Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Lost Girls (Lost Girls #1-3)

3.57 of 5 stars 3.57 · rating details · 2,816 ratings · 322 reviews

For more than a century, Alice, Wendy and Dorothy have been our guides through the Wonderland, Neverland and Land of Oz of our childhoods. Now like us, these three lost girls have grown up and are ready to guide us again, this time through the realms of our sexual awakening and fulfillment. Through their familiar fairytales they share with us their most intimate revelation...more

Hardcover, 104 pages

Published September 12th 2006 by Top Shelf Productions (first published 2006)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Required Reading Graphic Novels

81st out of 583 books — 937 voters

Best Graphic Novels

178th out of 1,514 books — 3,102 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Apr 27, 2011 Ceridwen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-about-books, capital-m-modern, comics, faeries, incest-is-best, lgbt, rule-britannia

Warning: there's some cussing and sex-talk in this review. If you don't like that sort of thing, you will not like this book in any way. Move along.

My opening wiseass salvo is that I'm pretty sure Alan Moore decided to write Lost Girls as pornography to stick to all the filmmakers who have hosed his comics in the past. Try to make this into a summer blockbuster, Hollywood! Muahahaha. There's something charmingly retrograde about hand-drawing pornography in a series of different artists' styles,...more

56 likes · like · see review

Apr 22, 2008 James rated it 4 of 5 stars

wow. um, just...wow. i don't really know what i was expecting with this book when i first got it. i knew that it was by alan moore, the genius behind the comics/graphic novels watchmen , v for vendetta, from hell, the league of extraordinary gentleman, and many others, and i knew that it was a deconstruction of a genre like most of moore's work. in this case however, put bluntly as moore has in interviews requested it be done, that genre is "pornography," and lost girls is moore's attempt to "ta...more wow. um, just...wow. i don't really know what i was expecting with this book when i first got it. i knew that it was by alan moore, the genius behind the comics/graphic novels watchmen , v for vendetta, from hell, the league of extraordinary gentleman, and many others, and i knew that it was a deconstruction of a genre like most of moore's work. in this case however, put bluntly as moore has in interviews requested it be done, that genre is "pornography," and lost girls is moore's attempt to "take it back," and to all kinds of intellectual places that aren't normally associated with works of that type. i guess i just wasn't expecting something quite so.....explicit? distressing? layered? to be honest, flipping through it put me off of reading it for a long time.

when, recently, i read an interview in rue morgue magazine (a publication devoted to "horror in culture and entertainment") with moore, in which he discussed his intentions with the book, i decided to give it another shot.

moore says that he really views the work as having very horrific undertones (which it does) and that in a way, it (and its subject matter) is based on fear, fear of "strange creatures alternately wonderful and scary," and the "worst and most ridiculous fears" one gender might hold toward the other.

so, what on the surface appears to be "smutty parodies" (what moore says he specifically didn't want to do), really turns out to be the stories of peter pan, alice in wonderland, and the wizard of oz (or rather, of their primary female protagonists) retold in an enlightening, frightening, disgusting, disturbing, and deeply metaphoric and layered manner. the parallels running through each of the stories, through humankind's story of maturation, through everyone's personal stories of maturaion, as well as through the era the stories are re-told in (all of it surrounds the opening shots of world war 1) are fascinating and rewarding. moore succeeds in making this book highly literary, intelligent, and challenging.

the biggest issue to take with it, of course, is how graphic it is, (i could make a "graphic novel" joke here, but instead, i'll let it pass as best i can), which definitely makes the book not for everyone, and arguably not for most. but, when asked if the story could have been done in a "kinder, gentler" manner, moore's response, a perfect one to end on (as the interview in rue morgue did), is thus:

"life can't be compartmentalized into genres. it's messy, it can't be separated, it's all going on at once. if we are well-balanced, then horror, sexuality, comedy, heroism and villainy - we are all these things at once, and that's what makes us human."(less)

24 likes · like · see review

Mar 09, 2011 Alex rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: particularly-drunk-reviews, smut

We get it, Alan. You're a total radical. WooOOOoooOOOoooOO. I'm not shocked by this book, I'm just sortof bored by it.

