, whilst encouraging and embracing ingeniously hidden and deviously subversive elements of mischief. Family-friendly superheroes, spooky chills, sci-fi thrills and genre yarns have been as much a part of the publisher’s varied portfolio as those romantic comedy capers of America’s cleanest-cut teens since the company Golden Age debut as MLJ publications.

As you surely know by now, founded in 1939 as MLJ, Archie has been officially around since 1941, and spent spending most of the intervening decades chasing tantalisingly attainable Betty Cooper and wildly out-of-his-league debutante Veronica Lodge. The game was played with best friend Jughead Jones alternately mocking and abetting his romantic endeavours whilst rival Reggie Mantle sought to scuttle every move…

As crafted by a legion of writers and artists who logged innumerable stories of teen antics in and around idyllic, utopian small-town Riverdale, these timeless tales of decent, fun-loving kids captivated successive generations of readers and entertained millions worldwide.

To keep all that accumulated attention riveted, the company has always looked to modern trends and changing social mores. Every type of fashion-fad and youth-culture sensation has invariably been shoehorned in and explored on the pages of the regular titles.

The perennial eternal triangle that fuels all those stories has generated thousands of charming, raucous, gentle, thrilling, chiding and even heart-rending humorous dramas expressing everything from surreal wit to frantic, frenetic slapstick, with the kids – like boy genius Dilton Doily. genial giant jock Big Moose, and a constantly expanding cast of friends and associates – Principal Mr. Weatherbee, teachers Mrs. Grundy, Professor Flutesnoot and Coach Kleats or occasional guest stars like Josie and the Pussycats or Sabrina the Teenage Witch amongst so many others – all growing into a national institution and an inescapable part of America’s youth landscape.

The feature thrived by constantly refreshing its core archetypes; boldly, seamlessly adapting to a changing world outside its bright and cheerful pages, shamelessly co-opting youth, pop culture, fashion trends and even topical events into its infallible mix of comedy and young romance. Each and every social revolution has been painlessly assimilated into the mix and over the decades the company has confronted most social issues affecting youngsters in a manner both even-handed and tasteful.

Constant addition of new characters like out-&-proud gay student Kevin Keller, fashion-diva Ginger Lopez, Hispanic couple Frankie Valdez & Maria Rodriguez, junior film-maker Raj Patel, or spoiled home-wrecker-in-waiting Cheryl Blossom all contributed to the wide, refreshingly broad-minded scenario. In most of those cases, embracing diversity brought opprobrium – if not hysterical condemnation – from some sectors, but rarely from actual readers of the comics.

They were the hidebound ancestors of today’s speciously-outraged, doom-babbling anti-“woke” wankers, proudly politically incorrect and so-frequently utterly free of any taint of literacy or education who just pettily salivate and bark on command at the fatuous fringes of social media these days whenever anyone apparently rings a bell for just letting people live their lives…

That process probably began for Archie Comics with Pep Comics #257 (cover-dated September 1971): the first appearance of black student Chuck Taylor Lyndon Clayton: athletic all-star son of Floyd Clayton, the deputy PE teacher at Riverdale High.

As he grew into his role, Chuck escaped the obvious stereotypes and was revealed to be not only a talented and dedicated artist but comics fan. His greatest ambition is to be a successful cartoonist and comics creator – making him the comic book face of millions of aspiring readers and fans…

In 1976, after a succession of anonymous black girlfriends, Chuck began steadily dating Nancy (alternatively “Harris”, “Baker” or “Jackson”, but now officially “Woods”) in what appears one of the company’s most stable relationships. Also a Riverdale student, Nancy favours journalism, edits the school newspaper and is also black: Miscegenation apparently being one step far too far until the experimentally interracial 1990s …a period when the junior Clayton truly came into his own…

As previously stated, Chuck is the go-to guy for stories about comics (and African-American culture and heritage, but that’s a tale for another time and tome). He works part-time in the local comics store, collects old issues of MLJ stars and facts about publishing and creators. Much to Nancy’s dismay, he also spends too much time perfecting his skills for his future vocation…

When comics, TV and movies were being regularly challenged on not offering enough positive role models for young readers of colour, Chuck was there as a guy to admire but also someone who said it was okay to follow your dream career…

This cheap and cheerful collection was first released in 2010, and gathers a serial originally seen in Archie and Friends #126-129 (spanning February to May 2009) concocted by writer Alex Simmons, penciller Fernando Ruiz, inker Al Nickerson, letterers Patrick Owsley, Phil Felix & Ellen Leonforte and colourist Glenn Whitmore, and sees Chuck take the logical step in his progress…

A graphic zealot eager to share the wealth (aren’t we all?) Chuck is diverted from his own art classes when the elementary school art teacher asks him to tutor a group of problem kids in a comics-based afterschool project…

Nervous but rising to the challenge, ‘Stick Figures & Grumpy Elves’ details how Chuck’s biggest problems are getting the kids to listen to him and surviving the scorn of “traditional” art teacher Mr. Sal…

