Graphic Novel Review: The Perineum Technique

Posted on August 6, 2019 at 11:21 am by Gene Ambaum

The Perineum Technique by Florent Rupert and Jérôme Mulot. Fantagraphics, 2019. 9781683961833. 104pp.

JH becomes a bit obsessed with Sarah, who he meets on a dating app. They’ve had Skype booty calls, but he wants to meet in person. They finally do, at a masked swingers party where he falls asleep in her lap. Afterward she tells him about the perineum technique, which, through contracting a muscle, will allow him to stop ejaculating but still have an orgasm, and then continue having sex. JH starts practicing the technique while working on his videos (he’s an artist). Via text Sarah tells him that if he doesn’t ejaculate for four months she’ll see him again when she’s back from a trip to Las Vegas. JH practices the technique, gets hornier and hornier, and as he becomes more and more obsessed with sex images inspired by Sarah that start to take over his video work.

I laughed so many times while reading this book! The imagery alternates between the weird and the hilarious, as does the dialogue. JH is the kind of asshole it’s hard to sympathize with, and a lot of the humor in the book comes from perfect moments and his strange mental imagery during sex. If you’re wondering why JH and Sarah are holding swords on the cover, this is the book for you.