In case you don't know what this is: it's kiddie porn featuring lesbian sex between Alice (of Wonderland) and Dorothy (of Oz). See?! You were surprised, consternated and a little curious, right? That's what Moore wants you to feel! That's why he did it! He's just fucking with you. You know who writes lesbian sex scenes between Alice and Dorothy? Ninth grade boys. Because ninth gr...more

15 likes · like · see review

Mar 05, 2011 Ninja Sock Puppet rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: NGE

Shelves: deep-shit, stolen-from-ceridwen

I came to this (view spoiler) porno (view spoiler)twice(view spoiler). It took an afternoon (view spoiler) of (view spoiler)...more

26 likes · like · see review

May 12, 2007 Sophia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed, graphicnovels

Sadly, a bit of a disappointment -- some of the art is beautiful, and I enjoyed some of the story, but overall it's a) too much porn, b) porn which doesn't really appeal to my sensibilities for the most part, and c) kind of sad to see all the magic of these girls' stories taken out and replaced with sex. I initially thought that sex would just be included, but, despite the cleverness of some of the shifts (Captain Hook is a dirty old man who spies on the Lost Boys' debauchery in the park? nice),...more

11 likes · like · see review

Jul 25, 2008 Vanessa rated it 3 of 5 stars

It has taken me a while to write this review, because it has taken me a while to figure out how I felt about Lost Girls. My rating of three stars is a compromise between two factors: For the years of thought and effort Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbe put into this opus, I felt they deserved four (and in places, five) stars; however, my enjoyment of the work only merited two (and in places, one or zero) stars.

I was already a fan of some of Alan Moore’s previous work (particularly The Ballad of Halo...more

6 likes · like · see review

Ambrosia I just wanted to say thanks, and word - you about summed up my thoughts on the story as well, especially about how mixed my enjoyment of it was. I'm h...more
Dec 18, 2008 12:46am

Vanessa Thanks for your comment, Miss Rose. I don't know that it was Moore's approach to titillate everyone with every part of this work - from the interviews...more
updated Dec 20, 2008 06:56am

Ambrosia Yeah. I read a bunch of the interviews he gave during the run-up to publication, and I respect the loftiness of his goals - and the general success wi...more
updated Dec 20, 2008 12:11am

Jul 18, 2007 Grace rated it 2 of 5 stars

I am no shrinking violet or prude. And I love a good comic book as well as a well written spin on a fairy tale. Therefore when I heard that Alan Moore had written erotica comics with Alice in Wonderland, Dorothy from Oz, and Wendy Darling from Peter Pan as the 3 main characters, I was enthusiastic. What a fascinating idea! Sadly, the reality did not live up to my expectations.

I received all 3 volumes via Inter-library loan, and read the first one in its entirety. By the time I got halfway throu...more

9 likes · like · see review

Jul 04, 2007 Justin rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you're not at all a prude (in any way shape or form) then you might enjoy this book. Instead of "book" in the last sentence, I accidently wrote "movie." I dont know what that means. Maybe that it was so well done that it was almost a cinematic experience? Hmmm..

I read this over the span of 3 days so I wouldnt get burnt out on it and I think that was a wise choice. At times I sat reading this oblvious to the world. I finished it a few minutes ago and I'm still kind of lost in the experience,...more

7 likes · like · see review

Feb 13, 2011 Brian rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed, in-part

I really wanted to like Lost Girls, in no small part because I love Alan Moore's superhero deconstruction and I'm an admirer of the comic world's ballsiest writer. But in truth, these books are filth, and no amount of sacrificing to Glycon is going to change that...

Now hold onto your horse bestiality. I'm not one to blush. I'm not saying that these books are garbage because they include more genitalia per page than words. I'm fine with that, so long as the works stands.. erect on its merits. But...more I really wanted to like Lost Girls, in no small part because I love Alan Moore's superhero deconstruction and I'm an admirer of the comic world's ballsiest writer. But in truth, these books are filth, and no amount of sacrificing to Glycon is going to change that...

Now hold onto your horse bestiality. I'm not one to blush. I'm not saying that these books are garbage because they include more genitalia per page than words. I'm fine with that, so long as the works stands.. erect on its merits. But it doesn't.

At it's core, "Lost Girls" re-examines the "Big Three" of the childhood fantasies from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Baum, Barrie, and Carroll - if ever there was a more interesting group to trade dirty jokes with, I doubt you'd find it. Nobody could find sturdy ground from which to argue that these works are not laden with beaucoup sexual undertones, and for Moore to "go the distance" is an interesting and welcome take on the source material. But here's where it all goes Humpty Dumpty. Moore and Gebbie are so intent on their re-envisioning that they commit the unforgivable sin of adaptation: you cannot forsake the heart of your source.

And the heart of these works is fantasy. It's escapism and adventure, magic and mystery. Are there all sorts of ways you could draw in parallels between these elements and the sexual awakenings of the characters? You bet! Would that make an awesome story? Probably! Do Moore/Gebbie do it successfully? Nope!

