Everyone loves to look at penises. Why this is so is a fair question, but it remains a fact that the penis has a certain allure to it-and there are certainly people beyond Sigmund Freud that will confirm this statement. The theory was given extra credence when the hit teenage comedy Superbad came into theaters this past summer, featuring a hilarious and drawn-out scene of phallic doodlings.
Those who loved this much talked about scene will be happy to hear that these scribblings have been preserved in a new book, Superbad: The Drawings (Newmarket; $15). The book was spawned from the scene in the film where Seth (Jonah Hill) admits to his habit of drawing penises as a child. These sketches feature a lot of variety and are sometimes easily recognizable. A perfect example of this familiarity is the doodle entitled “Seth and Evan Off the Bus Penises,” where one can easily tell that the penises resemble the characters from the movie. These cartoon-like images even forced the editor of the book to coin a new term-phallographics, which means “the pictorial representation of a phallus, or a depiction relating to or resembling a phallus.”
The book contains 82 illustrations by David Goldberg, brother of Superbad co-writer Evan Goldberg. Goldberg, with co- writer and star, Seth Rogen, got the idea for Superbad in the tenth grade. It was Rogen, however, who came up with the idea for his alter-ego character to have this problem. In the surprisingly informative foreword of the book, Rogen writes, “There was no thought process, just a raw and unfettered moment of true creativity.” This provided them the impetus to find someone who could pull off such an assignment.
This is where David Goldberg’s talent comes in. Before beginning these classic doodles, Goldberg had to learn the proper way to draw the penis. The research he put in proved invaluable and his proteacute;geacute;es may consider doing the same.
After visiting many museums, studying medical records and reading about the penis, Goldberg finally found his main inspiration at the Icelandic Phallological Museum.
“In this place of uninhibited beauty, surrounded by over one hundred and fifty penises, harvested from forty-two different varieties of sea and land mammals (currently awaiting their first human penis), pen first touched paper,” writes Goldberg in the introduction to his drawings.
They illustrate anything from historical events to everyday activities. One example of this is the “Titanic Penis” which basically is a scene from Titanic that replaces the people with penises. They’re jumping overboard, laying in the freezing cold water and waiting in lifeboats for help to arrive. Flip a few pages back and you’re greeted with the “Inuit Penis” dressed in a parka sitting by a hole in the ice, hoping to catch some fish. On the same page spread, there is the “Paddlin’ Penis” dressed as a hillbilly farmer chewing on a piece of straw, wearing a cowboy hat, and paddling a row boat in the middle of a lake. Such illustrations produce immediate laughter in those flipping through and show the talent that Goldberg has.
Phallic cartoons drawn to this level are a rare find these days among the shelves of contemporary literature. Don’t let the small size of this book fool you, the content inside is large and satisfying.