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Graphic Novel Teleny and Camille Wins Lambda Award

courtesy Northwest Press

“They were the original uppity fags…Every gay stereotype we have today comes from these men.“- John Macy, Teleny and Camille

It is a failing of my queer literary background that I have never read Oscar Wilde. I am somewhat familiar with his reputation…his caustic wit, often aimed at women; he was a lover of men, and a brilliant aesthetic writer. I might start paying more attention to Mr. Wilde after reading Teleny and Camille, Jon Macy‘s brilliant graphic interpretation of a work of men’s erotica purportedly written by Wilde and his followers, who were outlandish and daring for their time. These gay intellectuals challenged society and the status quo set for men and women.

The original book, titled Teleny, is one of the earliest examples of English-language gay erotica. Although the authorship is technically unknown, it is generally attributed to Wilde and his circle of fellow intellects. This is partially due to bookseller Charles Hirsch’s account of the book, which Macy has illustrated as part of the introduction to this adaptation. Throughout the work’s history, it has continued to be modified, translated, edited, and added to. Enter Jon Macy, arguably another in a long line of collaborators in the convoluted history of Teleny.

Macy started working in black and white comics in the ’90s, and it shows. His art is lush and gorgeous, with wonderful contrasting shadow and light, line, and shading. The Panels flow sensuously on the page, with the art often overlapping. I especially like Macy’s style of curlicues and intricate designs as panel edges, giving the comic a dream-like quality which matches the imagery of the two lover’s psychicly linked sexual visions, and the innocent tone to their romance.

Throughout Teleny and Camille, the art is inspired by the figurative language of the original. Macy puts images to surreal and exotic passages, such as: “I saw a fiery Hail of Rubies and Emeralds consuming the cities of the plain, and he, standing naked in the lurid light, exposing himself to the thunderbolts of heaven and to the flames of hell.” He also takes themes from the text and expands on them visually, such as recurring images of flowers. When Teleny and Camille are first alone together, they talk of flowers and Teleny gives Camille a small bunch of heliotrope; The men in the book are often associated with different types of flowers, such as one who is known by his aroma of roses. This gives the love story a classic romantic feel, reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet or Pyramus and Thisbe.

While most of the men in the book are idealistically gorgeous and pristine, the women are typically flat characters portrayed in a negative light. There is one particularly disturbing scene where the women are quite hideous; while their bodies are technically accurate and even admirable, there is an uneasy quality to the entire scene, which only becomes more horrifying. Other women are at least physically beautiful if not sympathetic. Macy also adds an interesting symbolic image to the story, an evil-looking, creepy poodle that shows up whenever anything negative sexually happens, particularly heterosexual sex.

Despite the lascivious orgies in the second half, it never feels like porn; while highly sexual, the images are for the most part not explicit. Like Alan Moore’s Lost Girls, the sex scenes are surreal, almost distant, and this adds a composed quality that makes the whole thing beautiful instead of crass. When Teleny and Camille are together the sex is tastefully censored, and while there are occasional completely nude images, they have the style of pinup art rather than porn. This is by far some of the best erotica I’ve read. So much of modern erotica seems to be mostly shock value, not anything actually erotic or sensual, while Teleny and Camille feels very classic.

In the tradition of Teleny and it’s collective authorship, Macy has added his own ending as well as including the original. The new ending is unnaturally idealistic for its time period, but by including both, the positive version serves as a challenge to the precedent of depressing endings in gay romances. Overall, this is an excellent adaptation; Macy’s visual interpretation fits the style of the original perfectly. The panels flow like stream of consciousness prose, with surreal pictoral representations of a love that words cannot adequately express. If one of Oscar Wilde’s ilk had been a visual artist, we might perhaps have been treated to something like Jon Macy’s vision. As it is, there is no doubt that this beautiful, sumptuous work is clearly an accomplished adaptation as well as a masterpiece of erotic fiction in its own right.

On May 26th at the 23rd annual Lamda awards, Teleny and Camille won the category for Best Gay Erotica. It is one of the first books published by Northwest Press.