While these titles may be NSFW comics, they’re actually great works of art worth the read… at home.
NSFW, mature, graphic–these are all terms to say, “Don’t show this to kids.” And we’re 100 percent on board with that when it comes to the comic books listed here below. However, we’re adults. We like adult things, because it rings true. We also like comic books.
Why keep these two star crossed lovers apart? Just because you’d rather your boss not stumble upon you reading these admittedly graphic graphic novels doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make time to read these NSFW comic books on your time.
Preferably nowhere near a school, church, or any public place, really.
Table of Contents
Sex Criminals
You know, whenever we have sex, time seems to go real fast. Almost like it’s over in seconds.
But when Suzie and Jon do the horizontal mambo for the first time, they inadvertently stop time.
Naturally, they decide to rob a bank with their newfound co-power.
Sex Criminals is an Eisner-winning comic is full of sex. This NSFW comic is completely legit–not some backroom naughtiness.
But tell that to your boss when she sees you reading a comic about characters stopping time upon summation of the beast with two backs and using their powers to rob banks.
The Boys
Garth Ennis pretty much only writes vile, gory, disgusting comic books.
And we love him for it. Joking aside, Ennis writes gritty, real-world adjacent comic books. He doesn’t really do comics with leads in spandex (unless Punisher counts). Although in The Boys, he does have a group of toughs demolish some spandex wearing “do-gooders.” You may know The Boys from their Amazon Prime TV show.
Ennis has a habit of finding his way into television and movies. Even his aforementioned Punisher arcs have been highly sourced in Punisher multimedia canon.
Invincible
Robert Kirkman has taken on more than just the zombie genre. Invincible, the creator’s deceptively NSFW comic book, breaks the conception of what a spandex-ed superhero comic can be.
Invincible is… invincible. Plus, he can fly, is super strong, etc. Basically, imagine the Superman archetype. He’s even got an alien dad, Omni-Man.
The colors and style is bright and fresh, like you imagine comic books to be. Jeez, just look at how much yellow is in the costume. Cheery enough for ya?
But the violence is way more brutal than any other comic book of its design, and that’s what makes it not exactly safe for work.
However, as far as enjoyment factor as a reader goes, the violence/visual dichotomy sets Invincible apart in that it both embraces tropes while actively subverting them.
From Hell
Imagine if Jack the Ripper’s story was told from multiple points of view, including copious amounts of following the murderer himself.
Add to this that it’s written by the occult-loving Alan Moore, who makes simple comic book pages views into hellscape–even if most of the hell is inside us.
And since Jack the Ripper’s victims were prostitutes, it stands to reason there is more than enough nudity and sex to go around.
Add to this an insane amount of paranoid conspiracies and mystical symbolism, which is all amazing but might make you look insane for reading it.
Preacher
Every issue of Preacher is destined to offend at least one group of people.
It’s just a matter of playing the odds. Will it be one of the bad guys having sex with a fish by cutting open its side? Or maybe the lambasting of Jesus Christ’s inbred descendent. Or maybe just all the nudity, drugs, and outrageous violence. Steve Dillon‘s artwork manages to dial back the visceral response of the plot with it’s clean lines and comical disposition.
And of course Garth Ennis, who also wrote The Boys, is conversely glorious with his insane and profane creativity.
The Filth
While we’re not the biggest fans of Grant Morrison (put down the pitchforks, please), we have to credit him for this NSFW comic book. Funny enough, it’s also Grant Morrison’s favorite Grant Morrison comic book.
The Filfth refers to two things: police (British slang) and naughty pictures. The main character consumes a lot of adult material while pleasuring themselves, so that settles half the equation.
Plus, adult material plays a strangely consistent part in the story, which is about a shadowy organization out to maintain the Status Q.
Naturally, given that setup, the comic book deals a lot with filthy subjects. The subversive side of society, and it’s a theme you’ll find in a lot of Grant Morrison’s work.
As a bonus, Morrison considers this a spiritual successor to The Invisibles.
Fun Home
Heard of the Bechdel Test? It’s a rule of thumb to double check one’s equal representation of women that is used by both academics and Hollywood elite.
In Fun Home, that test’s creator gives us a graphic memoir. It was widely heralded as not only a fantastic comic book but a just plain book in its own right, winning awards far and wide for both categories.
It even got made into a successful musical and was called the first mainstream musical featuring a young lesbian.
The themes are varied, including gender and sexuality, as well as things like a dysfunctional families and abuse. Since it deals with life, and real life isn’t censored, it does earn the NSFW rating. But this is a true work of art worthy of reading. Just maybe not in the office breakroom.
Maus
The Nazis are cats and the Jews are mice.
Clever!
It seems like it’d make for some fun, cozy reading, maybe as a cute way to teach children about history. Nope. Serious work of literature here. So, why would a comic based on history be NSFW?
Well, for one, there’s lots of swastikas. That doesn’t always go over well in the working world, hence the label we’ve given it as a NSFW comic. Add to that the atrocities committed, and you definitely wouldn’t want a coworker getting the wrong idea.
Lost Girls
Girls have sexual adventures too. Especially in their youth. Apparently, so do fairy tale princesses.
Alan Moore is obsessed with sex, in a perfectly fine-with-us way. His Swamp Thing run could easily have made this list, but we figured two books by the bearded warlock was enough disparity (albeit earned, because Alan Moore is a genius).
The story features Alice from Lewis Carroll‘s Alice in Wonderland fame, Dorothy Gale from L. Frank Baum‘s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and Wendy Darling from J. M. Barrie‘s Peter Pan.
Naturally, Alan Moore is basing these characters on their original literary routes (how novel). The three meet as adults in the early 1900s and they regale each other with tales of their sexual explorations.
Alan Moore outright calls the NSFW comic book just that, NSFW. It’s just he doesn’t consider that a bad thing. Like with Swamp Thing, as well as much of his other work, Moore attempts to raise eroticism to its rightful place as art.
Saga
The old lady who sits across from you, smells like mold, and hates public breastfeeding?
She’ll hate this just based off a handful of this comics’ covers. Brian K. Vaughan‘s epic space opera, which has been described as part Star Wars and part Game of Thrones, features starcrossed lovers caught in the middle of a war with a baby in tow.
Although Saga won numerous awards and is considered one of the best comics of the modern era, it faced controversy for its unabashed representation of real life concerns like sexuality. Comixology even prohibited sale of one issue due to the content.
NSFW Comics: Conclusion
Although we don’t recommend reading these NSFW comics at work, we definitely recommend reading all of them. Provided you’re of the appropriate age, naturally.
Did we miss a noteworthy title? Let us know in the comics below and it may be added to a future version of this article.
Going to have to disagree on Fun Home and MAUS being NSFW. In fact, I believe it would communicate that you are actually well-read to similar fellows.