false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173233563m/262313.jpg 262313 3 When Robert Crumb, S. Clay Wilson, Gilbert Shelton, and other Bay Area misfits first started producing "underground" comics in the '60s, they were considered to be highly innovative in their use of frank sexual themes. However, some 10 to 15 years before they commenced their explicit, often offensive cartoons, another genre of pornographic graphics was dying out, the so-called "Tijuana Bibles" (or sometimes "Cuban Bibles," "French Bibles," etc.). Simon & Schuster has released a collection of these antique obscenities that often featured famous political, show business, or cartoon figures having more fun than mainstream censors would have allowed. The introduction, by comic book apologist and <i>New Yorker</i> comics editor Art Spiegelman, is an amusing and sarcastic look at the history of this lost medium, with some interesting reflections on the genre, noting that "Though there are bound to be those who will loudly declaim that the <i>Tijuana Bibles</i> demean women, I think it important to note that they demean <i>everyone</i> ... it's what cartoons do best." While the reprinted comic strips are often amusing in being laughingly bad, the historical essays and asides by editor Bob Adelman provide fascinating historical context. A sociology of mid-century sexual mores and the love/hate relationship that Americans have with their celebrities is evinced by the combination of reprint and commentary. 1753545 1997 Tijuana Bibles: Art and Wit in America's Forbidden Funnies, 1930s-1950s total:33|5:9|4:14|3:10| 33 131 47 7 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Jan 06 05:56:06 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 06 05:57:00 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Mon May 18 10:34:44 -0700 2009 Mon May 18 10:34:51 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Jan 25 19:39:17 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 25 19:44:56 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Sun May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Mon Apr 27 16:18:02 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 10 15:09:37 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Jan 31 18:06:11 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 01 18:38:13 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Wed May 07 06:51:15 -0700 2008 Wed May 07 06:51:15 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Tue Feb 05 12:36:55 -0800 2008 Wed May 28 13:00:43 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Tue Sep 15 07:58:59 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 15 07:58:59 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Aug 21 23:44:49 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 23:44:49 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jul 13 23:31:32 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 23:31:40 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Jul 05 16:24:36 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 16:24:36 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sat Jun 13 08:41:09 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 13 08:41:09 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Apr 03 20:28:52 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 03 20:28:52 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Mar 24 20:15:23 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 20:15:26 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 1997 Tue Mar 03 13:40:21 -0800 2009 Sat Mar 07 09:26:47 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jan 31 17:06:49 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 17:06:49 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Fri Dec 19 15:38:37 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 19 15:38:37 -0800 2008 0 0 true false Mon Nov 24 13:28:36 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 24 13:28:51 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Sat Oct 18 00:27:39 -0700 2008 Sat Oct 18 00:27:39 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Thu Sep 18 07:44:41 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 18 07:44:41 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=262313