Broken Frontier

Crossing Borders takes a look at Premières Fois (First time), a French graphic novel by publishing house   Delcourt with an all star international cast, soon to be published in English by   NBM's Eurotica imprint.

I still remember my first time. The air was hot, the sun was down. She had short black hair like the darkest night you ever seen. A boyish cut emphasized her round features. She ... uhm ... what? First time, the book review!? Whew, okay, close one there.

First time is a bit of a hip book, it's an anthology of erotic fiction, all written by female writer Sibylline. Sibylline is obviously a nom-de-plume - the Sibyls are prophetesses who utter divine revelations in a frenzied state. As a writer she is a bit of a mystery, she has worked for Canalweb and Mysexytv which is at least an indication that she has a working knowledge of the world of erotica.

The stories mostly revolve around a man or woman who has a sexual encounter or a deviant sexual experience. The stories are sometimes sweet and sometimes bitter but they tend to stereotype and don't inject a lot of feeling into the proceedings. Any subtleties present come from the artists involved and not from the writer which is a bit of a shame because the situations she comes up with are okay but it's the character work that is lacking. First time is more of a graphical exercise than a storybook.

And that is where the book really shines, the visuals. Just check out this line up: Dave McKean, Cyril Pedrosa, Jërome d'Aviau, Virginie Austin, Vince and others. Virginie Austin especially is a real find, elevating the story '1+1' - about a working girl having a sexual adventure during a night out with another girl - with her thin playful sweet line work and spot-on facial expressions, full of delight and joy and body language. She makes an otherwise pretty run-off-the-mill idea a thoughtful reminiscence about chance encounters and the things we do out of excitement and you can read it all off the faces of the characters.

Another standout is of course Dave McKean. One does wonder what script he had to work with because the story is so sparse that calling it a story is like calling a flea an elephant. It plays off a idea of switching places while in the mood and that's it but the graphical interpretation of McKean makes it one of the highlights of the book. In his hard angular drawing style he decides to emphasize the lust involved as bodies and limbs intertwine forming new shapes born out of desire. The solo performances (so to speak) are arranged by a strict grid zooming in and out of the action while the dual performance breaks it all open in wide panels slashed across the page. It looks like it wants to say something about flesh and its malleability coming of as very Cronenbergian in it's approach. And before I forget to warn you, it is a very graphical book, not just-look-at-the-size-of-those-rocketships-graphical but hardcore graphic. And the French edition, being the swinging nation it is, doesn't even carry a mature readers-label.

Cyril Pedrosa, mostly known in the US for his Three Shadows graphic novel (Broken Frontier review right here) also uses his expressive line work to elevate the story 'Submission' beyond it's rather lackluster borders. He experiments with wild dry brush strokes for motion and as the action progresses, the brush lines get cruder emphasizing the boundaries of the protagonist being pushed into a submissive situation while knowing at the same time that it is her choice also. As in Three Shadows, his expressions and distinctive character designs breathe life into the people.

But for every good one there is almost every time a bad one or at least a mediocre story. 'Sex-shop' is a banal tale about a girl who goes shopping for a 'tool' to aid her in her fantasies but the generic art by Capucine treats it very straightforwardly, adding nothing and even making it too bleak with heavy blacks and heavy inking grounding down what is supposed to be a light-hearted tale. '2+1' has a similar art style by Vince but it suits the more lurid proceedings of a couple inviting another girl to participate. Again, the story barely has a skeleton to stand up on but Vince excels at heavy blacks and folding. He draws some very cute girls and thereby making it at least pleasing to the eye.

There is some effort by Sibylline to have a few different points of view in the GN and different aspects of sexuality but it all leads to naught. If you sum it up, in these 10 tales we get a first time experience, girl buys first dildo, a fantasy at work, girl meets girl, couple meets girl, couple at a sex club, etc. You get the drift. And that is what they ultimately seem, ideas for stories but not stories them self. For instance in 'Nulle' - about a man and his obsession with sex dolls - it all becomes so stereotypical, even with the added gimmick of the tale being told from the viewpoint of the sex doll. We learn nothing of the characters and they just do these things because that is the story the writer wanted to tell. So when you combine this with an artist that does not try to look for a different viewpoint himself, the 'story' immediately falls flat and empty.

First time is a mixed bag, overall the good outweighs the bad  so I would say it's worth seeking out but mainly in the graphical sense. Don't expect insightful stories about human nature and our sexual drives. These are small, narrow-minded tales coupled with some excellent artists that are given a chance to shine with material that they would otherwise never find themselves working with. And while you're at it, seek out some work by Virginie Austin and let me know about it because I can't seem to find any of her work ...

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Premières Fois is published by Delcourt  while NBM publishing has issued a publication date for the USA in january 2009.