NIGHTLIFE

The cover of the hardcover of NIGHTLIFE

If last month’s selection broadened the boundaries of what pornographic material can do for comics, this month’s selection redefines what comics can do for pornography. Published in 2009 by Bruno Gmünder, NIGHTLIFE is a wordless comic written by Dale Lazarov with art by Bastian Jonsson and colors by Yann Duminil. It contains three short stories that explore different evening erotic encounters.

To describe NIGHTLIFE as pornography was actually a bit glib on my part; erotic is the more apt word, though Mr. Lazarov prefers the term sex positive. (Full disclosure: Mr. Lazarov and I are personal friends. More disclosure: I had been meaning to cover one of his works in this blog from before we were friends. Sorry it took so long, Dale!) Pornography is all about titillation, the pure lustful enjoyment of the consumer. Erotica deals with relationships, and provides characters about whom the reader can come to care over the course of a story. The dialogue in NIGHTLIFE may be unwritten, but it is all over the faces of the characters as they interact and seduce each other. We are taken in as readers as much as they are.

The three stories presented in this volume have more than graphic nudity and gay sex in common. The sexual encounters depicted in NIGHTLIFE are journeys from night to dawn, from sleep to awakening. The colors and artwork perfectly complement the different contours and atmospheres of the settings and the changing moods of the characters. First is “Hard Cases,” about musicians at an open mic night who discover they have more in common than just music. The second story is “Layover,” which begins in an airport and lives up to the double entendre of the title. Finally, there is “Closing Time,” a sweet tale that begins in a leather bar called Salvation and takes some unexpected turns.

NIGHTLIFE is available to be purchased through Amazon.