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DORI STORIES
This long awaited volume include all the published work by the legendary Dori Seda, plus "Ecstacy" a story completed shortly before her tragically early death (at the age of 36), and a story originally commissioned for another anthology-Includes biographical memoirs, photos, and tributes as well as a 20 page color section of Dori's paintings and comics.
100 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 24, 2016
I liked this book and I'm really glad I read it. This book was a compilation of almost all of Dori Seda's work, put together after she died. It was nice to read people's stories about her and read all her work. Not as Feminist as I expected, more "Twisted Sisters"-y, but still great. Some of the comics made me laugh so hard! Like the one where she gave her dog a shower!
August 8, 2008
dori reminds me of people i have known, projects i have abandoned, days spent alone in a cave, and nights roaming wild. i like to reabsorb this book on cold homebound days.
May 8, 2024
Newly arrived in San Francisco in the early '90s, I remember reading in the Bay Guardian, or maybe the SF Weekly, about this, um, "dog loving" Mission character who had died a few years previous. She had lived close to where I was living and probably inhabited a world very close to my world (which turns out to be true enough). But she was a dozen or so years older and a dozen's dozen times wilder than me and represented a San Francisco milieu that was starting to fade and become unreachable. My notion of her and her San Francisco was murky, exciting, and a bit scary. All of this (I'm sure) I resented.
I also picked up that she had a gap tooth and had appeared in an obscure movie by Les Blank.
For years, as I lived out my own version of San Francisco, I didn't actively search out much more. So, the myth of Dori I've carried around in my head for the last 30 years was very rudimentary and almost entirely projected. Fast forward to a few years ago to a time of YouTube and streaming, when obscure movies are no longer securely obscure. Reminded of her by who knows what, my brain fired off a half-memory of this Dori woman, so I searched "Gap-Tooth Women" and watched. There she was! A goofy woman with a gap tooth. No longer a myth. She was a real-life woman!
Friends compiled this graphic novel after her death in 1988 at age 37. It contains previously published and unpublished work, essays, and other what-not by Dori and others (including a comic about the contested will that led to this book coming to be). In a sense, this is her eulogy. If you want to know who Dori was, at least as reflected by her work, this is a must-read (expensive though, these go for $100+ these days). For better or worse, her artwork is heavily influenced by the underground style of the '70s and '80s (think of the style of R. Crumb, who incidentally was instrumental in getting her published). The writing is uneven and suffers from counter-culture ethos that today feels sometimes amateurish and/or old-fashioned. You can't reasonably fault her for being a product of her time though. She was a trailblazer and fearless. And had a pretty cool gap tooth.
Bruce Sterling's fantastical story, "Dori Bangs," acts as a poignant epilogue to Dori's life. It imagines what might have become of Dori (and Lester Bangs) if she had lived. In this story, as in her actual life, a compelling effervescent spark flickers within an (often self-induced) tumultuous existence. It's all very inspiring but also unsettling and earthly. I don't know; I feel sad for her, but maybe I'm just projecting again.
I also picked up that she had a gap tooth and had appeared in an obscure movie by Les Blank.
For years, as I lived out my own version of San Francisco, I didn't actively search out much more. So, the myth of Dori I've carried around in my head for the last 30 years was very rudimentary and almost entirely projected. Fast forward to a few years ago to a time of YouTube and streaming, when obscure movies are no longer securely obscure. Reminded of her by who knows what, my brain fired off a half-memory of this Dori woman, so I searched "Gap-Tooth Women" and watched. There she was! A goofy woman with a gap tooth. No longer a myth. She was a real-life woman!
Friends compiled this graphic novel after her death in 1988 at age 37. It contains previously published and unpublished work, essays, and other what-not by Dori and others (including a comic about the contested will that led to this book coming to be). In a sense, this is her eulogy. If you want to know who Dori was, at least as reflected by her work, this is a must-read (expensive though, these go for $100+ these days). For better or worse, her artwork is heavily influenced by the underground style of the '70s and '80s (think of the style of R. Crumb, who incidentally was instrumental in getting her published). The writing is uneven and suffers from counter-culture ethos that today feels sometimes amateurish and/or old-fashioned. You can't reasonably fault her for being a product of her time though. She was a trailblazer and fearless. And had a pretty cool gap tooth.
