Product Description

MANLY - these are piggy gay comics, although you also get a healthy dose of tender to go along with all the sex. Three stories intertwine, observing men in the best years of their lives doing what the love to do best! Dale Lazarov's sensual-sexual storyboard combined with Amy Colburn's brilliantly drawn masculine figures result in a celebration of carnal desires! These stories get by without any use of words, thus furthering the sexual fantasies of the readers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #278299 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 80 pages

About the Author
Dale Lazarov, who lives and works in Chicago, made a name for himself in 2006 with his comic book STICKY (with co-author Steve MacIssac). Amy Colburn lives in Virginia and has been producing homoerotic illustrations for a variety of publications for years. This is their first collective publication.

Customer Reviews

Silence is golden...
"Manly" consists of three homoerotic (and that's an understatement!) graphic-novel type stories with some interesting twists. Most notably, they have no dialog. No text balloons cluttering up the page, detracting from the art. So these stories are the graphic equivalents of silent movies. But in their silence they speak a universal language. Anyone, no matter what language they speak, can enjoy them. That is, assuming they enjoy very graphic depictions of man-to-man sex. Fortunately, artists Amy Colburn and Dominic Cordoba do a fantastic job of depicting scripter Dale Lazarov's hunky protagonists.

Each of the three stories follows a similar pattern. The first third or so of the story is the "setup," in which two really manly guys (hence the title) first meet, pretty much by accident. They're certainly butch types, but not unrealistically, exaggeratedly so. After overcoming some minor hurdles (at least in two of the stories), they hook up for the remaining two-thirds. And do they hook up--repeatedly! Mind you, these are not your daddy's cartoons. Or if they are, then I wouldn't mind meeting your daddy.

The best of the stories is the first, "Busted," in which a middle-aged cop gets an unexpected assist from a not-so-innocent bystander in taking down an escaping felon. The second story, "Clinch," deals with a couple of boxers who find they have more than just the sport in common. The final story, "Hot Librarian," is in some ways the most complex and unexpected, in which the two heroes fail to connect in the gay-bar environment where you would expect them to, only to get a second chance the next day in the workday world.

The stories are fun and the artwork appealing--but, again I alert you, *extremely* graphic. This is NOT for the prudish. But if it sounds like your cup o' tea, then it probably is.

So Manly!
Manly is beautiful. The book is divided into 3 stories, scripted by Dale Lazarov who wrote Sticky with Steve MacIsaac. The illustrations were done by Amy Colburn, who rocks, and color by Dominic Cordoba.

Each story has a uniting theme of men doing what they do best! The first story, Busted, is about a cop and an innocent bystander who helps out. After they both get awarded for their contributions there is a spark of attraction between them and it is all on! The second story is Clinch. Two boxers, a Latino guy and an older Irish bloke, who have to get creative without a condom. The last, and my favorite, is the Hot Librarian. This was funny, sweet and oh the leather! Or maybe it was the whole library thing... I am after all a total book geek and do love the library! heh.

According to an interview done by the gorgeous Patrick Fillion, Dale had to approach the book with an international audience in mind - hence the lack of text. To me, this was a huge part of its charm. Dale and Amy convey emotion and tension to drive each story with just a look, expression or touch within the panels. I think this also makes it more of a personal read as you invariably wonder what the boys would be saying and you end up with your own spin on events.

The facets of masculinity displayed in the book and what it is to be manly is also interesting and thought provoking. But, I guess the one thing that struck me the most in all 3 stories was the affection and warmth between the characters. I am a bit of a mush and things like the kiss and blush in Busted, had me smiling with bit of a sigh. Don't get me wrong either, I don't mean romance as in fade to the fire burning shot. No. These boys go hard and the sex is totally hot, sensuous and sexy as all get out! I liked it. A lot!

About Manly
MANLY is the most recent hardcover released by the very well known publishing house of gay erotic comics, Bruno Gmünder Verlag, and is edited and written by the not-less famous Dale Lazarov (STICKY) and illustrated by new and fresh talent Amy L. Colburn (pencils, inks) and Dominic Cordoba (inks, colors). Have you ever thought "Oh my, they do know how to draw hunky men!" while watching an animated movie? Well, MANLY makes your wishes come true by presenting three complete, full-on man-on-man erotic comic stories drawn in the style of animated movie hunks.

As I started "reading" the first story in MANLY, I asked, out loud, "no word balloons!?" I quickly realize that MANLY uses the not very common "silent" narrative form known as "action to action" comics where wordless panels of the actions and situations tell us what's happening between the characters without the need for a single word. To tell a story without words, only using images, you need a good writter to create a script that's easy to follow and well constructed, and need a good artist to translate this script into images that are clear enough to let us understand what's happening. Fortunately, Dale and Amy do wonderful work! Dale's stories are usually about very human characters like you and me; gay people who seek sex but also appreciate the company and enjoy the man-on-man love. Amy has a very elegant illustrative style with an excellent grasp of the human form and great panache for depicting facial expressions and body language which show exactly what the character thinks or feels. And for the final touch, Dominic's celshading technique further enhances both the narrative and the illustration's animated sensibility.

I have to confess that my favorite stories in MANLY are "Busted" and "Clinch". "Busted" is about a policeman and the civilian who helps him in two different ways: first, by helping him catch the bad guys and then, by helping him find love. "Clinch" is about the opportunity to meet our idol (a boxing champion, in this case) and make our most private fantasies come true. The third and last story in MANLY, "Hot Librarian" is about how you can never judge a book by its cover!

My only complaint is that in some panels the sense of space is lost due to the absensce of backgrounds while focusing on the love-making, but it's definitively not a major problem considering the great perspectives used.

MANLY, from Bruno Gmünder is a hot-loving gay erotic comic book, no matter your native language, because you don't need to read, just feel the art inside it.

Reviewed by Caesar Kerainen