A solution starts to gel when he realises that his kids don’t need a teacher as much as an editor and after much mutual effort, the results make converts out of doubters…

Inspired and inspirational, Chuck is headhunted by another forward-looking adult when the Director of the Riverton Youth Centre asks him to teach a regular after-school Comic Book Workshop…

His personal project is trying to win a cash-contest for a new character – the “TomTom Comics can you create cool comics characters competition” – but that doesn’t stop him giving all his attention to the teens of the Carlos Community Center in second chapter ‘Meet the New School’. The real problem is a surly old geezer who frowns on his granddaughter’s – frankly wonderful – efforts. It’s affecting little Lori’s work, ruining everyone’s fun and deeply discouraging an amazing talent…

After talking things over with Archie, Reggie and the others, Chuck finally confronts surly Winston Morley and discovers his animosity is a learned behaviour: the old black man was a pioneer of comics’ Golden Age and has few happy memories or respect for that time of his life…

A solution to the dilemma comes when Chuck learns that his own dad was a big fan of the creator of Ollie the Ostrich and Flint Steelhard, Private Eye. He even still has all the old issues stashed away in Nana Clayton’s garage…

Not only does the revelation melt one old curmudgeon’s defences, but it also gives Chuck a boost in surmounting his own creative block over the TomTom competition as seen in ‘A Time to Draw’. If only proud and prestige-hungry Mr Weatherbee hadn’t lent his cartoon whiz-kid to Millis Middle School where Chuck will be teaching comics during actual school hours to actual school kids as part of an actual school schedule…

Making the job just perfect (that’s sarcasm) is the fact that he’s got to make the kids enjoy crafting a comic book about the History of Ancient Greece. Challenge Accepted…

Overcoming all obstacles like a caped crusader, Chuck excels in ending episode ‘Delinquent Doodles’: nurturing his kids to conclusion, creating his own killer competition character and contributing to Raj Patel’s Riverdale High/social science film project, before facing one last challenge… solving the mystery of why his star pupils – Mikey Diangelo – has suddenly become a spraying-painting vandal…

This charming saga was packed throughout with timeless, sage advice for aspiring wannabes and the in-world contents of Chuck’s classes are formalised at the end here: presented as a series of mini lectures about all aspects of the process. It begins with ‘Chuck Clayton’s Creating Cool Comics’ ‘Part 1: Terms’ and follows up with ‘Part 2: Script’, ‘Part 3: Thumbnails’ before wrapping up with ‘Part 4: Inking & Lettering’: sharing all the key tips and hints we pre-YouTube, internet-oblivious creators wallowed in…

Fun, enthralling and perfectly capturing the unmatched joys of imagination, realisation and making stuff up, The Cartoon Life of Chuck Clayton is a brilliantly entertaining treat for all.
© 2010 Archie Comics Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. ™ & © 2018 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.

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Wait, What? – A Comic Book Guide to Relationships, Bodies, and Growing Up


By Heather Corinna, Isabella Rotman, Luke B. Howard & various (Limerence Press)
ISBN: 978-1-62010-659-4 (PB) eISBN: 978-1-62010-660-0

Comic strips have long been acknowledged as an incredibly powerful tool to educate, rendering tricky or complex issues easily accessible. They also have an irresistible capacity to affect and change behaviour and have thus been used for centuries by politicians, religions, the military and commercial concerns to modify how we live our lives. Call it visual nudge-theory…

Here’s a splendid example of the art form using those great powers for good.

Sometimes it looks like the entire world’s political and moral leaders are seeking to re-mystify the most basic human experience by obfuscating all knowledge of it – leaving our most vulnerable at the mercy of their own basic instincts, wicked exploitation, cruel misinformation and simple ignorance. So if school, church and parental guardians can’t deliver, where can the new and confused go to learn about sexual interactions?

The Comic Book Guide to Relationships, Bodies, and Growing Up begins with an introductory message from Scarleteen – a sex and relationships information, education and support organisation/resource aimed at young people. As official consultants on this project, they start the ball rolling with ‘sex ed for the real world’, detailing the work and purpose of the project and other places the confused or cautious might seek advice and help.

Like many other Limerence publications, this one uses strips, games, puzzles, debate and tutorials – delivered via an engagingly diverse cartoon cast – to explore a variety of potential situations, share vital information (that my generation got from a succession of embarrassed and unwilling teachers despite what our parents thought or said) and proffer advice on where to obtain more.

The publisher’s sequence of informational comics and books has an admirable record of confronting uncomfortable issues with taste, sensitivity and breezy forthrightness: offering solutions or starting points as well as awareness and solidarity. Crucially here, that comes wrapped up in a blanket of reassurance and accepting non-judgement. The message is that every one of us is different and brings something unique to the table…

‘So Who’s at the Lunch Table?’ introduces Rico, Malia, Max, Sam and Alexis: generalised teen spokes-people representing a variety of races, backgrounds, ambitions and sexualities. There is also a narrative usher to authorially move things along …the sublimely neutral Weird Platypus…

The mess and muddle around Sex is systematically tackled, beginning with an assault on the myth of timing and physical development in ‘Due Dates’: explaining biology, emotional maturity and even consent and opportunity, whilst contributing numerous anecdotes and opinions in ‘What Do You Think and Where Are You At?’

