Review: Nightlife #5

Artist(s): Bastian Jonsson, Dale Lazarov.

The fifth issue of the Nightlife series, still written by Dale Lazarov and drawn by Bastian Jonsson, introduces something rarely seen in Lazarov’s comics: character continuity. Two stories make up this 20-page comic, one which gives us news of the couple from the Closing Time story in the first book and another one which shows us what the Greek sauna bartender from the fourth issue is up to when he’s not dressed as a satyr.

In After Hours, there’s less action than in the Scorsese film but far more gay sex, as the red-colored hair young man from Closing Time is now DJing and his boyfriend the hot, white-haired daddy helps him pack up when the club closes. Back home, the happy couple finds an agreeable way to wind down from the evening, with–you’ve probably guessed–some good sex.

In A Good Wank, the bartender, who’s finished his late shift, takes off his horns (I’d wondered whether there was a fantasy element in Steam, now I have my answer), puts on his civilian clothes and heads back home. On the way to his flat, he runs into cute guys, such as a bus driver, a cyclist or a storekeeper. He doesn’t hook up with anyone but doesn’t go to bed alone, as his fantasies appear on the page in the shapes of the many men he’s seen in the street, all there for his private pleasure.
Jonsson has fun with two double full-pages showing the naked man jerking off, with the equally naked other men crowding the pages, in a panel-less narration that beautifully portrays the fluid nature of hot dreams (yes, I used “fluid” on purpose) and proves, if need be, his talents as a storyteller.

Nightlife #5 is a very good addition to the stable of Lazarov’s silent comics, and Jonsson remains one of my favorite artists working in erotic comics.

This DRM-free, pdf comic can be found on the writer’s website, as can be found digital editions of some of his print comics.

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