A Short and Sexy History of Erotic Cartoons

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Erotic depictions and pornography in art and paintings are nothing new. 

From the erotic cave paintings of the Dordogne to the hentai of today, erotic drawings, paintings, cartoons, and animation have been a mainstay of human culture. It would seem that as long as art has existed, erotic drawings have too. 

But while plenty of us will have seen erotic art, not everyone is familiar with erotic cartoons. Erotic cartoons are an art form in and of themselves, with a rich history and interesting subgenres too. 

What are erotic cartoons?

You might be wondering what the difference is between erotic art and erotic cartoons. It’s  - a cartoon drawing showing the features of its subjects in a humorously exaggerated way, so apply this to erotic depictions, and you’ve got yourself an erotic cartoon.

With this in mind, it’s no wonder they are popular among artists.

It should not be surprising that the first meaningful, expressive works of art for many artists are usually sexually explicit in one way or the other. Some artists do this as a coping mechanism (we’ll take a look at fan art later on). For others it is simply a phase that goes away soon enough, while for others, it opens a door to a whole new world of creativity, making them pursue this interest professionally. 

That select group of artists might grow up to become erotic comic artists, whose purpose in life is to entertain, excite, and satisfy the millions of fans of the medium. 

A brief introduction to erotic comics

Erotic comics are comics that are targeted towards an adult audience. Their main focus is nudity and sex, whether for their own sake or as the main story element. This differs from the blanket term “adult comics”, which includes all types of comic books, magazines, comic strips, and graphic novels that have an erotic or violent or even sophisticated nature that is targeted towards adults. 

Therefore, all erotic comics are adult comics but not all adult comics are erotic comics. 

Erotic comics have always been bound by the particular context in which they are drawn. Cultural taboos, societal norms, and the artist’s own predispositions all influence what the comic ends up being. 

They follow the same design language of other comics. As such, they can consist of single panels, short comic strips, or can even come as comic books or graphic novels.

Because of the nature of their content, they are not permitted to be sold to legal minors.   

Erotic comics aren’t just a western thing

Erotic comics have never been a mainstream genre - but you would be forgiven for thinking that they are a solely ‘western’ thing (although you would also be mistaken). The erotic comic boom of the 1980s. The boom and bust nature of the decade meant that comic book creators turned to more and more sensationalist themes to attract or retain readership. This meant more violence, a ton of racism and - you guessed it - good old-fashioned explicit content.

Remember, sex sells - so when faced with economic uncertainty, the comic book creators adapted in order to survive. This meant that some of the more racy themes mentioned above (including erotic or explicit content or aesthetics) made their way into the mainstream fan favorites too - such as superhero comics. 

But, this didn’t go unpunished, as Michael Hind of Albino Books explains:

“Perhaps not surprisingly, there was a public backlash unseen since the 1950s. Comic shop owners were arrested; books were burned; there was local legislative censorship and import barring of American comics by Canada and the United Kingdom.

One of the titles pointed to as corrupting the nation’s youth was Love & Rockets. Obviously, the censors had only glanced at the book which, at times, did depict nudity, hetero- and homosexual activity and used naturalistic language including those swear words, but did so to no greater extent than Hollywood did. The focus soon shifted to more extreme examples at DC Comics and to porn or “erotic” comics”

However, they have always existed as a niche alongside other comic genres. Here is a closer look at how they developed throughout the world: 

Japanese erotic comics

Erotica has always been a major part of Japan’s illustrative art culture. A great early example is The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife, a woodblock printed design by Japanese artist Hokusai. First published in 1814, it features a woman having sex with two octopuses. 

However, erotica was never a mainstream form of expression because it was largely suppressed by the government.

After World War II, it experienced a massive renaissance, which saw the rise of such erotic dramas as Erogenica in 1975. 

Important elements in Japanese erotic comics: 

Lolicon 

Lolicon is a genre of comic that focuses on the attraction to young girls (and is obviously somewhat controversial to us westerners). The term lolicon even throws up red flags - because it is derived from the English phrase “Lolita complex,” (which relates to the book by Nabokov - all about a grown man who enters into an intense sexual relationship with a 12 year old girl). Characters in Lolicon comics are usually drawn in a cute, cartoony style, popularized by manga artist Azuma Hideo. 

Shotacon

In the same way that Lolicon relates to young girls, Shotacon comics focus on the attraction to young boys. Shotacon anime and comics usually show pre-pubescent or pubescent male characters as an object of desire - sometimes erotically, sometimes in less explicit ways. 

Shojo manga

Shojo manga is manga which is targeted towards a young, mostly teenage, female demographic. It is not exclusively erotic in nature - but when it is, it usually contains elements of Class S manga. 