The carefully manufactured war between media, self-aspiration and everyday life is deconstructed in ‘IRL: in real life’ confirming that “the way things are in media are not necessarily how they ACTUALLY ARE”, after which we gain great graphic and factual clarity in ‘What is Puberty?’

The chapter details the basic ‘Stages of Puberty’, initially concentrating on ‘For Every Body’ before affording specialist data with ‘If You’ve got a Vagina’ and ‘If You’ve got a Penis’…

‘You’re a Man/Woman Now!’ then busts some fallacies on the subject to reveal ‘These Things Don’t Actually Mean Very Much About Growing Up’…

The next topic opens with overview ‘Ohhh Yeah, Real Mature!’: asking the gang ‘What Does Maturity Mean to You?’ before plunging into the charged subject of ‘Masturbation!’

Expanding into lesson and anecdotal discourse, we learn ‘Masturbation is Healthy – and nothing to be ashamed of’ and sensibly enquire ‘Why Do People Masturbate’ before tackling an increasingly serious problem in ‘Weird Genitals!: Worried Your genitals look weird? Feeling like other people’s do???’

This section is augmented by ‘A Whole Bunch of Genitals’ in a gallery display plus a join-the-dots activity page cheekily page proving ‘Genitals come in all sorts of different sizes, shapes and colors’…

The major issue of Difference is laid out and explained in ‘Boys vs. Girls’, covering every aspect of possible confusion and contention via sports or toys to genderised colours, cunningly rationalised by a series of non-binary paper-dolls and clothing outfits with gender-fluid Max guiding us in making declarations and identifications…

A seemingly overwhelming youthful hurdle is cut down to size in ‘What is a Crush?’ with hapless cisgendered heterosexual Rico pointing out some pitfalls, assisted by his tablemates answering the question ‘Have You Ever Had a Crush?’ and ‘Do You Really want to Be Someone’s Partner, Girlfriend or Boyfriend?’ Whilst exploring ‘Promises and Dating’ and negotiating a bewildering maze entitled ‘As If There Was Only One Path!’ we learn how to end relationships kindly and safely in ‘It’s Okay To Go’…

The mysteries and challenges of informed choice are explored in ‘By Invitation Only’ – reinforced by a ‘Consent Word Search’ – before we move on to the bit every parent always freaks out over…

What defines intimacy and sexual behaviour is debated and explored in ‘It’s Not Sex, It’s Just Messing Around’, pictorially questioning ‘Why Do People Have Sex Together’, ‘So What’s the Difference between Sex and “Messing Around”’ and gaming out ‘If it Wasn’t a Choice’…

Graphs and statistics are deployed for ‘How Do You Know When You’re Ready for Sex Stuff’, backing up the cartoon wisdom of vox-pop ‘When Do You Think You Will Be Ready for Sex Stuff’ and pivotal enquiry ‘Why is Sex Such a Big Deal?’: only pausing to ask ‘Are You… Gay? Straight? Both? Neither?’ and if it even matters…

A ‘Sexual Orientation Crossword’ – with handy ‘Sexual Orientation Word Bank’ – introduces a new (and increasingly toxically contentious contemporary topic) in ‘Sexual Identity Isn’t a Lifelong Commitment’, with pictured points of view culminating in a space for readers to verbalise their own thoughts, after which the end approaches as we ponder ‘What Does it Mean to be a Virgin?’

Here Malia, Rico and Sam deconstruct the term from widely differing starting points, whilst ‘I Hate That Word!’ examines the infinitely loaded term’s accusatory and demeaning contexts before unleashing ‘A Note About Double Standards’…

When beginning or even just anticipating a sexual life, support is crucial and a trustworthy network is a must if it’s possible at all. ‘Assemble Your Superteam!’ offers some sage advice on how in ‘Your Sidekick’, ‘Your Parental Figure’, ‘Your Mentor’ and ‘Your League’. The process is reinforced by another Wordsearch – ‘Find all the people you could maybe talk to!’ – before neatly segueing into ‘Know Your Community Resources!’ and affirming questionnaire ‘Who is on your Superteam?’

The cerebral sex session ceases with ‘In Conclusion: What is One Last Thing You Want to Leave Everyone With?’, supplemented by ‘Dear You’: a direct message from the creators that endeth the lessons…

Cartoonist Isabella Rotman (A Quick & Easy Guide to Consent, Bodies, and Growing Up; Not on My Watch: The Bystanders Handbook for the Prevention of Sexual Violence; You’re So Sexy When You Aren’t Transmitting STIs) and New Orleans colourist Luke Howard have crafted a cogent and compelling primer covering the irrefutable basics for a wide and varied range of potential users, with the facts and messaging scripted by author, educator and youth advocate Heather Corinna (S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-To-Know Sexuality Guide to Get You Through Your Teens and Twenties; Our Bodies Ourselves).

