Annotations for Lost Girls, chapter 22 “A Merry Crew, Beneath The Setting Sun” by Alan Moore, Melinda Gebbie, and Todd Klein.
General: The chapter’s title is from the last line of the fifth stanza of the “All in the golden afternoon” poem that opens Wonderland:
Thus grew the tale of Wonderland:
Thus slowly, one by one,
Its quaint events were hammered out—
And now the tale is done,
And home we steer, a merry crew,
Beneath the setting sun.
xxx recap
Page 1
panel 2
- “The Oscar Wilde tale with the Schiele illustrations” – see chapter 13.
Tantalus by Franz von Bayros: – via Wikipedia - “Pierre Louÿs” was a French poet and writer “most renowned for lesbian and classical themes.”
- “Marquis [Franz] von Bayros” was an Austrian artist known for portraying erotic themes.
Page 2
panel 1
- As explained in 22.1.2 above, pages 2-7 features pages of Rougeur’s White Book with illustrations by von Bayros above text by Louÿs. These are homages by Gebbie and Moore, in the style of those creators.
The story bears a superficial (likely coincidental) resemblance to Robert Crumb’s controversial comic story ‘Joe Blow’ which first appeared in Zap Comix #4 (1969). - The drawing features extensive sexual-themed objects, from the penis shaped handle (left) to the figures in the headboard, pillows and chair (foreground).
- “Sweltering pussies” perhaps alludes to the cat shown.
panel 2
- “Doesn’t… Franz von Bayros live around this region somewhere?” alludes to von Bayros living in Vienna in 1914.
- “Louÿs added his writings later” is perhaps a subtle critique on the Marvel method of comics writing, where the artist would do most of the work, with the writer just adding text at the end.
Page 3
panel 1
- As with the prior panel, there is extensive sexual-themed ornamentation.
panel 2
- “Your child is real. These, however, are only real in this delightful book” sounds like Moore offering a justification for transgressive sexual elements throughout Lost Girls.
- “Mais non?” is French for “but no?”
Page 4
panel 2
- “C’est vrai” is French for “that is true.”
- Panels 2-5 form a fixed-camera sequence which continues across panels 2-5 on page 5.
panels 4-5
- “They are fictions” and “Fiction and fact: only madmen and magistrates cannot discriminate between them” are more Moore commentary on society’s repression of pornography and broader sensuality.
Page 5
panel 3
- “They are fictions… uncontaminated by effect and consequence” is more Moore commentary.
panel 4
- “I… am real” is Moore drawing attention to Lost Girls being fiction, hence Rougeur’s earlier statements are applicable to its fictions.
Page 6
panel 1
- Coming soon
Page 7
panel 1
- Coming soon
Page 8
panel 1
- This is more Moore commentary on the benefits of pornography. It may also be a musing on comics going beyond just words – and occupying a space “beyond literature.”
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