Class S manga

Class S or or "S kankei" is an early twentieth-century Japanese wasei-eigoa term used to refer to romantic friendships between girls. It is not always depicted as being explicit, but there are sometimes strong sexual overtones in Class S manga

Yaoi manga

Yaoi manga - also known as “boys' love” - is a style of manga that focuses on homoerotic relationships between male characters. This style of manga is actually targeted mostly toward women (and is often created by women too).

Bara manga

Bara manga is the term given to erotic comics featuring gay and bisexual men. Unlike yaoi manga, these comics are created mainly by gay men for a gay male audience; and have a more stereotypically ‘masculine’ aesthetic (often featuring muscular men with body hair - more akin to ‘bear’ or bodybuilding culture). This style of erotic manga was pularized by artist Gengoroh Tagame.

European erotic comics

In Europe, erotica was a feature of the comic medium ever since it was first developed. Some significant examples include the depiction of Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, and other aristocrats in a series of sexually explicit pamphlets, such as The Royal Dildo and The Royal Orgy. 

Modern-day Europe has generally been quite liberal when it comes to sexual material in comics (as demonstrated in the 80s boom). But the decade wasn’t just a flash in the pan for erotic comics - and you only need to take a look at the different offerings available from European artists today, to see just how enduring the ‘erotic’ aesthetic is. 

The success of such artists is also an indicator. Some notable erotic comic artists in Europe include: 

Milo Manara

Milo Manara is an Italian comic artist who made his debut in 1969 drawing for a Fumetti neri series called Genius (Fumetti neri is an Italian erotic comic subgenre). He produced a large body of works in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s, but is possibly most well known in the erotic comic world for his work on the erotic series Jolanda de Almaviva. 

Ralf Konig

Ralf Konig is a German cartoonist who specialized in gay (male-male) comics in the 80s. Konig is one of the best known and most commercially successful German comic book creators, and while his work does display nudity, he tends to lean more toward humor and the portrayal of the daily routines of gay life.

Tom Bouden

Tom Bouden is a prolific artist who has a large body of works featuring young gay men and their sexual adventures. Bouden’s graphic novel version of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest was actually censored by Apple in 2017, presumably for daring to show a gay kiss! The tech giant later backtracked and said that this was a mistake, however. 

North American erotic comics

Some of the earliest erotic comics in North America were called Tijuana bibles. They first appeared in the 1920s as short, eight-page pamphlets featuring the sexual adventures of well-known characters, political figures, and movie stars. Their popularity peaked during the Great Depression but by the 19550s only a few of them were still being produced. 

From the 1950s, numerous men’s magazines started featuring erotic comics. Playboy debuted in 1953 and featured mostly single-panel works by artists like Alberto Vargas, Dan DeCarlo, and Leroy Neiman. 

Later, Penthouse put out a number of full erotic comic magazines, including Penthouse Comix, Penthouse Men Adventure, and Penthouse Max. Notable contributing artists in these magazines include Adam Hughes and Olivia De Berardinis. 

As we’ve already mentioned, in the 1980s and 90s, several notable erotic comic titles became popular: 

Cherry by Larry Welz- a parody of Archie Comics

Omaha the Cat Dancer by Kate Worley and Reed Waller- featured anthropomorphic animals in sexually explicit situations

Genus by Radio Comix- furry erotic comics

XXXenophile by Phil Foglio- science fiction erotica

Oglaf by Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne- this is a medieval fantasy with humor and diverse sexuality

Indian erotic comics 

When you think of erotic cartoons and comics, India may not be the place that comes to mind.

In fact, India has strict regulations against the production and distribution of pornography - which makes it all the more surprising that, despite this, there is an erotic comic scene. 

The ban on pornographic materials has not stopped certain sectors of the populations from breaking the rules, and daring to go ahead and create erotic art. Since the early 2000s, there has been a small but growing industry of erotic comics. With the help of easy distribution (via the internet), it looks like Indian erotic comics are definitely here to stay!

Some notable examples of erotic comics from India include the following:

Savita Bhabhi- this comic focuses on the exploits of the main protagonist Savita. She’s a bored housewife, and so gets up to some naughty adventures and sexual exploits.

Veena- This comic focuses on the story of a young woman who wants to leave the suburbs and explores what she is ready to do to achieve her goals

Velamma- much like Veena and Savita Bhabhi, Velamma focuses on the adventures of an innocent Indian housewife. Are you starting to see a pattern emerging yet?

What other types of erotic cartoons are there?

We’ve scratched the surface of the world of erotic cartoons - but it is important to point out that erotic comics are not the only medium of erotic cartoons out there (though they are certainly one of the more popular ones). 