Instead, the sex supplants the fantasy, and in doing so destroys 90% of what is great about the Big Three. All that's left are some clever associations and unexpected twists on familiar personages (Captain Hook, Tinker Bell, Scarecrow, etc). It's ironic, because Moore is a "ceremonial magician" (whatever that means) and so he should have enough respect for magic to leave it in when it works! He should have some inkling that to remove the wuzzy line between fantasy and sex and attribute the entirety of the exotic adventure in these wonderful stories to puberty-flamed dreaming is just not doing your predecessors justice. Yes, sex and fantasy are eager bedfellows. Yes, you can talk about sex fueling fantasy. No, they are not totally interchangeable.

The art earns my particular scorn, mostly because it needed to be something extraordinary, a perfect blend of styles that left you unsure where the fantasy was going to take you. (Ya know, like a sexual awakening? How about letting the art inform the themes?) I found it offensive, not because of what it depicted, but of how and why. I do agree with some of the opinions of other reviewers that there was "too much porn". I think Moore could have nailed this with a little more restraint - a little more care for when a scene calls for a phallus, and when it doesn't.

I was disappointed with this series. Moore has been very vocal about elevating pornography in the public estimation; moving into an era when porn is a legitimate art. I'm willing to entertain that notion, but "Lost Girls" is an argument in the wrong direction. It leaves porn right where it found it, which is to say the Victorian gutter.(less)

7 likes · like · see review

Sep 23, 2008 Huan-hua rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: non-prudish Moore completists

Recommended to Huan-hua by: comics de-cal instructor

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. "I know it when I see it"--this could equally well be said of this piece as porn and as art. I read an excerpt from this (Dorothy's first Oz story) in a comics class in college, and thought it was great. But when I picked up the entire 3-volume set from the library and read it through for the first time, I realized that the story chosen was one of the more subtle and skillful parts of this collection. The reframing of these stories in a sexual context really started to feel ham-handed after a wh...more "I know it when I see it"--this could equally well be said of this piece as porn and as art. I read an excerpt from this (Dorothy's first Oz story) in a comics class in college, and thought it was great. But when I picked up the entire 3-volume set from the library and read it through for the first time, I realized that the story chosen was one of the more subtle and skillful parts of this collection. The reframing of these stories in a sexual context really started to feel ham-handed after a while. It was definitely interesting overall, though, if you can get past the total, numbing overload of taboo sex, and if you have enough of a grounding in art history to appreciate the visual allusions Gebbie makes along the way to Beardsley, Schiele, Matisse, and the literary allusions in the Hotel Himmelgarten's White Book... (I don't have enough background to pick up on every allusion, though, honestly.)

Two interesting points stuck in my mind after reading this: 1) where Wendy was reading the White Book and talking about how the child incest portrayed in one of the stories would be horrifying, disturbing, awful in real life, but the idea of it in pornography was terribly exciting. I found this repellent yet thought-provoking in the larger context.

2) the ending scene of the book, the dead, emasculated boy in Flanders Fields, and the great red bloom of the poppy. I've been thinking about the layers of symbolism aside from the question it brings up about obscenity--why sex is considered a worse taboo than violence. Is it the final self-acceptance and flowering of the sexuality of the Lost Girls against the backdrop of the Great War? There are the three female main characters and their "we don't need a man!" lesbian orgies--is the poppy an O'Keefeian yonic symbol presiding over the emasculation of the men in this book? Then there's the opium smoked by Alice and Dorothy, and the significance of the poppies in Dorothy's past.

Anyway, it's an interesting read overall, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it over Watchmen... (less)

5 likes · like · see review

Mar 11, 2008 CC rated it 2 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this. I didn't.
It's porn, deliberately so according to Alan Moore, and drops references galore and excessive to the artful pornographies of years gone by: mostly the Art Nouveau/Symbolist/Decadent movements. But porn has changed since then, for the worse, and where the illict desires previously deserved their own attention, our sexualized world now takes that desire for granted. What would people want to do, after all, besides suck and fuck one another?

(To a more disturbing end...more

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 16, 2008 Nickie rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who likes their graphic novels graphic

Alice, Dorothy and Wendy meet up in 1913 and do A LOT OF RUDE THINGS, written/drawn by Moore and his missus.

