In 1965, Tom of Finland began to flirt with the idea of creating a regular character for his comic strips, the quintessential "Tom's man." He tried a blond man named Vicky—a common male name in Finland—and then came the Tarzan-inspired Jack. Later, in 1968, Tom focused on Kake, a dark-skinned man with a mustache and leather gear who often wore a tight white T-shirt that read "Fucker." Kake lived up to that motto, establishing himself as a kind of hypermasculine, post-Stonewall big man, traveling the world on his motorcycle to sow 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 model for what would come to be known as the quintessential gay look of the 1970s.
Between 1968 and 1986, Tom published 26 episodes of Kake's adventures, most of them in the form of 20-page booklets. Now the 26 stories have been compiled into a book, Tom of Finland - The Complete Kake Comics. Readers can relive with Kake the days when men were men, sex was carefree, and everyone sported a big, bushy mustache.
About the artist
Touko Laaksonen, the boy who would become Tom of Finland (1920-1991), began drawing cartoons at the age of five. His favorite subjects were the rugged, virile men of his native Finland, as Touko knew from a young age that men interested him more than women. His talent was honed by studying art in Helsinki. He found success in the Finnish advertising industry, but continued to secretly create his increasingly erotic drawings of hypermasculine men. In 1957, he sent some to the American magazine Pictorial Physique And the legend of "Tom of Finland" was born. By the late 1960s, Tom's "dirty drawings" had become the standard of gay art, and Tom's men became models of a new homosexual masculinity. Tom's art continues to play an important role in promoting self-confidence, a positive image, and open-mindedness in 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. Her titles include the series dedicated to body parts, The Art of Pin-up, Masterpieces of Fantasy Art and Ren Hang.
Book details:
Author: Tom of Finland
Editorial: BAGS
Language: Multilingual (German, French, English)
Binding: Hard cover
Dimensions: 15.6 x 21.7 cm
Weight: 1.10 kg
Pages: 512
ISBN: 978-3-7544-0329-7