So what else, then, is there except for sexy superheroes and cheeky illustrations in the morning newspaper? The average person is not likely to have come across anything more than the usual novelty greetings card, you may never have come across an erotic cartoon. After all, they aren’t exactly safe for work, and they aren’t exactly mainstream either 

But - they do exist. You just have to know what to look for, and of course - where to look.

Vintage erotic cartoons

Vintage erotic cartoons are probably one of the easier styles of erotic cartoons to search for, because they hold at least a certain amount of credibility as an art form. If you peruse vintage stores or antique shops - you’ll likely come across something a little bit risque at some point. Plus - the internet knows no bounds when it comes to searching for things - no matter how obscure - and every now and then, you may even come across an animated video like this one.

Vintage erotic cartoons are a subgenre in and of themselves, with online resources, specialist retailers, and even books delving deeper into the topic. There’s a following, for example, of Dan Decarlo - with books and other resources exploring his raunchy 1950s illustrations.

While DeCarlo was best known for his definitive renditions of Archie Comics' Betty and Veronica, two of comics' most beloved icons, his other artwork shows a naughty side. Before joining Archie and unbeknownst to many, DeCarlo honed his skills as a good girl artist for the Humorama line of digest magazines. There’s even a book series: The Pin-Up Art of Dan DeCarlo by Alex Chun, which explores DeCarlo’s art in more detail. 

Erotic cartoon memes and fan art

We are living in the 21st century, so it seems only right that we mention the growing popularity of fan art and internet memes within the context of erotic cartoons. The internet gives the means and the opportunity for artists and amateurs alike to create and share their own erotic artwork and memes; so the diversity of erotic cartoons out there is bigger than ever before.

If you are not familiar with the term ‘meme’, then the following definition should help to provide at least a little bit of insight:

“an image, video, piece of text, etc., typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by Internet users, often with slight variations”

This is a very ‘modern’ variety of erotic cartoon - and is usually pretty tongue-in-cheek in nature. The eroticism of such images is usually the sole source of humor. Memes and fan art usually serve as a way of presenting something typically non-sexual (such as a children’s cartoon) in a sexual way for the purposes of having a good old laugh. A sexy Sonic The Hedgehog is, after all, hilarious. 

But humor isn’t always the main objective when it comes to erotic cartoons on the internet. You only need to take a look at the rise of ‘Brony’ culture (and consequently, the sexualization of My Little Pony), to see that there is a definite shift toward the sexual, rather than the ‘funny’.

A quick google search for ‘my little pony porn meme’ will show just how popular this particular strain of ‘DIY’ cartoon erotica actually is. Images range from hand-drawn sketches of ponies in bondage gear to animated GIFs of ponies taking it doggy-style, and everything in between. This goes beyond being about humor and instead crosses well and truly into the realm of the pornographic.

But, each to their own - right?

Hentai (manga and anime)

Hentai is probably the most well-known style of erotic cartoon - as it is pretty-much exclusively Japanese cartoon pornography. Interestingly, Hentai is defined differently in English than it is in Japanese. The Oxford Dictionary Online defines it as 

"a subgenre of the Japanese genres of manga and anime, characterized by overtly sexualized characters and sexually explicit images and plots."

In the Japanese language, however, "hentai" is not a genre of media but any type of perverse or bizarre sexual desire or act. But, without getting too bogged down with semantics, we can deduce that Hentai relates to pornographic cartoons.

It should be noted that hentai manga is different from hentai anime. Manga relates to comic books and static artwork, while anime relates to animated films. Both are pretty popular mediums of hentai - in fact At the beginning of 2000, "hentai" was listed as the 41st most-popular search term of the internet, while "anime" ranked at 99th.

Despite its popularity, there is still a stigma surrounding hentai. Mainstream culture shuns this type of pornography and often labels it as ‘weird’, but that still doesn’t change the fact that it is a legitimate subgenre of porn.

Final thoughts

When looking at erotic comics and cartoons, it is very important to also have a good understanding of the prevailing real-world context in which they have been written. Political, societal, cultural, and even religious factors all have an influence on what ends up on the page. 

For example, in most of Western Europe, female nudity is no big deal - at least in comparison to other parts of the world. Instagram might ban us or make us feel scandalized if we show an image with a woman’s bared nipples - but that is probably as bad as it gets. This is likely due to the fact that naked breasts are associated with sex and therefore banned from public display - but it does mean that cartoons displaying large-breasted women are always a hit with the fans.

On the flip side - such things might be considered as distasteful in other cultures, and vice versa. In Japan, some erotic comics depict young girls in sexual situations, which is something that might be considered far too risque, inappropriate and even paedophilic to western audiences. 
The global popularity of erotic cartoons, therefore, should be viewed with an open mind. Sexual interests come in many different shapes, sizes, and varieties; from sniffing used underwear to looking at photographs of women’s feet, so why should erotic cartoons be any less diverse?