Identifying as Queer and disabled, Corinna is the founder, designer and director of Scarleteen and Rotman became the organisation’s artist in residence in 2013.

A comprehensive ‘Glossary’ of pertinent terms opens a section of codicils including ‘I Can’t Keep Up With the Slang!’ – an advisory on changing trends in talk about sex; ‘Puzzle Solutions’; creators bios and appreciation ‘We are so grateful for:’ after which ‘More Cool Things!’ offers a bibliography and listings of other resources online, organisational and other for kids and adults to further explore…

This book is a bright and breezy primer covering the irrefutable basics on beginning one’s sexual life and confirming a gender that most suits each individual. By sharing facts and honest opinions it may hopefully help readers safely navigate all manner of relationship and explore the spectrum of experiences that should be available us all…
Wait, What? – A Comic Book Guide to Relationships, Bodies, and Growing Up is ™ & © 2019 Heather Corinna and Isabella Rotman. All rights reserved.

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The Art of Sushi


By Franckie Alarcon, translated by Peter Russella (NBM)
ISBN: 978-1-68112-285-4 (HB) eISBN: 978-1-68112-86-1

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Sensational Sagacity for All Seasonings… 9/10

Usually this bit is about sex or swearing, but I’m issuing my first ever culinary advisory here.

If you are vegan, squeamish or simply care about fish and other animals and are likely to be upset by graphic depictions of the preparation of really cool creatures like octopi or eels, do not buy this book. It’s really not your thing.

Once more confirming that there’s nothing you can’t craft compelling comics about if you’re talented and inspired, here’s a gripping graphic testament to the art, philosophy and mindset of Japan’s most misunderstood culinary export.

First seen as L’Art du Sushi in 2019, and courtesy of ever-inquisitive, fantastically convivial cartoonist-foodie Franckie Alarcon, The Art of Sushi follows the artist and close associates on a fact-finding tour of Japan. Their mission is in response to the recent phenomenon of France falling madly in love with the oriental art of food, and subsequent seeking to mimic and master its traditions and pure quality; whilst making it just a little bit theirs, too…

After a cheery introduction, scene-setting, history and visual précis to the discipline’s antecedents and nine basic forms, “Bibi” Alarcon, girlfriend Marilyne, Editor David and photographer Chloe join translator/guide Rica in Tokyo to track down a revered Master, one who is also a three-starred Michelin chef…

As well as fascinating insights into the philosophy, personal beliefs and techniques of 50-year veteran craftsman Hachiro Mizutani, the researchers taste marvels and come to understand the importance of sourcing the components. ‘Mizutani: Traditional Sushi’ catalogues dishes and how they’re constructed before following him to legendary Tsukiji Market to test the daily catch in still-living splendour before detailing how they are prepared… and why. The lesson includes eye-watering comparisons with the practices of Brittany fishermen….

Sidebars include the parlous state of the oceans and fish stocks, how to make rice and a beguiling history of knife-making.

As seen in ‘Maguro bocho and Oroshi bocho’, the nation’s metallurgical artisans used to make swords, but now craft far more dangerous implements…

After reinforcing our presentiments with tastes of old Japan, the tourists explore the rush of the contemporary city with a brilliant young chef making all the right waves in ‘Okada: Modern Sushi’. Prior to that, they headed into the country to visit with Rica’s family and spent time on fishing boats.

The pride of their catch comes with them to Okada’s city restaurant for a display of his innovative virtuosity and is supplemented by lessons in consuming the beverages that are an integral part of Sushi appreciation; the history of rice; aesthetics of presentation, more blade techniques for preparing various sea creatures and useful information in spotting and dealing with the assorted parasites that infest uncooked food…

One of the most compelling asides concerns the best shape and materials of bowls, plates, cups and other tableware, which diverts into a visit to a ceramicist providing such containers to the trade…

Every visit results in a fresh eating experience and freebies to take home, but after leaving Okada’s place the team go to Mito in Ibaraki Prefecture to learn all about rice wines and ‘The Stages of making Sake’: for many the most important component in ceremonial Sushi consumption…

Once done examining old and new at the high end, our intrepid voyagers tackle the working world of ‘Everyday Sushi’ in modern Japan. Beginning with a day aboard an eel fishing boat, learning cunning tricks to keep the catch alive until ready to eat, the Europeans later enjoy a home-prepared feast courtesy of Mrs. Tanemura – who runs an eatery out of her house – and discover the hard truths about Nori (seaweed wraps/mats) from her other guests…

The trip concludes with a mind-blowing visit to a soy sauce brewery before the city offers Sushi in fast food and convenience store mode before the exhausted well-stuffed visitors go home to reassess the state of ‘Sushi in France’ with now-learnèd eyes and taste buds.