It's very expensive and comes in a presentation box containing all three volumes. But considering how fancy this sounds, it isn't the beautiful object that you would hope it to be. The animation is really changeable - from frame to frame a single character can look completely different. Sometimes the angles are really crappy and faces become warped. Considering the stunning Aubrey Beardsle...more

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 29, 2007 Joshua Emmons rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: personal-library, comics

First a warning (or an endorcement! You know who you are...):

This book is porn. Not romance. Not erotica. It's flat out porn. It's porn with a plot that's intriguing enough that I, at least, tend to focus on story rather than the naked folks licking each other, but the fact remains this book is sexually graphic. Sex is not alluded to or used as an allegory. Sex is explicitly depicted. And not depicted because it naturally would have come about or in way might be considered "proper". No, this is...more First a warning (or an endorcement! You know who you are...):

This book is porn. Not romance. Not erotica. It's flat out porn. It's porn with a plot that's intriguing enough that I, at least, tend to focus on story rather than the naked folks licking each other, but the fact remains this book is sexually graphic. Sex is not alluded to or used as an allegory. Sex is explicitly depicted. And not depicted because it naturally would have come about or in way might be considered "proper". No, this is sex for sex's sake and it is full of kink.

There. So, sex aside, what do I like about these books? First off, it's Alan Moore and, let's face it, he's way smarter than any of us. His stories are pretty much guaranteed to blow your mind, and this one is no exception. He's one of those rare authors that rewards the careful -- I might as well say obsessive -- reading of the work. Each chapter, though only a few hundred written words, is so layered and filled with subtext that one could easily revisit it twenty times, still finding something new. It took Mr. Moore nine years to write Lost Girls. It shows.

Second, and I'm not really sure how to express this, but the story seems to operate on some level that my brain is just not accustomed to. It manages to be mentally stimulating, but not quite physically arousing. While I'm willing to call this a win for the novelty alone, it also makes me think that, given what I've gleaned from back-issues of Glamour, this is an ideal type of pornography for women to enjoy. Indeed, Moore's artist (and, later, wife) Melinda Gebbie reportedly worked tirelessly to nurture and enhance this aspect of the book. Her subtle use of colors to telegraph emotions and memories is really something you have to see to understand. If you're a woman, enjoy this book! If you're a man, use this book to catch a glimpse of what you're missing.

Finally, I find the characters irresistible. Without giving too much away, the book is based around the lives of three women named Dorothy, Wendy, and Alice. If you think back, I'm sure you can recollect three other girls from your childhood with the same names. Those of you who know me know my love for re-imaginings of old fairytales is second only to my love for porn. Thanks to Mr. Moore, I can now have that particular cake and eat it. Grand!
(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Aug 10, 2007 Jason rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: art lovers

Shelves: graphic-novels

Ahhh...Lost Girls. There was a time last year when every comic-related conversation turned to Lost Girls and what the public's perception would be towards a book that, on a most sensationalized level, can be described as, "Fairy tale characters boning."

At the end of the day there really wasn't a huge outcry, the book sold well, and it's the most beautiful and expensive piece of porn (excuse me, EROTICA) I've ever purchased. I got the first edition signed by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie...ran me...more

like · see review

Aug 21, 2011 Vanessa Wu rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have just remembered that I promised to write a review of this in my review of 25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom.

This book moves me in a very personal way. I see it as a love story between Melinda (who drew the pictures) and Alan (who wrote the plot.) I think the collaborative effort was far-reaching and I wonder at it every time I pick up one of the three volumes that make up this amazing book.

I don't know if they are still together but I certainly hope they are. What a beautiful gift to the wor...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 23, 2008 Candise rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels

First off, I think Alan Moore is amazing: He uses characters that are in the Creative Commons (thus the copyright has expired) to build new, amazing stories. Utilizing Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, Wendy from Peter Pan, and Alice in Wonderland, he is able to make a pseudo-porn graphic novel. The artwork is great, the story engaging.

On the other hand, I feel really torn about whether I really like Alan Moore's graphic novels. The female characters are generally strong, independent women who have...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 23, 2007 Joanna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

This series is fabulous. It's the story of Alice (of Wonderland), Wendy (Peter Pan) and Dorothy (Land of Oz, all who have grown up and meet at a luxury hotel in Austria. Both Wendy and Alice are introduced to a whole new world of sex (much different than occasional missionary Wendy had been experiencing with her husband)by the older Alice who knows the meaning of erotic. The art is beautiful. Rich, colorful, full of details. Melinda Gebbie captures the essence of the story through her drawings....more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 21, 2011 Somewhatbent rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lost Girls Hardcover Edition (2009, 240 pp)[return]by Alan Moore & Melinda Gebbie[return][return][return]**NSFW** [return][return]Ever wonder what happened after the fairy tales? [return][return]Alice is back through the looking glass, Dorothy has returned from Oz and Wendy is home from Neverland. They find themselves together in an Austrian hotel in 1913. They get acquainted, as long-term holiday residents often do, and discover that they have interests in common. As they relate the tales o...more

like · see review

Apr 22, 2013 Melanie Rose Meadors rated it 4 of 5 stars

If you are going to read this book, know that it is porn before you start. Let's not mince words. Porn. It'll save everyone a lot of trouble.

