Sugar-Coated Guilty Pleasure
Two star-crossed lovers screw their way across the multiverse
BY MICHAEL SHIREY
We live in strange times. While it
is perhaps more important now
than ever to stay on top of what is
going on around the world — from
the upcoming elections in November to the ever
morphing coronavirus crisis — it is equally
important to escape and indulge in a guilty
pleasure or two. If erotic, sci-fi comics happen
to be said guilty pleasure, then I have a treat
for you.
Girl meets girl. Girls fall in love. Girls travel
the multiverse and discover endless worlds
fi lled with sexually fl uid, horny deviants. That
about sums up “Curvy,” an erotic, sex-positive
romp of a graphic novel written and illustrated
by Sylvan Migdal.
At the center of this story is Anaïs, an
18-year-old wise-cracking smart-ass, whose
otherwise boring life is turned upside down
when she crosses paths with Fauna Lokjom, an
otherworldly princess and runaway bride from
Candy World. The two share an immediate intimate,
physical connection.
But their newfound romance is cut short
when Fauna’s fi ancé, Prince Boglox of Stupid
World, and his henchmen show up to Earth
—known to them as Boring World — to reclaim
his runaway bride. After a brush up in Anaïs’
high school, Prince Boglox takes Fauna back to
Candy World to consummate their marriage.
But Anaïs won’t give up her newfound love
without a fi ght and follows the two to Candy
World, where more erotic, candy-themed chaos
— think prisons made up of chocolate, candy
cane French maids, and honey-based lubricant
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Sylvan Migdal’s candy-colored erotic odyssey is a treat of a graphic
novel.
— ensues. She eventually fi nds Fauna, confronts
the prince, and the two gals escape to
ride off into the sunset. The end.
Or at least, that’s how it could have ended.
Instead, Migdal used what other writers would
consider the conclusion of Anaïs and Fauna’s
story as a jumping-off point, sending the two on
an intergalactic journey.
The two travel to many deviant worlds fi lled
with horny characters — including lesbian pirates
and transitioning mermen in Pirate World,
masked vigilantes and their sidekicks in Super
City, and corrupt businessmen who charge you
BOOKS
to say hello in Corporate World.
Anaïs and Fauna won’t be alone as they hop
from world to world — and it’s not just Prince
Boglox they need to worry about. The two are
pursued by Fervid Wexler, a naive American
Federal Agent convinced the two are terrorists
plotting to take over Boring World, and Mallory,
a sexually-deviant, magical witch with evil
plans for the star-crossed lovers of “Curvy.” Will
Anaïs get her happy ending with Fauna? She’ll
have to conquer more worlds and confront unexpected
villains, but she’s up to the challenge.
Full disclosure: I had trouble getting into
“Curvy” — the fi rst chapter is a bit rough
around the edges (which, to be fair, could be
said about a lot of webcomics). The story got
better with every chapter as Migdal takes his
characters — and the readers — from one wellcrafted
world to another.
And a warning: the story is very sexual and
explicit. There are lots of (well-illustrated) dicks,
tits, and vaginas on nearly every page. I’m no
prude, but I worried that 500-plus pages of
sex and sex jokes would get old. Thankfully it
doesn’t — mainly because pretty much all of
the sex in “Curvy” is queer. Very queer.
Migdal has the comedic sensibility for more
than just a few sex zingers, and his best jokes
are the subtle yet sharp ones that double as
commentary on our own Boring World.
“Curvy” was originally released in black and
white illustrations, where it is still available free
online on the book’s website at c.urvy.org. For
“The Complete Curvy,” beautifully colored with
pink and teal accents that help the pages pop,
at $50, visit Iron Circus’ website at ironcircus.
com/product/the-complete-curvy.
➤ CAR SEAT HEADREST, from p.28
himself. The production and song
structures on this album subvert
its more mainstream ambitions.
“Can’t Cool Me Down” could be
a recent Tame Impala song, with
catchy hooks played on marimba
and synthesizer, but it begins
with drums played uncomfortably
loud — a running problem on the
album — and an overly busy vocal
arrangement. The song runs
on too long to really work as the
funk/ pop banger it’s aiming to be.
“Hymn” is intentionally frustrating
— an intro to a song that never
arrives. The more attractive ballad
“What’s With You Lately” also ends
just when it seems to be getting
started.
Will Toledo went from a period of
intense creativity at his own pace
to a deal with one of America’s
largest indie labels and an arena
tour opening for Interpol. Recording
an album that will be perceived
as a major statement must be terrifying,
and “Making a Door Less
Open” comes across as a subversion
of Car Seat Headrest’s road to
stardom.
But even if I don’t like it much,
it’s the most adventurous music
the band has released on Matador.
But it’d be an understatement
to say “Making a Door Less Open”
doesn’t play to Car Seat Headrest’s
strengths. The best songs, like
“There Must Be More Than Blood”
and “Life Worth Missing, ” pull off a
2000s take on New Wave. Toledo’s
skill as a songwriter remains, but
the band is incapable of pulling off
the more complex song structures
and experimental production it’s
aiming for.
Instead of a breakthrough,
“Making a Door Less Open” is a
trainwreck.
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/c.urvy.org
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