Apparently, the biggest challenge is adapting to a far smaller range of truly fresh and seasonal ingredients in a largely land-locked country, but as star chefs Takuya Watanabe – in between revealing how to grow authentic wasabi in European soil – and Yannick Alléno point out, Gastronomy and Sushi are about technique. It works with vegan or even mammal-meat ingredients. There are even chocolate desserts available for the bold and truly discerning…

Closing out a truly revelatory reading experience comes a selection of ‘Recipes’ comprising ‘Rica’s Chirashi’ with either tuna, eel or avocado as main ingredient; ‘Okada’s Green Tea Octopus’, ‘Mrs. Okada’s Temari’ (a selection including meat- and fish-free options) and ‘Sasa Sushi’ (mackerel), plus an accompanying cocktail: ‘The Sake Mojito’

Also adding value is an ‘Address Book’ of recommended restaurants in Japan and France, and physical stores and online sources for ingredients, utensils and travel advice.

The art of food and pleasures of eating have never been better appreciated or shared than in books like these, blending the exoticism of travel with the tantalising yet satisfying anticipation of gustatory consumption. The Art of Sushi is simply delightful: an inviting comics divertissement that must surely whet the appetite for more…
© Editions Delcourt 2019. © 2021 NBM for the English translation.

The Art of Sushi will be released on December 14th 2021 and is available for pre-order now. For more information and other great reads see http://www.nbmpub.com/

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The Secrets of Chocolate: A Gourmand’s Trip Through a Top Chef’s Atelier


By , translated by Montana Kane (NBM)
ISBN: 978-1-68112-278-6 (HB) eISBN: 978-1-68112-279-3

It seems there’s nothing you can’t craft compelling comics about if you’re talented and inspired, as this spellbinding catalogue of the chocolatiers’ art proves. Originally released au Continent as Les Secrets du Chocolat in 2014, it’s a combination history, travelogue, docudrama and recipe book wherein Bande Dessinée star Franckie Alarcon is invited to spend a year shadowing a celebrated chocolatier at the Jacques Genin Chocolate Workshop. In a scintillating and oddly moreish manner he imparts his sheer joy at discovering how new sweetmeats are created; subsequently learning the history of the wonder stuff and even travelling to South America with a maker to source a new supply of the magic beans…

It all kicks off in December 2013 as the artist s recaps his recent past, detailing moments in his lifelong love affair with chocolate and revealing how he landed his ultimate passion project. Offered exclusive all-access to a literal chocolate factory, Alarcon began at Genin’s glamorous store/outlet, meeting dedicated apprentices and journeymen and absorbing the basic skills of production while being subtly retrained in how to eat and appreciate the subject of his dreams…

With positively lascivious renderings of classical chocs, and the secret recipes for making Candies, Truffles, Pralines,Chocolate Tart, Ganache, Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Mendiants, Alarcon learns under a true inventive master in ‘Chocolates’ with each new taste sensation triggering a positively Proustian Madeleine moment in the gobsmacked artist…

The next phase of the journey of discovery follows in ‘Stephane Bonnat, From Bean to Bar’ as Alarcon explores the history and processes of chocolate production from France’s most prestigious manufacturer before celebrating with elan an industry holy day in ‘Valentine’s Day: Love in the Form of Chocolate’…

Another big deal demanding the mastery of new skills is covered – or is that “enrobed”? – in ‘Easter: Art on Chocolate’after which May 20th 2014 sees the artist become fully-fledged as an ‘Intern: A Difficult Learning Experience’ mastering ‘Taste: The Source of Pleasure’ under Genin’s patient tutelage…

Making good on an earlier offer, Alarcon then joins Bonnat on a resource-hunting trip to the Amazon rainforest in search of a new kind of bean in ‘Cocoa: The Origins of Chocolate’ before the voyage of gustatory discovery concludes in September 2014 with some laudatory thoughts and even more tantalising visuals in ‘Parting Words: An All-Consuming Passion’…

Beguiling, seductive and simply delightful, this is an inviting comics divertissement that will surely be to practically everyone’s taste…
© Editions Delcourt 2014. © 2021 NBM for the English translation.

The Secrets of Chocolate: A Gourmand’s Trip Through a Top Chef’s Atelier will be released digitally on June 15th2020 and published in hardback on June 17th. It is available for pre-order now. For more information and other great reads see http://www.nbmpub.com/

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A Quick & Easy Guide to Consent


By Isabella Rotman with Luke B. Howard (Limerance Press/Oni Press-Lion Forge Publishing Group)
ISBN: 978-1-62010-794-2 (PB) eISBN: 978-1-62010-815-4

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Crucial Companion for Every Social Gathering of More Than 1 Person… 9/10

It’s going to be a seasonal holiday unlike any in living memory for most of us. In Britain, we’ve stringently locked down, been let loose to run rampant in dangerously close proximities and then locked down even harder and with more targeted complexity. For Christmas, as we’ve been not-so-good, the populace can now mix and mingle as we see fit, with no real curbing of contact. What could possibly go wrong?

All that preamble is my convoluted way of introducing what should the ideal accompaniment to the party season or any relationship…

I’ve frequently argued that comic strips are a matchless tool for education: rendering the most complex topics easily accessible and displaying a potent facility to inform, affect and alter behaviour. Here’s another superb example of the art form using its great powers for good…

The Quick & Easy Guide series has an admirable record of confronting uncomfortable issues with taste, sensitivity and breezy forthrightness: offering solutions as well as awareness or solidarity.

