Review: Lost Girls by Alan Moore & Melinda Gebbie
LOST GIRLS
Written by Alan Moore
Artwork by Melinda Gebbie
Published by Top Shelf Productions
Published June 2006
ISBN 978-1-891830-74-7
Graphic Novel
Erotica
Boxed Set
Original Price: $75
The literary myths of our childhood follow us into our adult lives, and it is an amazing thing to see those myths turned into art that is thought provoking and beautiful. The first time I remember this happening was many years ago when I read Marion Zimmer Bradley’s reshaping of Morgaine (Morgan Le Fey) from Arthurian legend in her fantasy novel, The Mists of Avalon.
Now in Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie’s incredible graphic novel Lost Girls, I have once again found not only childhood myth challenged, but used as a prism to explore concepts of what sex means – and more importantly – how we envision the varieties and variances of sexual fulfillment and fantasy.
Alan Moore does not conform to convention and relishes challenging it at every turn. Read one of his graphic novels (From Hell, V for Vendetta, Watchmen, or The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) and you’ll see this and, while his graphic novels have been successful on the big screen, the movies are the palest of shadows compared to the intricate, detailed books that not only entertain immensely, but spark discussion, curiosity, and challenge conventional viewpoints.
In Lost Girls, Moore brilliantly explores the sexual lives of three famous heroines of children’s literature – Alice from Alice in Wonderland, Wendy from Peter Pan, and Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. Brought together by fate at an exclusive European hotel just before the outbreak of World War I, the three adult women soon discover within each other the seeds of connection – strong attraction, sexual need, and simple female companionship – and ultimately find the empowering support of each for the others.
Alice, now Lady Alice Fairchild, is undoubtedly the leader of the trio, an older middle-aged woman, sophisticated and, outwardly, completely unashamed of her sexuality, she leads the other two women into telling tales of their early sexual experiences, and it is through these stories, we see the familiar trappings of the childhood stories we grew up reading. The stories are told by each of the women as they enjoy various sexual adventures with each other.
Through those told by Alice, we learn of her indoctrination into sex at an early age, and how her rape by a friend of her father’s helped shape her attraction to other women. As Alice continues her stories, we learn also of her later exploitation at the hands of an older woman and we see through Gebbie’s art and Moore’s powerful, visual words, Alice’s Wonderland adventures as shaped by the sexual and drug induced encounters of the girl and young woman. Giving voice to her past, Alice ultimately accepts who she is, her ownership of the choices she made as a youth and as an adult. Moore and Gebbie brilliantly bring the child back to the woman in a scene that is both visually stunning and rich in metaphor.
The adult Wendy is a repressed Victorian wife with an older husband, and of the three women, Wendy’s liberation from the shame of the past and the repressions of society are the most powerful. Wendy’s story also openly addresses some of the sexual taboos that writers dance around, but won’t honestly confront – child sex and pedophilia. Peter, in Wendy’s telling, is an oversexed boy, one eager to have sex with other boys in the park, and who also fucks his sister (Tinkerbell) without compunction. Peter introduces Wendy and her brothers to sex and soon the three children become part of a surreal Neverland where the Lost Boys spend their days pleasuring each other, Peter’s sister, and Wendy. We also see Captain Hook as a man with a deformed hand, a pederast and abuser, who rapes Peter’s sister and some of the Lost Boys. Wendy’s eventual confrontation with Hook is a testament to bravery and the ultimate power of a woman’s sexuality. Through the adult Wendy’s stories we come face to face with innocence in its rawest form. Time and exposure shape our perception of right and wrong and, through Moore’s vision, we see that while the sex acts are adult in nature, the characters’ delight is child like. Moore tackles this incredibly challenging subject with a deftness that is practically otherworldly, and he reminds us subtly and not so subtly that these fantasies, these stories, are just that – stories, fictions told to entertain and to make a point.
And while Wendy’s story was, in my opinion, the most liberating, Dorothy’s story proved to be the most challenging to read, to absorb, and to come to terms with. Dorothy’s sexual exploits on her family farm start with her masturbating during a tornado, and the visual and verbal symbols show us the power of the orgasm. From there, she recounts her early sexual encounters with the farmhands and we see the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man all in turn, and as Dorothy recounts her tales of Kansas, we see her attempts to hide some secret within her past, but Alice – worldly and sharp as a pitchfork – presses Dorothy at the end to reveal all. And as the hotel is abandoned by the guests and staff due to the oncoming German invasion after Duke Ferdinand’s assassination, Dorothy – sexually exhausted and finally convinced by Wendy and Alice’s sincerity that nothing she tells them will shock them – makes her last confession. In the story, Dorothy is not a victim of a lecherous man, but a willing participant in a challenging relationship. She opens up to her friends about her attraction, shares with them the excitement of the consummation, but ultimately also tells of her disappointment in the relationship as the shine wears off, and of the ultimate discovery of the relationship by others. Moore doesn’t pull any punches in this tale, and when the last page was turned on Dorothy’s story, I spent a considerable amount of time contemplating what I’d read, analyzing my reactions to it, and finally finding comfort in the powerful psychology of it.
Lost Girls is about more then just sex, sexual fantasy, sexual politics and taboos, it also examines the nature of innocence and the loss of that innocence on many levels –sexual, societal, and historical. At the highest level of its elaborate metaphor, the books are about Europe’s loss of innocence with the coming of WWI. I do not believe anyone besides Moore and Gebbie could have taken these themes and done a better job of creating not only a beautiful work of art, but also a story for the ages.
These graphic novels are not for the sex-squeamish, those who cannot be open-minded about sex, or those unwilling to look into the pages and possibly see their own fantasies staring back at them. Lost Girls is bold, beautiful, arousing and endlessly thought provoking, and if you’re a fan of erotica, of unflinching literature that explores challenging portrayals of sex and sexual fantasy, then these books are a must for your collection.
Angela, your incredible review of this book made me wish I could afford to purchase it!
Your take on each individual story was concise and insightful.
Frankly, if you haven't already, I would send your review to the creators of this book.
If someone had written a review such as this for one of my works, I'd be honored to read it!
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Angela, Just went to the Top Shelf site to view the book - amazing!
Especially appreciated the clever shadow play on pgs 4 & 5 of the contents offered for preview.
The style of the drawings and writing are evocative of that era.
Thanks for sharing at the era-parlor.
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