Little Ego

by Vittorio Giardino

Who could object to Ego's erotic frolics - with men, women, the occasional reptile, household implement or whatever is handy - when it's all just a dream. Contains new 8-page illustrated introduction.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Erotica, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Bande Dessinée, Comix

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Vittorio Giardino (Bologna, 1946) è un fumettista italiano.
Laureato in ingegneria elettronica intraprende solo in una seconda fase della sua vita la carriera di autore di fumetti e raggiunge progressivamente la maturità artistica sia per la perfetta connotazione del tratto sia per le sue capacità narrative.

Nei suoi racconti è attraversata tutta la storia europea del Novecento, la guerra civile di Spagna, il Nazismo, lo Stalinismo e la sua fine.

Il Nostro Autore, nel suo percorso artistico di maturazione, passa dal genere hard-boiled di Sam Pezzo alla spy-story con venature politiche ed intellettuali di Max Fridman, al fumetto erotico con Little Ego, fino ad arrivare al capolavoro, del quale noi lettori attendiamo il completamento, di Jonas Fink, il romanzo di formazione di un giovane ebreo praghese dal dopoguerra alla caduta del muro.

Con Jonas Fink riceve il premio Alph-Art al salone di Angoulême (1995) e l'Harvey Awards al San Diego Comic Con. (1998).

Reviews

[Catarina K · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's just a dream right?

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Ego is a clever and creative mix of erotica and humor, all served up as a tribute to one of the great early comics artists, Windsor McCay. The individual stories in this volume are short (as little as two pages), and cast as dreams, allowing Vittorio Giardino to do a remarkable job of telling his naughty little tales with tight pacing and beautiful artwork. The playful nature of these stories allows them to rise above the sometimes dreary confines of comics erotica, which often substitutes excess for ideas.

[Israel Laureano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es una de las mejores muestras del cómic erótico europeo. Escrito y dibujado por Vittorio Giardino. Narra las extrañas aventuras de la Pequeña Ego (bueno, ni tan pequeña, ya es una jovencita) en un mundo onírico. Homenaje directo al cómic clásico “Little Nemo in Slumberland” de Winsor McCay, solamente que usando una buena dosis de erotismo europeo.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Αρκετά περίεργο αυτό το κόμικ. Για κάποιους θα θεωρηθεί προκλητικό, ίσως και ανώμαλο, ο ίδιος ο Vittorio έχει πει γι'αυτό πως αποτελεί σάτιρα και ως τέτοια δεν έχει όρια στον ρυθμό ή τον τρόπο της έκφρασης της. Πρωταγωνίστρια είναι η Little Ego, μια κοπέλα στα 20κάτι της που στην αρχή της κάθε ιστορίας - η οποία είναι από 2 έως 5 σελίδες - αποκοιμιέται και ονειρεύεται διάφορα σκηνικά ερωτικού περιεχομένου. Αυτά περιέχουν κτηνοβασία, ομοφυλοφιλία καθώς και συμβατικό έρωτα, και εξελίσσονται σε διάφορα περιβάλλοντα, από την μπανιέρα του σπιτιού της μέχρι την έρημο και τα χαρέμια σουλτάνων και σεΐχηδων. Παρόλο το ότι βλέπουμε συνεχώς την Ego ημίγυμνη ή γυμνή, η ίδια η συνουσία δεν απεικονίζεται ποτέ άμεσα (γι'αυτό και δεν μπήκε στον ερωτικό τομέα η παρουσίαση). Στο τέλος κάθε ιστορίας η Ego ξυπνά στο τελευταίο πάνελ και αναρωτιέται πως θα πει στον ψυχαναλυτή της τι έζησε στον ύπνο της. Εδώ να αναφέρουμε ότι όλη η ιδέα είναι παρμένη από το κόμικ Little Nemo του Winsor McCay όπου ομοίως ο Nemo κοιμάται, ονειρεύεται αχαλίνωτα και όταν ξυπνά περιγράφει τα πάντα την μητέρα του (πολύ πιο αθώο προφανώς :P ).