Bruce Sterling's fantastical story, "Dori Bangs," acts as a poignant epilogue to Dori's life. It imagines what might have become of Dori (and Lester Bangs) if she had lived. In this story, as in her actual life, a compelling effervescent spark flickers within an (often self-induced) tumultuous existence. It's all very inspiring but also unsettling and earthly. I don't know; I feel sad for her, but maybe I'm just projecting again.
July 9, 2024
I've never read anything quite like this. There's plenty of anthologies and complete collections of cartoonists out there but this is stuffed full of letters and comics from her friends made soon after her untimely and unfortunate death. I cried more than once. Dori reminds me of myself and friends of mine. She's also such an open book in her stories too that by the time I was done reading this I felt like I lost a friend.
Her artwork really stuck out to me while reading through Wimmen's Comix so I tried to track down what I could. The last strip in this book really drives home the voice that comics lost here. It's just story of three couples taking ecstacy that might not blow your mind necessarily (and maybe none of these autobiographical stories will) but is overflowing with personal and observational storytelling details that make it feel real.
Sadly this book though is very out-of-print. Thankful for my library for tracking it down. I found a cheap copy of her only comic book, Lonely Night Comics, on eBay though. I bought it because I just want Dori's spirit around.
Her artwork really stuck out to me while reading through Wimmen's Comix so I tried to track down what I could. The last strip in this book really drives home the voice that comics lost here. It's just story of three couples taking ecstacy that might not blow your mind necessarily (and maybe none of these autobiographical stories will) but is overflowing with personal and observational storytelling details that make it feel real.
Sadly this book though is very out-of-print. Thankful for my library for tracking it down. I found a cheap copy of her only comic book, Lonely Night Comics, on eBay though. I bought it because I just want Dori's spirit around.
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August 24, 2024reading the neil gaiman intro made me feel like the demi lovato tweets even before the allegations but i love seda's body of work as an Object In The World. had to ILL this; in desperate need of reprinting :/
March 18, 2011
dori sounds adorable, especially the part where her laugh is described as "legendary" and "hayseed", a laugh that is spelled "hyuck!"
i laughed out loud while reading the story where she is cleaning her apartment, and a friend invites her out, but dori is like, i have to clean my apartment! the friend promises to help her clean later if dori goes with her. when they both come back, the friend realizes she can't keep helping because of tona the dog who is dirty and smelly and has an erection! "why does your dog have an erection?!" L.O.L.
the parts about dori denying rumors about her having sex with her dog: hilarious
sometimes, though, the busy style of the panels felt hard to read yet i like it at the same time. hm.
anyway, fun and gold!
i laughed out loud while reading the story where she is cleaning her apartment, and a friend invites her out, but dori is like, i have to clean my apartment! the friend promises to help her clean later if dori goes with her. when they both come back, the friend realizes she can't keep helping because of tona the dog who is dirty and smelly and has an erection! "why does your dog have an erection?!" L.O.L.
the parts about dori denying rumors about her having sex with her dog: hilarious
sometimes, though, the busy style of the panels felt hard to read yet i like it at the same time. hm.
anyway, fun and gold!
June 1, 2009
Very funny collection of erotically-charged insanity from the immortal Dori Seda. Her best story is probably "Crabs Eating Raoul" about her hooking up with a vapid swinger. "Hospital Hell" is about nurses with a cancer fuck-fetish and "Orgy At The Women's Retreat" is funny as fuck. Lots of sex and yucks and thank goodness Dori made out a will otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here writing a review of this awesome book!
September 15, 2012
Seda, a seminal underground woman comic book artist, died of emphysema when she was in her 30's. Though her career was short, she left behind a substantial body of work which has not, until this volume, been collected. Supplementing her work--much of which seeks to shock people's (sexual) sensibilities and is not for those who offend easily--are plenty of supporting materials, such as photographs and essays.
February 26, 2010
This was a compilation of the work of Dori Seda collected by Last Gasp after she passed away at a young age of emphysema, and included essays written by friends of hers in the industry. I love her artwork, but her comics tend to be a bit over-the-top for my tastes. Still, I enjoyed reading it mostly for the stories about her by other people.
November 19, 2009
what a wonderful, weird woman dori seda was. she lives on through her work and the heartfelt essays/stories/comix written by her friends and admirers.i was sick in bed while reading most of this collection and it was oddly comforting. i've decided to name my kiln 'lil dori' in her honor.
May 8, 2016
Art is solid and pretty typical of 70s/80s underground comics. Stories are very short (1-5 pages) and mostly based on events from Dori's life. Nothing really engaged me though. Lots of nice bonus material (essays, photos, stories about Dori).
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews