What do you think?
Rate this book
The Little Book of Tom
The Little Book of Tom. Cops & Robbers (Icon)
The Little Book of Cops & Robbers explores Tom’s fascination with criminal justice through a mixture of multi-panel comics and single-panel drawings and paintings. Historic film stills and posters, personal photos of Tom, sketches, and Tom’s own reference photos make this far more than another Tom’s Comics re-tread.
Tom’s taste for police officers and felons—and for sexual tension between the two—developed late in his career. “I’ve never been to prison,” he told a class at the California Institute of the Arts in 1985, “but I hear it’s a closed world where there are different roles and people behave different from when they walk free. It fascinates me. It is another subject I come back to again and again.” By which he meant fantasized about again and again, since only those subjects that aroused him sexually made it into his art.
The uniforms of the California Highway Patrol motorcyclists were his tan and tight, with high boots and soft black leather gauntlet gloves. He created his own uniform variants as well, a cross between military and civilian police gear, and invented suitably butch criminals for his cops to apprehend, though once apprehended the power struggle could go either way. Tom was determined to show top and bottom as equally masculine roles, and his cops were as likely to end up happily speared by criminal cock as delivering corrective coitus. Though criticized by some for what appeared to be a glorification of power, Tom was always quick to remind that the world he created was a fantasy world, where anything was possible, and everything was consensual—even in prison.
Tom’s taste for police officers and felons—and for sexual tension between the two—developed late in his career. “I’ve never been to prison,” he told a class at the California Institute of the Arts in 1985, “but I hear it’s a closed world where there are different roles and people behave different from when they walk free. It fascinates me. It is another subject I come back to again and again.” By which he meant fantasized about again and again, since only those subjects that aroused him sexually made it into his art.
The uniforms of the California Highway Patrol motorcyclists were his tan and tight, with high boots and soft black leather gauntlet gloves. He created his own uniform variants as well, a cross between military and civilian police gear, and invented suitably butch criminals for his cops to apprehend, though once apprehended the power struggle could go either way. Tom was determined to show top and bottom as equally masculine roles, and his cops were as likely to end up happily speared by criminal cock as delivering corrective coitus. Though criticized by some for what appeared to be a glorification of power, Tom was always quick to remind that the world he created was a fantasy world, where anything was possible, and everything was consensual—even in prison.
191 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2016
About the author
Tom of Finland
71 books69 followersTouko Laaksonen (8 May 1920 – 7 November 1991), best known by his pseudonym Tom of Finland, is often said to be the most famous Finnish artist in the world. His highly stylized homoerotic drawings had a profound influence on late twentieth century gay culture, as well as fashion and pop culture in general. He has been called the "most influential creator of gay pornographic images" by cultural historian Joseph W. Slade.
Over the course of four decades he produced some 3500 illustrations, mostly featuring men with exaggerated primary and secondary sex traits, with tight or partially removed clothing. Despite having created the self-assured and muscular archetype of the homosexual in his imagery, his most important messages were tolerance and that sex is something to be celebrated.
Tom of Finland's artwork is part of permanent collections of leading cultural institutions that include The Museum of Modern Art (New York), The Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma (Helsinki), The Art Institute of Chicago, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Over the course of four decades he produced some 3500 illustrations, mostly featuring men with exaggerated primary and secondary sex traits, with tight or partially removed clothing. Despite having created the self-assured and muscular archetype of the homosexual in his imagery, his most important messages were tolerance and that sex is something to be celebrated.
Tom of Finland's artwork is part of permanent collections of leading cultural institutions that include The Museum of Modern Art (New York), The Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma (Helsinki), The Art Institute of Chicago, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 24, 2022
Sabe aqules homens heteros que para posarem de intelectuais dizem que só compram a Playboy por causa das entrevistas? A minha relação em busca deste livro foi parecida: eu queria ler a introdução do livro sobre policiais e ladrões, escrita pela estudiosa em Tom of Finland. Não porque eu não iria fruir das imagens pornográficas do célebre autor, mas porque eu já as conhecia de outras publicações. Nesta introdução é abordada a perigosa relação que Tom of Finland trazia com as forças totalitarias dos nazistas, militares e policiais, incluindo aí até a polícia montada canadense. A introdução critica a forma como Tom retrata a dominação sexual feita por estas figuras de autoridade e também critica a forma como retratava as pessoas de outras etnias que fogem da branquitude. Isso sim é uma crítica com afastamento do seu objeto, como todo acadêmico ou crítico devia fazer. Por mais que a pessoa conheça profundamente seu objeto de estudo, deve também saber perceber os problemas que ele pode apresentar à sociedade. Simplesmente adorei essa apresentação e, claro, as imagens pornográficas, mas aí os seus olhos vão poder "julgar" melhor que eu.
March 17, 2023
funny as hell ngl
appreciate the foreword but thought there would be more text to delve deeper into the implications of his work
appreciate the foreword but thought there would be more text to delve deeper into the implications of his work
November 18, 2024
It's TOF... it's all incredible.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews