Tijuana Bibles: Art and Wit in America's Forbidden Funnies, 1930s-1950s

Wasn't the 20th Century wonderful? The art/craft of comic books blossomed, along with the cult of the celebrity. Add those two to everyone's interest in... er... smut, and you have Tijuana Bibles! It's scholarly AND titillating, all at the same time!

From the 1930's through the 1950's, small eight page underground comics were distributed all over the United States. They were crudely drawn, even more crudely written, and usually involved popular icons of the day engaged in sexual acts, accompanied with some very blue humor in the form of dirty jokes and puns.These were called Tijuana Bibles, and also known as Eight-Pagers, Two-by-Fours, Gray-Backs, Bluesies, Jo-Jo Books, Tillie-and-Mac Books, Jiggs-and-Maggie Books, and F**k Books, this according to introduction writer Art Spiegelman.Author Bob Adelman has collected dozens of these rare bits of cartoon history and republished them here, adding a commentary by Richard Merkin, and putting these into a quasi-historical and sociological context.Ever wonder what Popeye looked like while having sex? What about Donald Duck and Minnie Mouse talking dirty while going at it? What did Cary Grant and Alger Hiss look like during gay love? All of this and more are here.This book does a better job of reprinting the Tijuana Bibles than anything, but reading a bunch of them in a row gets very tedious. The introduction warns against this, as well. The drawings are often very crude, and the humor is very old, since their prime era was in the 1930's. Also, all but a few of the artists were anonymous, and the printings were not done in the exotic locales of Havana, Tijuana, or London (as the little booklets claimed), but probably in some basement with a mob type watching over the production.This is not just a book of dirty pictures, but a very interesting look at what the author calls early sex education. While body parts are rather exaggerated, young men could look at these in the days before government and school sponsored sex ed and have a vague idea of what to do.If you have any of these dirty little books around, then hold on to them, they are rare. If you have this overview of the history of Tijuana Bibles around, keep it away from the kids, unless they are curious about the sex life of Dick Tracy or Dagwood Bumstead. I recommend this thin book to anyone who claims to be a fan of underground comics, or erotic art and cartoons.

I quite agree with the 6/10/99 customer review from Melbourne, Australia. This interestingly packaged (and heavily illustrated) collection will alternately amuse and offend most everyone. While some of the art is decent (or even good), much of it is crude but somehow apropos to the subject. The packaging is very good, and the book's price is a bargain for what you get. I'm 50 and didn't even know these "Tijuana Bibles" existed until I stumbled across this book. Very educational as well as entertaining. I first bought a copy last summer and enjoyed it so much I bought another for a friend, who enjoyed it as much as I did.

This collection of satiric and pornographic cartoons will alternately amuse and offend people everywhere. Nothing and no-one is sacred. Some of the strips are beautifully drawn and funny, some are crude and downright witless and others (note the strips believed to be those of Wesley Morse) are both witty and erotic. If nothing else, this collection serves as a potent reminder that sex, in all its permutations and manifestations, has been around for a lot longer than some people care to admit!

Yes it is pornographic, but that is what *Tijuana Bibles* were. I remember quite well when in high school in the 50's, a few were passed around until quite tattered. And, this was at a Catholic boys school. For fun and games and an introduction of a type of porno, this edition can't be beat. If the reader hasn't been totally brainwashed by a religion, purchase it and have fun..