February 1, 2007
 SPECIAL ISSUES


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Can comics be art? Well, duh. We've finally gotten to the point where comics — or graphic novels, or sequential art, or whatever you call 'em — have some respect in the public eye, and it only took 4,000 Maus-referencing New York Times articles to get there. The question now is not "Can comics be art?" but "How good can they be?," and each year, cartoonists provide ever-more exciting answers, including remarkably insightful works about sex and relationships. This month, Nerve explores the expanding medium, with interviews and original art from some of comics' greatest. — Peter Smith
NEW WORK BY
Paul Pope
Airplanes
2.5
Sophie Crumb
 Eddy Bear Takes His Share
2.6
Andi Watson
 Haunted
2.7
Chynna Clugston
 The Drunk Bitches Club
2.8
Jim Mahfood
 You Know the Drill
2.12
Meg Hunt
 Wild Kingdom
2.13
Leah Hayes
 7 Stages of Love
2.14
ESSAYS
Gods of New York by Ada Calhoun
Sandman's Endless control men's lives. Teenage girls can relate.
2.5
Subterranean Homesick Blues by Will Doig
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was my Sex and the City.
2.6
INTERVIEWS
Family Circus by Peter Smith
An interview with Alison Bechdel, the author of Fun Home.
2.6
Love and Hate by Peter Smith
Comics legend Peter Bagge on comedy, gender and his forgiving family.
2.7
Dyspeptic Planet by Peter Smith
Evan Dorkin on Milk and Cheese, parenthood and depression.
2.8
The Anxiety Corner by Sarah Harrison
Q&A: Roz Chast, purveyor of the horrible and the hilarious.
2.16
SEX ADVICE FROM
Comic-Store Clerks
Q: I want to dress up as a sexy superhero for my boyfriend. Advice?
A: If you're busty, I have two words for you: Power Girl. 
2.8
Pillow Fighters
2.15
DISPATCHES
Sex and the Single Superhero by Gabriel McKee
Watershed moments in comics history.
2.5
Page Scandal by Gwynne Watkins
In the '50s, EC Comics published thrillers with a progressive voice. So the government suppressed them.
2.7
20 Comics That Can Change Your Life by the Nerve editors
2.12
Southern Exposure by Justin Clark
The case of Georgia vs. comics-store owner Gordon Lee, who is accused of corrupting children.
2.13
Follow the Leader by Will Doig
The comic-book propaganda of the '70s most infamous sex cult.
2.14
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Archie After Dark by Ken Tucker
The illicit thrill of Dan DeCarlo's pin-up art.
Northwest Passage by Ryan Boudinot
In Charles Burns' Black Hole, horny teens turn into forest mutants. As did I.
Comic Relief by Will Doig
 The True Porn series takes the squirm out of the unspeakable.
Love is a Desert by Sarah Sundberg
Marjane Satrapi on her latest comic, Embroderies.
Graphic Artistry by Michael Martin
Inside Phoebe Gloeckner's Diary of a Teenage Girl.
Demon Hunters, Cyborgs and Babes by Adam Rogers
Warped women in Japanese animation.
One Man's Anime by Jack Murnighan
Just how much animated Japanese porn can our writer take?
The Brothers Freud by Gwynne Watkins
 Alan Moore talks about his 336-page fairy tale porno.






© 2007 Nerve.com, Inc.

Commentarium (2 Comments)

Feb 08 07 - 11:36pm
pw

This is the greatest issue of Nerve ever written. And not just because I'm a comic dork.

Reply
Jul 16 07 - 1:37pm
TK

Was the decision to do a "comics issue" (and the idea of doing "themed" issues) in any way based on Vice magazine's own comics issue which ran months ago?

Reply