[Idea · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful piece of fun/funny erotica. Each storyline gets more bizarre than the last and correspondingly funnier. Ego makes out with flowers, aquatic creatures and strangers. She's also serviced in a desert, a harem and on an open-top plane. In the interim, she manages to escape a sex-crazy Sheikh, perform a striptease and make love to multiple reflections of herself. Since everything is couched in dreams, it allows you to switch off your logic demands and enjoy the fantasies. The 'waking up surprised in bed' ending never gets old and neither do the frequent references to the dubious therapist.

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

This girl needs to get laid badly.  Her dreams need but a small spark to devolve into the wet variety. It's always tasteful - as in you don't see genitalia - but you know what's going on. Onanism, zoofilia, lesbianism. She enjoys every second of it, though she is ashamed to admit it. I can only imagine what her shrink thinks about all of this.

While a few of the stories are 2-3 pages long, the desert adventure is split into several parts. From the desert she goes to a hairdresser, a strip club, a harem. With her dream being so vivid she is uncertain what reality is any more. This is what Inception porn looks like.

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parodia/homenaje a Little Nemo pero con sueños eróticos en vez de fantásticos. No es que las historias vayan muy allá, la limitación del número de páginas y el tema no dan para grandes desarrollos, pero las mujeres que dibuja Giardino son un placer para la vista. Y me refiero a las caras, no sean malpensados.

P.D. Un cómic que, pese a su escasa profundidad, me encanta releer de vez en cuando. Y repito, no sean malpensados.

[Kasper · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really funny comic about woman's erotic dream life involving. . .just about everything. Men. Women. Umbrellas. A reptile. I'm sure it's sexy to some people, but I laughed my way through the entire thing -- with it, not at it. Ego, the protagonist, has a kind of nymphomanic charm that really made me love her. idk. I know it's supposed to be erotic, but I just found it really entertaining.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not exactly erotic (unless you count a hot French chick being boffed by an Alligator in the bathtub, or an umbrella in the rain "erotica"), but as naughty and funny and weird as any other Euro comic character that appeared in Heavy Metal Magazine back in the day. Thin on page count, it still would make an interesting coffee table book that is sure to get visitors thumbing through it.

[Liothe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comic book on the sexual fantasies of a teenage girl. A great starting point (as are the initial strips/dreams) but it falls a bit flat. I had hoped for more surrealism, more imagery more frenzy and fire and discombobulation that are sexual dreams.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little Ego is an erotic parody of the renowned comic strip by Winsor McCay, originally serialized in the Italian comics magazine Comic Art before getting English translations in Heavy Metal. Giardino utilizes McCay's signature panel layouts to build out his own strip, and applies a similar dream logic and narrative format throughout. Little Ego never quite hits the same degree of surrealism as Little Nemo in Slumberland, but it's entertaining nonetheless.

Giardino's version swaps out the young Little Nemo for a considerably attractive young woman who falls asleep and undergoes bizarre sexual encounters. Each strip ends with her waking up in her psychiatrist's office, where she worries about how her wet dreams will be interpreted. While it lacks the imaginative scope and rigorous details of McCay's newspaper strips, Giardino's strip still boasts some elegant and clean lines that result in some mesmerizing layouts. It's not necessarily the best homage to Little Nemo in Slumberland (there exist plenty of those already), it's a fun tongue-in-cheek imitation of a great work.

[Timo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Olipas se yllättävän hauskaa ja tyhmää huumoria täynnä olevaa pornoilua. Hyvin piirrettyä sexikästä hauskaa.

[Malum · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Sunday morning comic strips were full of sex, they would be a lot like Little Ego.

[Al McCarty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeously drawn erotic spoof of Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland. Keep it tucked under your bed.

[Claire Fauche · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mmmh orientalisme borderline

[Luke Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly premise, p okay