For mature readers

850 pages; hard cover; B&W

These erotic comics stories span 1968-1989. In Vol. 5, Bonnie and Clyde, Louise Brooks, and the globetrotting photographer Valentina (a movie and TV star herself!) take center stage, while "The Man from Harlem" is Crepax's ode to boxer Joe Louis and jazz. In Vol. 6, Valentina ages in "real time." First, she saves Effi, a German heiress, from kidnappers, and they become lovers. Valentina also has an affair with Bruno, a young cellist. Dangerous Liaisons follows our heroine into middle-aged home life with her longtime partner, Phil, with whom she has a grown son, Mattia. Two of Crepax's lauded graphic adaptations: "Venus in Furs" and "The Memoirs of Casanova" are featured in this volume.