Jean-Claude Forest and Barbarella

Just as I had to give a shout-out to Joe Shuster's sideline fetish art, I offer another classic creator for posterity. Yes, there have been comics artists who have given us much more explicit work, but they owe a lot to Jean-Claude Forest who gave us one of the world's first true erotic heroines: Barbarella.

Created for the French publication V-Magazine in 1962, Barbarella was a fresh take on what was (at the time) a stale genre - the space opera.  In true European fashion, Forest's heroine was free spirited, often nude and very open to all forms of sexuality.  Getting a head start on the free love movement of the late '60s, Barbarella was an instant icon of joyful, trippy sensuality.

Here are just a sampling of Forest's creation in the altogether.  Enjoy!

p.s.: Beware the US releases (most out-of-print) of Barbarella's graphic novels as they, in many instances, have censored the nudity.  The scans I have here are from a lovely, full color German edition.