CONSETT, England – Billing itself as “Comics for Men, Not Boys,” Gentlemen Comics offers a range of original, well-drawn graphic stories meant for adults — not just because they deal with sexual themes, but also because they include adult perspectives.

“We cater to comic fans who are now adults who really don’t want to stop reading comics and shouldn’t have to,” Chief Editor Doug told us.

YNOTeurope.com: From where did the idea for Gentlemen Comics come?

Doug: From the one-panel comics in Playboy magazine to Carrie, the clumsy stripper in Mayfair magazine, and even the beautifully illustrated pages of Heavy Metal magazine, adult illustrations and comics have always been around.

To certain people, a well-drawn naked woman can be just a sexy as — if not sexier than — the real thing, with the added advantage you can make a drawing of a person do whatever you want.

We believe there is room on the web for erotica or porn with a bit of story and art to it, as well.

What kind of content do you offer?

We offer comics for fans of mystery, horror, sci-fi, superheroes, comedy … all the things people have come to expect from mainstream comics. But we include a bit of naked flesh and adult situations in there, too.

Who is your target audience, and what do they seek?

Our target audience is the discerning erotica or porn fan. They are tired of the vast majority of brainless, artless adult content out there and want something more. Perhaps they liked Spiderman comics as a kid and always secretly had a crush on Mary Jane Parker. Our comics give them the chance to somewhat live out these fantasies, but with our own original characters, of course.

How is the product created?

First, we must always begin with inspiration and a concept, which then gets fleshed out in to a full script.

This gets a close read-over before the final OK and is put in the hands of the illustrator. He or she comes up with the entire comic in rough pencil drawing layouts and submits these to our chief art editor.

The art editor looks over the drafts for any drawing issues or things that do not line up with the script and gives notes on any issues. The illustrator then does the final inks of the pages and again submits them to the art editor for a final look. If all is well, the art editor then sends it on to the colorist.

Using the script as a guide, the colorist goes through and digitally colors the pages using software that may or may not be something like Photoshop. Once finished, the art editor once again steps in to check that all is going smoothly. If needed, any changes get sent back to the colorist.

Finally, the finished, colored-up pages get sent to our hard-working letterer, who has the thankless job of lettering and bubbling the comics up and adding the sound effects. Then the art editor will step in one final time to make sure all the “FAP”s and “FUT-FUT”s are in order before the comic goes up live on the site.

Do comics offer a degree of creative freedom that real-life photos and video don’t, especially when it comes to creating fantasies and telling stories?

We believe they do. It is a lot harder to make a real porn star turn into a demon or fly like a superhero than it is to create a comic universe in which these things can become a reality. It is also a lot easier to infuse some drama, comedy and story into your content in the context of a comic, as opposed to a short adult video or picture set.

What sort of response have you had to your comics, commercially speaking?

We are slowly building a following online and carving out our own place on the internet. We realize it does take time, though, and there is also a lot of adapting that goes on. Some concepts take off, and others do not.

If a comic is not well received, we try something else. We literally go back to the drawing board.

Is the comics format harder to pirate than, say, standard X-rated photos?

[Piracy rates are] more or less the same. We just hope that people who like what we do see the work that goes into making our original content and will pay for it to keep coming out rather than going the piracy route.

What are your future plans?

One of our most popular comic porn stars, Beelzebabe, will be getting her own website soon.

We are also on the lookout to team up with an existing porn star who is interested in the medium and wants to be immortalized as a toon porn star. We believe this would boost our online presence as well as theirs and work well for both parties. The ideal adult star would be one with enough charm and character to build a comic that will be well received around.