Remembering the time when men were men and sex was carefree.

In 1965, Tom of Finland He began toying with the idea of creating a recurring character for his comic strips, the quintessential "Tom Man." He tried a blond named Vicky—a common male name in Finland—and then came Jack, inspired by Tarzan. Later, in 1968, Tom focused on Kake, a dark-haired man with a mustache and leather clothing who often wore a tight white T-shirt emblazoned with "Fucker." Kake lived up to that slogan, becoming a kind of hypermasculine, post-Stonewall hunk who traveled the world on his motorcycle sowing the seeds of liberated gay sex, as satisfying as it was ecstatically explicit. Tom lived out many of his most personal fantasies through Kake, and Kake's international fans made him the epitome of what would become known as the quintessential gay look of the 1970s.

Between 1968 and 1986, Tom published 26 episodes of Kake's adventures, mostly in the form of 20-page booklets. Now all 26 stories have been compiled into a book. Tom of Finland - The Complete Kake ComicsThe reader will be able to reminisce with Kake about the days when men were men, sex was practiced carefree and everyone sported a big, thick mustache.

About the artist

Touko Laaksonen, the boy who would become Tom of Finland (1920-1991) began drawing caricatures at the age of five. His favorite subjects were the rugged, virile men of his native Finland, as he knew from a young age that men interested him more than women. He honed his talent by studying art in Helsinki. He found success in the Finnish advertising industry, but secretly continued creating his increasingly erotic drawings of hypermasculine men. In 1957, he sent some to an American magazine. Pictorial Physics And the legend was bornTom of FinlandBy the late 1960s, his "dirty drawings" had become the standard for gay art, and Tom's men had become models of a new homosexual masculinity. His work continues to play a key role in promoting self-confidence, a positive image, and open-mindedness within the gay community.

About the editor and author

Dian Hanson produced several men's magazines between 1976 and 2001, such as Juggs, Outlaw Biker and Leg Show, before becoming editor of TASCHEN's Sexy Books collection. Among her titles, the series dedicated to body parts stands out, The Art of Pin-up, Masterpieces of Fantasy Art and Ren Hang.