Here, Maine-based cartoonist Isabella Rotman (Wait What?: A Comic Book Guide to Relationships, Bodies and Growing Up; You’re So Sexy When You Aren’t Transmitting STIs) and New Orleans colourist Luke Howard collaborate on a cogent and compelling primer covering the irrefutable basics When, Where, Why and most especially What can be taken as Consent.

This is such a charged issue that the light and informative lecture is preceded by a very clear and well thought out Content Warning defining terms and the specifics of situations, with firm regard to gender, scope and even an Informational Disclaimer… that’s how hot a topic this is …

Terms are examined and situations explored during a tenuous first encounter between two healthy young adults, but as things heat up, a phantasmal guide pops in to steer the participants and give voice to their suppressed concerns, through chapters such as ‘What is Consent?’, ‘Consent is Simple’, ‘What is Sex?’ and ‘Consent Must be Freely Given!’ all emphasised through sidebars like ‘Tell Them What Turns You On!’ and an enumeration of what definitively ‘Have Nothing to do With Consent!’

The dialogue and show-&-tells are punctuated by quotes from professional Sexual Consent Educators, augmented by role plays, quizzes and a section outlining and defining the current (US only) ‘Age of Consent’ laws, before asking ‘Is Everyone Fully Informed?’ This last is primarily about all the many factors – physical and emotional – potential partners should always be apprised of, but also broadmindedly enquires ‘What About Kink?’ and even tackles the ever-present ‘Fear of Rejection’…

In closing, the convivial confrontation offers a list of potential faux pas in ‘So Don’t…’, a summation ‘In Review…’ before providing a ‘Yes. No. Maybe So Checklist’ as well as a selection of ‘Safer Sex: Contraception’, ‘…STI Risk Reduction’and ‘…Activities’ suggestions.

Being wise beyond her years and probably acutely aware of how inventive humans are, the author closes with sagacious questionnaire ‘Anything Else?’ plus a fulsome Bibliography and list of Resources to contact including Sex & Relationship Education, appropriate Hotlines and inline Checklists…

I hail from a fabulous far-distant era where we happily ravaged the planet without a qualm and believed emotional understanding led to universal acceptance. At the same time, it seems most of us never really stopped being the greedy cave monkey obsessively snatching whatever it wanted with no consideration of others or even consequences. We’re apparently a little more in tune with the planet now, and finally learning to share and play well with others…

This witty, no-nonsense treatise offers sage advice on becoming our best selves by dealing with our selfish natures – something that really should have been bred out of humanity eons, if not centuries, ago. It should be made compulsory reading in every school and college (and pub, and nightclub, and scenic natural beauty spot, and cinema and waiting room and…)
A Quick & Easy Guide to Consent ™ & © 2020 Isabella Rotman. All rights reserved.

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I’d Love to Draw


By Andrew Loomis (Titan Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78116-920-9 (HB)

Win’s Christmas Recommendation: an old-school introduction to peace and recreation… 9/10

Got some time on your hands? Fancy taking up a new hobby or rekindling an old interest?

There are many books – both academic and/or instructional – designed to inculcate a love of comics whilst offering tips, secrets and an education in how to make your own sequential narratives.

There are far more intended to foster and further the apparently innate and universal desire to simply make art and do so proficiently and well. There are however, precious few that do it with as much style, enthusiasm, delight and cunning craft as this recent re-release by one of the most influential and meritorious masters of illustration America ever produced.

William Andrew Loomis was born in Syracuse, New York in 1892 and grew up in Zanesville, Ohio during the period when almost all published illustration was crafted by talented hands rather than mechanical contrivances like cameras or computers.

Aged 19, Loomis moved back to New York to study under George Bridgman and Frank DuMond at the Art Students League before enlisting to fight in The Great War. On returning to America, he studied at the Art Institute of Chicago whilst setting up his own agency as a jobbing illustrator. Successful from the start, he began supplementing his income during the 1930s by teaching at the American Academy of Art and eventually began compiling his lecture and class material into such popular and effective instructional tomes as Fun with a Pencil and Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth.

His many beautiful and inspirational books influenced generations of artists before eventually slipping out of print. Titan Books began resurrecting them a few years ago and this tome (with an Introduction and a lavishly informative commentary by comics legend and grateful fan Alex Ross) continues the master’s works in an epic-scaled (315 x 235mm) luxuriously sturdy monochrome hardback which is a treasure to behold. Even when demonstrating the simplest stance or construction shape, Loomis’ utter joy in putting lines or shapes or shades on paper shines through…

This deeply idiosyncratic, wonderfully expansive and copiously illustrated collection begins with ‘Getting Started’: explaining the theory of ‘Basic Forms’ whilst offering page after page of illuminating examples before carefully and enthusiastically getting to grips with the thorny discipline of ‘Perspective’ in all its daunting forms.

