Fans of Julia Gfrörer's hard to find, dark, gothic and eerily erotic, self-published, black & white comix now have ecstatic fulfilment at hand with this omnibus collection of more than thirty of these* that has at last been published by Fantagraphics in a very nice, smyth sewn, cloth, hardcover edition – with dust jacket.  What's more, Fanta has honored the originals by setting the background colors on the pages to match (or approximate) that of the paper used in the printing of the individual comix self-published by Gfrörer, which grants readers, as much as possible, the pleasures of the originals.

Visual tropes derived from classical, medieval, renaissance and Victorian periods predominate, but, notably towards the end of the collection, contemporary life veers into view.

Those unfamiliar with Gfrörer's work are hereby cautioned that it contains instances of up close and personal violence – often quite grim and occasionally extreme – that is in turn often adjacent to – or at times mixed with – unrelentingly graphic sexuality that ranges from the holy natural to the wholly perverse.   These comics are stark, forceful and haunting. 

This work's greatest significance, and where these comics most excel and most strikingly display their unique power, is in their unflinching portrayals of visceral, unmitigated, female sexual desire – as well its male counterpart – straining against, while inscribed within, without and against patriarchal civilization.

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*(four of which were scripted by Sean T. Collins)