Episode 28: Tijuana Bibles

Episode 28: Tijuana Bibles

From The History of Comics in 500 Issues by Jess Nevins

November 9, 2025 · 1h 41m · Season 1 · Episode 28

About this episode

This episode explores the history and cultural significance of Tijuana Bibles, the first pornographic comic books, alongside various related topics.

In this episode, I discuss the notorious Tijuana Bibles, the first pornographic comic books. Except that you can't really tell the story of the Tijuana Bibles without also covering several other topics, including the history of celebrity, a celebrity condottiero, Murasaki Shikibu, the first over-merchandised celebrity, Lord Byron fanfic, the history of fandom in the US, firefighting "buffs," Lindmania & Lisztmania, the 8 Most Important Moments in the History of Fanfiction, Judaism as a read/write tradition, the first Real Person Fanfic, the original Mary Sue, the history of Tijuana, why the Puritans were actually pro-sex, the history of pornography, the Marxist interpretation of the popularity of porn during the American Civil War, the actual and true Secret Origins of the Tijuana Bibles, why there were a lot more Tijuana Bibles in circulation than you think, how much Will Eisner could have made if he'd accepted the Mob's invitation, and what the British had instead of Tijuana Bibles. My longest episode, and my best work yet, I think. Enjoy!

People in this episode

Host: Jess Nevins

Topics covered

  • Tijuana Bibles
  • history of pornography
  • celebrity culture
  • fanfiction
  • Puritan views on sex
  • Marxist interpretation of porn
  • history of Tijuana

Keywords

  • Tijuana Bibles
  • pornographic comics
  • celebrity history
  • fanfiction
  • Puritans
  • American Civil War
  • Murasaki Shikibu
  • Will Eisner

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Tijuana, US, British

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