But.

The art is fabulous. The colors, the lines, everything works together to not only pay tribute to the art nouveau style of some of the naughty book of that time, but really, the art works to give you a visceral/emotional response. The style of the art changes depending on what is going on in the story. You'll notice that certain flashbacks are drawn diff...more

like · see review

Mar 20, 2013 Adam Gre rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics

This was a hard one for me. I just don't understand it. I think I get the jist of the symbolism - it's a pretty good exploration of sex, fantasy, and reality but the way it's set up is really confusing. There is so much sex on every page; that there is almost no story; despite the fact that all of the sex is telling a story - it's just so repetitive and obsessed with lurid details, that it comes off as being really unrealistic. Not only unrealistic, but jaded. It makes me think of the Wiz, as a...more

like · see review

Jan 05, 2013 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: erotica, fairy-tale

There's a subjective gray area between what is considered pornography and what's considered erotica. Technically, you could argue that they're the same things, but I've always found subtle nuances between the two (I wouldn't consider Letters to Penthouse erotica, for example). "Lost Girls" is a strange blend of the two, but there's no mistake that it's meant to be scandalous, dirty and taboo.

Like many works of erotica, Lost Girls goes everywhere, breaking taboos and telling a story in which 98%...more There's a subjective gray area between what is considered pornography and what's considered erotica. Technically, you could argue that they're the same things, but I've always found subtle nuances between the two (I wouldn't consider Letters to Penthouse erotica, for example). "Lost Girls" is a strange blend of the two, but there's no mistake that it's meant to be scandalous, dirty and taboo.

Like many works of erotica, Lost Girls goes everywhere, breaking taboos and telling a story in which 98% of the book involves some sort of sexual act. The difference between this and other erotic novels is that this is told with artist renderings and dialogue of the graphic novel form. The pictures are graphic and vivid and leave nothing to the imagination.

Aside from the pornography aspect of it, there is a lot to be appreciated about this book. The adult versions of Alice (in Wonderland), Dorothy (Gale) and Wendy (of Peter Pan) meet at a hotel and engage in storytelling of the sexual exploits of their childhood. I'm a fan of fairy tale retelling, and this retelling was no less enjoyable. Moore uses references from all the stories and weaves them into these way more adult versions, manipulating the stories themselves into wicked parallels of the originals.

The art is also to be appreciated. Gebbie uses several different artistic styles to tell the three main stories, as well as the side stories and the in-between narrative. Based on other reviews, not everyone enjoyed the art style, but I thought it was pretty and sometimes disturbing. The art contains alot of sexual symbolism, but there are also subtle images from the original stories that are often not told in the dialogue. I feel that looking through the book once again, if just at the pictures, would yield even more interesting finds.

As far as technical things go, some of the fonts used are jarring. For content, like any erotic or pornographic book, the story starts to get a little tired if you're sitting down to read it for a marathon session. This book is best taken in small doses. There are also certain themes, like incest, rape, and child molestation, that occur in these books. What's interesting about how they're written is that the taboo nature of these are actually discussed among the characters. Between this and the other interactions, it feels like Moore and Gebbie were trying to make a statement about sexual freedom. They also seem to make a subtle statement of how the things that happen to people as children often affect what happens when they're older.

Overall, it was an interesting read.

(less)

like · see review

Jan 05, 2013 Sanni rated it 4 of 5 stars

Eroottinen sarjakuva a la Alan Moore? Tulin siihen tulokseen, että ei voi olla huono ja kinusin joululahjaksi, enkä pettynyt. Vaikka kyseessä onkin eroottinen sarjakuva, mistään varsinaisesta pornon vastikkeesta ei ole kyse, vaan sarjakuva ennemminkin pohdiskelee viattomuutta ja seksuaalisuutta ja sen representaatiota ja lopulta viattomuuden loppumista.

