tom of finland

My boyfriend gave me Tom of Finland XXL for Christmas. Shipping took its time, and the book arrived last week. I finally got to put my dirty hands on it by this weekend, but only had a chance to give it a quick glance. First impression: The XXL in its name is no joke, the book is frigging massive. It's REALLY big. The quality, both of the artwork and the physical book itself, is faultless as expected. Bookstores here price it at something close to one thousand reais (about 550 US Dollars), and my boyfriend paid $126 on Amazon, plus shipping. I'd say it was a great deal if he managed to pay less than 400 dollars for overseas shipping, which I'm sure he did - even if it meant missing Christmas day!

(...although, to be honest, that was something I didn't mind at all. As accepting as my family is, coming home with a gigantic tome packed-full with anal sex and gay orgies isn't very... Christmas-like)

I first found out about Tom of Finland as a horny homosexual in my early teens. Needless to say I was instantly... captivated. Some years later, after finding about "bara" manga, my focus shifted to the East and I kind of left ToF behind. But I still hold Tom's artwork in high regard, and this book is the perfect reminder to how the guy is a genius. I'm really enjoying it, if you catch my drift.

(piece of trivia: in his site, Gengoroh Tagame mentions Tom of Finland as an influence and one of the horny things in his late teens - I can relate. So, although Tagame is very peculiar for "bara" standards - or, shall we say, a more traditional artist, in comparison to the usual "bara" videogame-Anime otaku fanartists - you could argue there's a bit of Tom even in "bara" manga)

Now I just have to find a place in my room to store it. I can't fit it my gay manga cardboard box. Gee!