6 DEATH IN THE HAREM Graphic Novel by Ferres—Part Two
16 GALLERY: HINES—MASTERFULLY MACABRE
Searing Images of a World Without Mercy
26 PONY LIFE
Graphic Novel by Doval—Part Two
36 ROBERTS — SOME SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL IF YOU PLEASE
His Candy-Colored World Just isn't Safe for Conventional Thinking ... or Pretty
Girls
Special Feature by Ernest Greene
44 YAKUZA SLAVES
Graphic Novel by Roberts—Part Two
54 SLAVEMART
Graphic Novel by Erenisch—Part Two
64 JUNTA HELL
Graphic Novel by Templeton—Part Two
74 KINK IN INK
Voluptuous Volumes for the Secret Shelf
Von Gotha's Janice Stripped and Whipped Cagri's Carnal Cargo
78 CAPTIVE IN THE BASEMENT
Graphic Novel by Agnes—Part One
EDITORIAL NOTE
STRICTLY SPEAKING
Thomas Hobbes called the state of nature "the war of all against all, red
in tooth and claw." The Marquis de Sade made the direct connection between
species aggression and sexual desire through what he termed "the voluptuousness
of cruelty." In modern times, scientists seek out mechanistic explanations
for seemingly inex-
plicable appetites. The hUmma-porn-star">Uman brain has hard-wirEd Links us to the very beginnings
of life on this planet. The cerebellum, the oldest part, deals strictly with the
basics – bodily functions, nourishment, reproduction. when it encounters
another living thing, it must decide whether to eat it, fuck it or avoid it altogether.
In the invertebrate world, such distinctions aren't even necessarily relevant.
The Praying Mantis consumes its mates head during copulation, which goes on undeterred
by the interruption (which would probably be the case with some people we've met).
Layered on top of this crude foundation is the Limbic System, where emotional
responses temper base instinct. Here we experience love, hate, compassion, empathy
and intimacy. The Cerebrum is the most recent retro-fit. That's the part with
which we think, analyze, evaluate our own behavior. It's the realm of what Freud
called the superego, the noisy conscience that seeks to tame the unruly id down
in the basement.
The images you hold in your hand at this very moment may be rendered in ink or
paint or pencil or on a computer, but their raw material is our own inner turmoil.
They turn us on as they do precisely because of the way they tease our paradoxical
needs, to satisfy our hunger without regard for the cost to others while still
maintaining some sense of our better selves.
But at the root of it all, Hobbes is not wrong. For one thing to live, another
must die. Cruelty is woven into nature's elaborate design from the first strand
of DNA. What we make of it is our choice. We can create art that arouses us even
as it frightens us. In so doing, we give ourselves an outlet for our darker impulses
that causes no actual harm. The ability to substitute symbolic violence for the
real thing is the great evolutionary advance that makes civilization possible.
That is what we celebrate in Taboo Illustrated as much as we celebrate the peculiar
beauty of pleasures seasoned with pain.
—Ernest Greene, Executive Editor