Kirjassa seurataan nyt aikuistuneita Mikä-mikä-maan Wendyä (tai Leenaksi se taidetaan olla suomennettu?), Ihmemaa Ozin Dorothyä ja Peilimaailman...more Eroottinen sarjakuva a la Alan Moore? Tulin siihen tulokseen, että ei voi olla huono ja kinusin joululahjaksi, enkä pettynyt. Vaikka kyseessä onkin eroottinen sarjakuva, mistään varsinaisesta pornon vastikkeesta ei ole kyse, vaan sarjakuva ennemminkin pohdiskelee viattomuutta ja seksuaalisuutta ja sen representaatiota ja lopulta viattomuuden loppumista.

Kirjassa seurataan nyt aikuistuneita Mikä-mikä-maan Wendyä (tai Leenaksi se taidetaan olla suomennettu?), Ihmemaa Ozin Dorothyä ja Peilimaailman Liisaa, jotka kertovat toisilleen tarinoita seksuaalisuutensa heräämisestä, kehityksestä ja lopulta tapahtumasta, joka päätti viattomuuden. Viattomuus nähdään tietyllä tapaa jopa raamatullisesti: paratiisissa alastomuus itsessään ei ollut syntiä, vaan sen tajuaminen ja peittämisyritykset. Mooren ja Gebbien sarjakuvassa seksuaalisuus itsessään on viatonta, mutta toisaalta sen kontrollointi ja hyväksikäyttö ja miten se reagoi vaihteleviin ympäristöihin on lopulta nimenomaan seksuaalisuuden viattomuuden loppu.

Moorelle tuttuun tyyliin teos on erittäin intertekstuaalinen, eikä siitä saa missään nimessä kaikkea mahdollista irti, jos Mikä-mikä-maa, Peilimaailma ja ihmemaa Oz eivät ole ennestään tuttuja. Sarjakuva myös keskustelee mise-en-abymellaan fiktion etiikkaa: Leena, Liisa ja Dorothy pohdiskelevat onko väärin kiihottua juuri lukemastaan kertomuksesta, jossa esiintyy mm. insestiä samalla viitateen omaan tilanteeseensa todellisuutena. Kuitenkin myös heidän keskustelunsa on lukijan juuri parhaillaan lukemaa fiktiota.

Viattomuuden loppu vertautuu ensimmäiseen maailmansotaan, johon teos päättyy (päähenkilöt joutuvat jättämään taakseen Itävaltalaisen hotellin, jonne ovat saapuneet lomailemaan). Sota oli lähtenyt liikkeelle diplomatian lapsenkengistä ja viimeisten monarkkien kukkoilusta. Muutamia peltokilometrejä varten uhrattiin tuhansia ihmishenkiä. Ensimmäinen maailmansota olikin toista maailmansotaa paljon rankempi kokemus eurooppalaiselle psyykeelle, koska ei ollut oikeastaan ketä jota syyyttää. Ei auttanut kuin katsoa peiliin.(less)

like · see review

Dec 21, 2012 Warwick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, sexiness, austria, vienna

Pornography, according to John Soltenberg, tells lies about women but the truth about men. But is that because the genre's inherently flawed, or just because everyone who makes it is so mediocre?

Lost Girls is certainly an effort to say something truthful about women – as well as about men, adolescence, fantasy, freedom and common sense – but it takes you a fair while to get over the sheer chutzpah of using porn to do it. Is it brave? Is it justified?

Is it…is it sexy?

The premise is an interesting...more

like · see review

Nov 04, 2012 Airiz C rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fairytales-reimagined, graphic-novel, surreal, erotica

Alan Moore is one of the most prolific graphic novelists that I’ve come across. I’m gradually going through his whole oeuvre, knowing what this man can do after flipping through my (cbr) copies of Watchmen and V for Vendetta. After a bit of Googling, I realized he’s tried his pen on a wide spectrum of genres. When I realized he’s got a very controversial “revisionist” take on some childhood tales I’ve loved—Lost Girls—I thought I’d be an instant goner. But I must admit, I doubled back a bit when...more

like · see review

Sep 28, 2012 Mel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century-fiction, 21st-century-fiction, gender-issues, graphic-novel, art, porn

I put off reading this for quite awhile. Porn doesn't tend to normally do much for me and I've never been fond of The Wizard of Ox, Peter Pan or Alice in Wonderland, so a book with those three as the main characters didn't seem that interesting. I think the fact though that I didn't like them helped me see their characters more for who they were and what they'd been through without coming with preconcieved ideas about what they were up to. It's quite fantastic though as it works on so many level...more I put off reading this for quite awhile. Porn doesn't tend to normally do much for me and I've never been fond of The Wizard of Ox, Peter Pan or Alice in Wonderland, so a book with those three as the main characters didn't seem that interesting. I think the fact though that I didn't like them helped me see their characters more for who they were and what they'd been through without coming with preconcieved ideas about what they were up to. It's quite fantastic though as it works on so many levels.