The third pillar of artistic accomplishment is tackled head-on in ‘Light’, with a plethora of examples and exercises explaining all the necessities and useful tricks before the comfortable crash-course gravitates to Part Two and ‘Getting the Fun Out of It!’

Here the first port of call is perfecting ‘The Head’, which incorporates basic construction, carriage, positions and techniques before moving on to caricature and portraiture, after which ‘The Figure’ meticulously traces body form and development from stick-skeletons and sketch layouts to varieties of rendering, fast action visual notation, The Nude and the fundamentals of full illustration.

The foundation course concludes with the third and most important part: ‘The Fun of Sketching’: opening with an effusive overview of the practice of ‘Sketching’ – incorporating Line and Form Combined, Exaggeration to Project Character, Solid or Tonal Caricature, Portrait Sketching and much, much more.

Everything ends in an enthralling and enthusiastic ‘Closing Chat’ from the great man encouraging everyone to pick up a pencil and get on with it…

Loomis died in 1959 with one last art manual – Eye of the Painter & Elements of Beauty – published posthumously, yet his professional artistic philosophy, folksy wit and great personal charm still shine throughout this book. His gentle yet thorough instruction of the eternal unchanging verities of visual creation still makes the rewarding act of drawing not only achievable but desirable for everyone.

Perhaps this splendid volume is aimed more squarely at the progressing cartoonist, rather than at utter neophytes, and provides as much a philosophy of creativity as strict instruction, but I’d Love to Draw! will well serve any budding artists and storytellers whilst keeping idle hands and minds amused, absorbed and entertained for hours. If you already have the urge to make pictures but want a little encouragement, this marvellous manual will offer a steadying hand and all the support you could dream of.
© Andrew Loomis, The Estate of Andrew Loomis 2014. All rights reserved.

Introduction and additional text © Alex Ross 2014.

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A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer and Trans Identities


By Mady G & J.R. Zuckerberg (Limerance Press/Oni Press)
ISBN: 978-1-62010-586-3 (PB) eISBN: 978-1-62010-587-0

Here’s a handy rule of thumb for getting along. People get to decide what to call themselves. You get to accept and agree with them, as long as no one is being actually harmed. That assessment is to be made by Law, not personal belief or some higher calling. If you can’t accept their definitions of themselves, you have the right to leave people alone and never interact with them.

Okay?

We are the naming primate. If we encounter something unknown and/or scary, we give it a description, definition and title and accept it into our ever-expanding understanding of Reality. It’s what enabled us to take over this world. Naming things is generally a good thing and allows us to navigate our universe.

Some people, however, use the power of naming to isolate, ostracise and wound. They are not doing it right. People like us have plenty of really fitting names for people like them when they abuse our gift…

Seriously though, it seems like every time we make a move towards greater inclusivity, some faction of retrograde, regressive backwards-looking churl and biological luddite manufactures a reason why we can’t all get along.

I personally favour retaliation, but the only way to truly counter them is with understanding, so here’s a book that offers plenty of names and definitions we should all be adding to our lexicons…

I’ve frequently argued that comic strips are a matchless tool for education: rendering the most complex topics easily accessible and displaying a potent facility to inform, affect and alter behaviour. Here’s a splendid example of the art form using its great powers for good…

The Quick & Easy Guide series has an admirable record of confronting uncomfortable issues with taste, sensitivity and breezy forthrightness: offering solutions as well as awareness or solidarity.

Here, coast-to-coast cartoonists Mady G. and J. R. Zuckerberg collaborate on a bright and breezy primer covering the irrefutable basics on establishing one’s own sexual and gender identity (including the difference between those terms), safely navigating all manner of relationship and exploring the spectrum of experiences available to consenting adults.

A major aspect of us People Primates is that we spend a lot of our lives trying to work out who we are. It takes varying amounts of time for every individual and lots of honesty.

It’s like most work. It can be unwelcome, laborious, painful and even dangerous and nobody should attempt it too soon or alone.

Moreover, all too often, assistance and advice offered can be unwelcome and stemming from somebody else’s agenda. In my own limited experience for example, any sexual guidance offered by anybody with a religious background is immediately suspect and a waste of breath. Perhaps your experience is different. That’s pretty much the point here. In the end, you have make up your own mind and be your own judge…

Unlike me, A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer and Trans Identities takes no sides and offers no bias as it runs through the fundamentals, but only after a Foreword from cartoonist and author Roz Chast and an Intro by Mady lay out the rules of engagement on the attaching and utilisation of the labels and roles gradually becoming common modern parlance…

The micro lectures are set during a wilderness trek where an agglomeration of troubled humans have a group teaching encounter under the supervision of a “Queer Educator” endeavouring to define for them the nature of ‘Queerness’…

The useful commentary, educational asides and plentiful laughs are generated by a colony of snails avidly observing proceedings like a raucous and bewildered Greek Chorus. Such gastropods, as I’m sure you recall from school, are either male, female, hermaphroditic or something else entirely, depending on what time it is. Now that’s perspective…

