by Matt Fraction, Fabio Moon, Michael Chabon, Gabriel Ba, Dustin Harbin, and Cris Peter; Image Comics
Casanova is a sexy comic. And... I wrote 2000+ words of a thesis draft today and marked lab reports, so my ability to write a cogent preamble on demand is kind of lacking. So, uh, without further ado, there is a panel in Casanova: Acedia Vol. 1 that I think really highlights why I find Casanova such a clever, sexy comic.
There will be mild *SPOILERS* for Casanova: Acedia pt. 1
This page, actually really just the bottom panel on this page, absolutely encapsulates why I find Casanova such a fundamentally sexy comic. The key of which is, I think, the inherent restraint of the utilized perspective: rather than show a nude, or semi-nude woman in a more conventionally provocative pose, this panel leaves most of the woman out of view, giving us a tantalizing peek and allowing our imaginations to impart a potentially infinite amount of seductiveness just out of view. Another great aspect of this panel is that it puts the focus on the woman's high heal shoes. Now, I recognize that heels are somewhat problematic, but when worn with agency and intention, I think they are pretty sexy. I'm kind of interested in fashion as like, a form of communication lately (semaphore you can wear!) and high heels can send a message that the person wearing them wants to feel and look sexy. Which given the broader context of the above scene (and some earlier flirtation) definitely communicates the woman's sexy intentions in this scene. The other thing that makes the heels shot so great is the way the woman dangles her toes into the pool. This gesture is just... perfect: dipping expensive pumps like that in water would almost certainly ruin them. This conveys a certain... disregard for consequences and propriety (fuck the cost, fuck the people who designed and made the shoes) on the part of the mysterious woman. Which lends the woman a certain naughty, dangerous air that manages to give her a certain power and the scene a decidedly transgressive air. And all of this is built into a single nuanced, restrained panel of comics that completely establishes a sense of seduction. Which is great comics and just, sexy as hell.
(Also, while we are comics wonking, the relative size of the woman and Casanova in the panel also does a great job establishing the power differential between the two and that fact we are being told that, in this moment at least, the woman is control of the situation.)
Previously:
Deep Sequencing: Imposter Syndrome and Casanova
So I Read Casanova: Luxuria
So I Read Casanova: Gula
So I Read Casanova: Avaritia
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