First of all Melinda's art is just GORGEOUS!!! She'd been working on this for 16 years, and I really hope she does something else soon. But I loved all the different styles. The ultra-realism of Dorothy's tornado, the beautiful silloutes, even the main style (which I think I read was done with crayons!) is breath-takingly beautiful.

Despite Neil Gaiman's claim that it doesn't work as porn because it's too big to hold in one hand. I found I was only able to read a few of the chapters at a time as they made me a little "flustered". As someone who doesn't normally go in for either visual porn or written porn this was great. Perhaps it was all the emphasis on the women? I loved how the majority of the sex wasn't straight.

The stories are wonderful, I loved the retelling of the familiar childhood stories, told in a dangerous and perverted way. Each discussion getting darker and darker as the children/young women grew deeper into the seemy side of life. I think Wendy's story was especially wonderful, standing up and liberating herself. Realising that there was a difference between fantasy and real life and facing the danger face on and winning (which leads me to the criticism that her triumph led her to repression instead of empowerment).

The book had a lot to say about the nature of sex, how we deal with it when we are young, the good the bad, the point of porn, while endless panels of lots and lots of people having sex go by. In the reviews I read a lot of the people had issues with the third book, they said it was too repetative, as well as too dark. (This is where a lot of the incest and sex with minors happens). But I think that is kinda the point. By book 3 you've kinda become desensitised to the images of the three women having lots of sex. So the concesequences beyong that have to be explored. After being titilated for the first books, it's disturbing to see the same images done in a situation that's unacceptable. But that's kinda the point. The three women were all lost and all traumatised but it was only by disclosing their very worst to each other they were able to find peace.

Definitely not a book to sit down and devour all in one go, but one to savour and that will stay with me for a long time. And definitely one to re-read favourite bits!

(less)

like · see review

Jul 01, 2012 Robert 'RevBob' rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: storage

IMPORTANT NOTE: This story is very sexually explicit (and then some), but not titillating. If you're looking for a "stroke book" to turn you on, look elsewhere; this is NOT it. This is a serious tale for readers who are actually mature, not a Tijuana Bible "for mature readers." If you can't tell the difference between the two, just stay away.

"Lost Girls" is an intriguing exploration of three classic "children's books" - Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and The Wizard of Oz - from a very new persp...more

like · see review

Jun 21, 2012 Lindsay Heller rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, graphic

There were a couple of reasons why I picked this up. Firstly, I like Alan Moore. I mean, I am sure that he's completely batshit crazy, but that often lends itself to some interesting stories. I've read 'Watchmen', 'From Hell', 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen', and 'V for Vendetta' and enjoyed them all quite a bit. Which leads to the second reason I picked it up; I thought the idea was creative. Throwing a grown up Wendy, Alice, and Dorothy together and reweaving all their stories into sexual...more

like · see review

May 28, 2012 Casey rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

I have no problem with porn - as long as everyone is legal and consenting and earning a decent paycheck, let’s all get down with our bad selves. And in my juvenile days of becoming such a super-awesome sex-positive person, I thought I was very cool to bring up sex, very specifically, in inappropriate situations. Shock me, shock me, shock me with that deviant behavior! Since then, I’ve learned. Sex is something everyone does in their own ways, and everyone has their own secrets and deviances behi...more I have no problem with porn - as long as everyone is legal and consenting and earning a decent paycheck, let’s all get down with our bad selves. And in my juvenile days of becoming such a super-awesome sex-positive person, I thought I was very cool to bring up sex, very specifically, in inappropriate situations. Shock me, shock me, shock me with that deviant behavior! Since then, I’ve learned. Sex is something everyone does in their own ways, and everyone has their own secrets and deviances behind closed doors. The people who shout the loudest against gay marriage are fucking the poolboy while on meth; the same people who ate up Twilight’s Mormon sexual abstinence are now buying buttplugs and ballgags because of 50 Shades of Grey.

Alan Moore, in his Monster House deep in Crazywoods Mountain Forest, never got the memo that we’re all pretty open now, or even the memo that Anne Rice was born, and aims to do the same thing for fairytale princesses that he did for the superhero mythos 30 years ago. I understand he and his wife, Melinda Gebbie, started this book in the early 90’s, before the internet was really a thing, and when Bill Clinton had barely been president, and they didn’t want to let all that work go to waste. But, man. This is the sort of book I would’ve found brilliant at 19. (“See, they’re having a really boring conversation in the foreground, but against the wall, their shadows are fucking, man! If you don’t get it, it’s because you’re a PRUDE!”)

