The cover of a typical Tijuana bible.

Tijuana bibles (also known as eight-pagers or dirty little eight-pagers) were pornographic comic books produced in the United States from the 1920s to the early 1960s. Their popularity peaked during the Great Depression era. The typical "bible" is 4 by 6 inches (approx. 10 x 15 cm), with black printing on cheap white paper, and eight pages long. In most cases the artists, writers and publishers of these tracts are unknown. The quality of the artwork varied widely and sometimes included racial caricatures (Black people are portrayed with huge lips and protruding eyes). Their subject is explicit sexual escapades usually featuring well known cartoon characters, political figures or movie stars (used without permission). Scan of the cover of a Tijuana bible featuring Wimpy This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Scan of the cover of a Tijuana bible featuring Wimpy This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Porn redirects here. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969. ... For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation). ... For the book of comics by Daniel Clowes see Caricature (Daniel Clowes collection) A caricature of film comedian Charlie Chaplin. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

The origin of the term Tijuana bible is obscure. The connection to the Mexican city of Tijuana may be on account of Tijuana's being an important distribution point for these made-in-USA (but illegal-in-USA) booklets. It is also possible that the name is simply an ironic coinage, Tijuana being stereotypically seen in the U.S. as uncivilized and debauched, while the Bible, perceived as the pinnacle of chaste morality, stands as far removed from pornography as possible. The distinction makes somewhat more sense when using another usage of the word Bible though, as a how-to or pivotal work (see Bible (disambiguation) for details). Tijuana (Spanish [tixwana], English usually [ˌtiːəˈwɑnə]), is the largest city in the Mexican state of Baja California and the seat of the municipality of Tijuana. ... Tijuana (Spanish [tixwana], English usually [ˌtiːəˈwɑnə]), is the largest city in the Mexican state of Baja California and the seat of the municipality of Tijuana. ... For other uses, see Stereotype (disambiguation). ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library. ... The word Bible can mean: The Bible, a holy set of scriptures in Judaism and Christianity (see also Tanakh, Hebrew Bible) Bible may be used as a generic term to describe a book or text that any devotee to an idea should read, or a book that lays out a...

Tijuana bibles were sold illicitly, often passed among soldiers and schoolboys. Their popularity rapidly declined as the photographic pornography in magazines like Playboy became more widely available in the late 1950s. In some senses, these comics were the first underground comix, and they featured original material at a time when legitimate American comic books were still exclusively reprinting material from newspaper strips. For other uses, see Playboy (disambiguation). ... the first thing that was invented was the automatic DILDO. Education grew explosively because of a very strong demand for high school and college education. ... Comics (or, less commonly, sequential art) is a form of visual art consisting of images which are commonly combined with text, often in the form of speech balloons or image captions. ... Mr. ...

In the modern day, there is at least one comic book company, Shanda Fantasy Arts, that publishes a variant of Tijuana Bibles, the XXX Files. These are small books which feature characters from their regular comics in explicitly erotic situations that the main publications generally gloss over. However, these publications differ not only by being approved and published by the company, but also by the talent, who have no discomfort with the subject matter and are fully credited for their work. Shanda Fantasy Arts is a comic book publishing company specializing primarily in furry properties. ...

External links

• www.tijuanabibles.org - many scanned bibles from an enthusiast
• www.tijuana-bible.com - Website offers reprints for sale.
• www.tijuanabible.org - History & timeline, artists, monthly scans and more.

Further reading

• Bob Adelman, Tijuana Bibles : Art and Wit in America's Forbidden Funnies, 1930s-1950s, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997, ISBN 0-684-83461-8
• Susie Bright; "Dogeared Style," Salon.com [1]
• Art Spiegelman; "Those Dirty Little Comics," Salon.com [2]
• Michael J. Weller; "The Secret Blue Book", bookartbookshop, London [3]