Tijuana Bibles

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Tijuana Bibles (known also as bluesies, eight-pagers, gray-backs, Jiggs-and-Maggie books, jo-jo books, Tillie-and-Mac books, and two-by-fours) were pornographic comic books produced for the most part in the US between the 1930s and the 1950s. They were drawn and written by anonymous artists, and printed and distributed by no less shady publishers. Tijuana Bibles are the most American form of vintage erotica. Their subject matter usually consists of explicit sexual encounters featuring popular cartoon characters, as well as famous film stars and politicians. Their cheap production values - and artwork of a quality which art historians euphemistically call "varied" - lends them a charm all their own.Still unexpectedly shocking and devoted to making a sexual mockery of every sacred cow in the pasture, the Bibles are unveiled here in full. It's folk art with a subversive edge.