There could’ve been something here, which is the big shame. Alice, Dorothy, and Wendy gathering together at an Austrian hotel on the cusp of WWI. Rephrasing their fictional adventures as sexual awakening of three young women around the globe. Written by Well-Respected Comic Writer Alan Moore, with art by Feminist Artist Melinda Gebbie. So why is this so terrible? Is it the art, which seems to be evolving, and yet never getting better? Is it the distinct lack of subtlety? Is it that it’s so concerned with shocking and titillating the audience that all characters are constantly having sex? Is it that it takes itself so damn seriously as a Work of Erotic Art while sticking to the same old sexual tropes about women, such as Alice being a lesbian because she was raped by a man? (Her eventual awakening leading her to understand that women can be just as cruel as men, and eureka! Maybe she’s not a lesbian after all!)

An example of the subtle prose and art (at the start of book 2, narration by Wendy’s husband, writing a letter to his boss about the women in the hotel):
“Sort of chap who pays attention to clothing. Very commendable.” [CU of Dorothy’s beau, Rolf Bauer, masturbating onto her shoe]
“Military life has so many drawbacks.” [Dorothy draws back her nighty to sit on Rolf’s face as they 69]
“Having to start at the bottom.” [Rolf’s face next to Dorothy’s bottom]
“All that spit and polish.” [Dorothy with a mouthful of Rolf]
“I mean, the international situation being what it is...Things could blow up in our face at any moment.” [If you need a description of what’s happening in this panel, perhaps you’re the audience this book seeks. In other words, he comes in her face. GET IT?]

Art and pornography by all means are comfortable bedfellows. They are both meant to elicit a reaction from us, to dig deep to the core of our humanity. They can be dressed up in finery, showing off our most idealized imaginations, or they can be crudely real, holding the mirror to life as it is. Art can be pornographic. Porn can be artistic. It is when one pretends to be the other that it is truly dirty.(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 16, 2012 Karrah rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read this after reading a very short and undetailed review in a magazine. The idea of knowing what happened to my childhood "friends" and my inner geek loved the graphic novel idea. I proptly went to Borders (r.i.p) and shelled out the $80 for the beautiful three book boxset. i took it home, unwrapped it and pulled out the first volume..
Slightly scared and confused i read them. the story follows Alice, Wendy, and Dorothy as the meet in a hotel, share their darkest secrets and indulge in the...more

like · see review

Nov 12, 2011 Cody VC rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Cody by: Joy

and a half, i suppose, if only for the conceit itself. (even given that a sexualized peter pan was nothing new.) but the product? disappointing, and frustratingly so. i could see potential here and there, but the bulk of it was just a string of sex stories with no real narrative. what was the point of including those few historical references, for instance, if they weren't even going be relevant? not what i would call "erotic literature". the de sade reference towards the end of alice's stories...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (6)

More editions...

Videos About This Book

Add a comment

Genres

Sequential Art > Comics

180 users

Adult Fiction > Erotica

43 users

Sequential Art > Graphic Novels

31 users

Fantasy

29 users

Comics > Comic Book

19 users

Adult

11 users

Graphic Novels Comics

9 users

Sequential Art > Comix

9 users

Sexuality

7 users

Glbt > Queer

7 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Heartbreak Soup
by Gilbert Hernández
The Girl from H.O.P.P.E.R.S.
by Jaime Hernández
Cages
by Dave McKean
Box Office Poison
by Alex Robinson
Local
by Brian Wood

About Alan Moore

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Alan Moore is an English writer most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. He has also written a novel, Voice of the Fire, and performs "workings" (one-off performance art/spoken word pieces)...more

More about Alan Moore...

Books by Alan Moore

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Lost Girls

1 trivia question
1 quiz

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Lost Girls

“You see, there's the way things seemed and then there's the way things were and one is so often the total reverse of the other.” — 14 people liked it

“Fiction and fact: only madmen and magistrates cannot discriminate between them.” — 2 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Lost Girls
avg rating	preview: Lost Girls Goodreads rating: 3.57 (2816 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58652.Lost_Girls?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328049521l/58652.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58652.Lost_Girls?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Lost Girls by Alan Moore[/url]

Lost Girls (Lost Girls #1-3)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website