Subjects covered with forthright verve, clarity and – crucially – wry wit begin with ‘What is Queer?’, proffering terms for defining Sexuality and Gender as subdivided into Bisexuality, Asexuality, Pansexuality amongst other permutations. These and later lessons are illustrated with examples starring primarily neutral vegetable critters dubbed The Sproutlingswho are conveniently pliable and malleable…

‘What is Gender Identity?’ digs deeper, discussing Gender vs Sex via a little biology tutorial before ‘Now… What’s Gender Expression?’ expands the debate, determining modern manners and ways of signalling the world what one has decided is a person’s (current, but not necessarily permanent) status. The lecture comes with carefully curated real-world examples…

This is all fine in an ideal world, but contentious, often life changing problems that can occur are tackled head-on in ‘What Does Dysphoria Mean?’, detailing examples of the traumas accompanying the realisation of not being how you believe you ought to be. Divided into Physical, Social and non-binary Dysphoria, the examination includes ways of combatting the problems and more case histories courtesy of the human wilderness students…

In swift succession ‘So, what is Asexuality?’ and ‘What does it mean to Come Out?’ offer further practical thoughts and prospective coping tactics before vital life lessons are covered in ‘Here are some Relationship Basics’.

Also included here are an “Outro” by Zuckerberg and a section of activities including ‘Design a Pair of Friendship Jackets’, ‘Create Your Own Sprout-sona!’ and ‘How to make a Mini Zine!!’ as well as information on ‘More Resources!’and Creator Biographies.

I hail from a fabulous far-distant era where we happily ravaged the planet without a qualm but believed emotional understanding led to universal acceptance. We’re apparently smarter about the planet now, and it’s wonderful to see that the quest to destroy intolerance and ignorance still continues. This witty, welcoming treatise offers superb strategies for fixing a pernicious issue that really should have been done and dusted decades ago.

Hopefully, when we all share appropriate, non-evocative and un-charged terms for discussing human sexuality and gender – such as seen here – we can all make decisions and assessments that will build a fairer, gentler world for everybody…
A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer and Trans Identities ™ & © 2019 Mady G & J.R. Zuckerberg. All rights reserved.

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A Quick & Easy Guide to Sex & Disability


By A. Andrews (Limerance/Oni Press)
ISBN: 978-1-62010-694-5 (PB) eISBN: 978-1-62010-706-5

Comic strips are an incredibly powerful tool for education, rendering the trickiest or most complex topics easily accessible. They also have an overwhelming ability to affect and change behaviour and have been used for centuries by politicians, religions, the military and commercial concerns to modify how we live our lives. Here’s a splendid example of the art form using its great powers for good…

The Quick & Easy Guide series has an admirable record of confronting uncomfortable issues with taste, sensitivity and breezy forthrightness: offering solutions as much as awareness or solidarity. Here, disabled cartoonist A. Andrews (Oh, Hey! It’s Alyssa!) shares experiences and highlights situations too many people would prefer never having to think about…

Before we go any further though, let’s just state something that ought to be obvious. Most human beings want and have sex.

Even amongst the majority, that encompasses a variety of preferences, techniques and practices generally undertaken in a spirit of cooperation and carried out on a sliding scale of satisfaction and success for (at least one of) those taking part. The goal however, surely must be mutual gratification for all involved, right?

Sadly, for a large section of humanity, this fundamental function presents many difficulties. Most have been previously addressed in many learned clinical tracts and therapeutically-themed sources but this welcomingly frank cartoon lecture isn’t one of those. It’s a chat session led by a person who’s lived some of those difficulties and who uses passion, humour, common sense and earnest language to cope. Think here not about achieving sex, but rather making your version of sex better, if not best…

After starting out with some daunting statistics from the Center for Disease Control and World Health Organization to establish the state of play for disabled people (Earth’s largest minority group, accounting for 15% of global adult population), Andrews quickly moves to the meat of the matter in ‘Disability Sexuality’.

Defining different forms of disability – congenital, acquired, intellectual and invisible – and outlining intersecting impacts on individuals as well as tackling the differences between sexuality and gender, naturally leads to an examination of ‘Myths About Disabled Bodies’ before revealing the big secret… ‘Communication’…

Following short and pertinent questionnaire ‘Activity Time’, the talk about talking resumes with ‘Instead of … Try This…’ and more sage advice, plus a fascinating ‘Self-Care Plan’ and the value of preparedness and tools, enhancements and toys in ‘Getting Down’, ‘Positioning’ and ‘Aftercare’…

Also included is a listing of additional information and resources in print, podcast and web formats.

I hail from a distant era when we believed understanding led to acceptance, so it’s wonderful to see that the quest to destroy intolerance and ignorance still continues. This witty, welcoming comics guide tackles an issue that really should have been done and dusted decades ago, but until disability (and race and gender and sexuality and body size and even bloody hair colour) lose every shade of meaning and connotation except purely descriptive, books like this one will remain a necessity and utterly welcome…
A Quick & Easy Guide to Sex & Disability ™ & © 2020 A. Andrews. All rights reserved.