XXXenophile

XXXenophile is an American comic book series, published by Palliard Press and later Studio Foglio. It is an anthology of short, whimsical, erotic fantasy and science fiction stories, written and penciled by Phil Foglio. Each story is inked by a different artist.

Cover to XXXenophile #2. Pencils by Phil Foglio.

The series' general emphasis is on the enjoyment of sexuality as a playful activity.[1] Foglio satirizes numerous plot elements of fantasy and science fiction, such as time travel, cloning, robots, deals with the devil, love potions, and geasa. It portrays a variety of sexual activities, including "oral sex, anal sex, group sex, masturbation, voyeurism, double penetration, inter-racial (literally), bestiality (although generally with an animal possessing intelligence), mild sado-masochism, homosexuality (female, in every issue; male, just in the last issue), exhibitionism, sex with any number of devices, necrophilia (specifically sex with a ghost), prostitution, and various others, including some that were only possible in micro-gravity".[1] Foglio cited rape, mind control, pedophilia, "classical necrophilia", excretion, snuff porn, branding, piercing, heavy sadomasochism, and spanking as topics that he did not find appealing and would not write about.[1] He recalls, "I had a pediatrician tell me if she had a choice between a young teenage boy finding XXXenophile and Batman, she’d throw him XXXenophile because it teaches much healthier interactions. Of course, this particular pediatrician would not go on the record, and I would not ask her to, but it still gave me good feelings for the day."[2]

Publication history

XXXenophile was published as a series of ten comic books from 1989 to 1995. In 1994, the contents of the first five issues were reprinted in The XXXenophile Big Book O' Fun. In 1997 and 1998, the contents of the ten issues were reprinted in the five-volume The XXXenophile Collection series; each volume contained a number of stories from the original comics (not in their original publication order) plus a new story (generally a second look at characters from an earlier story such as the superhero Orgasm Lass and her four-armed male sidekick Foreplay). The additional stories were compiled separately in a final, eleventh issue of the comic book in 1998. A sixth volume of The XXXenophile Collection, with a new 64-page story, was published in 2000. In 2004 Studio Foglio released XXXenophile Quick and Dirty, a 20-page booklet of unreleased material. The series is on hiatus on the initiative of the Foglios until their children are of appropriate age for the material.

Palliard Press published a related series, XXXenophile Presents, which presented stories by other creators, each story taking up an entire issue. There were five issues published, with stories by Julie Ann Sczesny, Colin Upton (two), and Charlie Wise (two).[3]

Card game

A collectible card game based on the comic was also created, with game mechanics designed by James Ernest;[4][5] it was the first adult-themed CCG (with adult mechanics—some cards contained directions for the player to remove a piece of clothing).[6] It was designed after positive reader reaction to the tenth issue of the comic's cover, which showed cards for a hypothetical XXXenophile CCG.

In 2001 this game was reworked into a non-adult, non-collectible card game called Girl Genius: The Works,[7] based on the Foglios' comic Girl Genius.

Contributors

XXXenophile stories were inked by a variety of well-known and lesser-known artists:[8] Mark Nelson, Doug Rice, Julie Ann Sczesny, Hilary Barta, Matt Howarth, Delphyne Mori, Gordon Purcell, Randy Crawford, William Messner-Loebs, Brian Thomas, Ruth Thompson, Paul Guinan, Lea Hernandez, Adam Hughes, John Workman, Donna Barr, Stephen R. Bissette, David Cherry, Shon Howell, Bill Willingham, David Lee Anderson, Stephen DeStefano, Tom Verré, Vicky Wyman, Frank Kelly Freas, Rantz Hoseley, Barb Kaalberg, Steve Sullivan, Lee Burks, Lela Dowling, Kevin Eastman, Peter Hsu, Kelley Jones, Geof Darrow, Quinton Hoover, Terrie Smith, Neil Vokes, Dennis Clark, Bob Eggleton, Michael T. Gilbert, Susan Van Camp, Mike Christian, Colleen Doran, Pam Eklund, Shepherd Hendrix, and Brian Snøddy (two stories).

References
  1. "Hoot Island interview with Phil Foglio". Hoot Island (via archive.org). Archived from the original on 2003-10-02.
  2. Alverson, Brigid (February 2, 2010). "Unbound: Talking with Phil Foglio". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
  3. The Phil Foglio Gallimaufry 2 - Works as the Writer/Scripter/Editor only
  4. Dedman, Stephen (1 January 1997). "Pyramid Pick: XXXenophile: The Adults Only Trading Card Game". Pyramid. Steve Jackson Games (#23). Archived from the original on 22 August 2004.
  5. Ross, S. John (25 September 1998). "Pyramid Interview: James Ernest". Pyramid (online). Steve Jackson Games. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020.
  6. "The 10 Most Forgotten Collectible Card Games". therobotsvoice.com. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  7. Weier, Brad (4 May 2001). "Pyramid Pick: The Works Card Game". Pyramid (online). Steve Jackson Games. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020.
  8. The Phil Foglio Gallimaufry 1 - Major Works as the Writer and Artist
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