X-rated comics are usually pretty awful, and for an obvious reason: What's the point of looking at cartoon boobies when actual pictures of boobies are plentiful? For an erotic comic to work, there has to be something else there, like the intimate storytelling and beautiful art of Omaha The Cat Dancer. In the case of Triple-X-Cinema: A Cartoon History, the extra something is a readable, detailed summary of the history of pornographic movies, from 1894 to the present. The subtitle, "Told By Those Who Lived It… And Loved It!," ought to give you an idea of its subjectivity; author/editor Jay Allen Sanford peppers all three books with pro-porn/anti-censorship side comments, and the first two volumes display a 100-to-1 ratio of cum-shots to mentions of the industry's dark side. There's a lot more name-dropping and censor-bashing than insight into such scourges as AIDS, STDs, drugs and pregnancy; the casting couch is briefly mentioned, but just as quickly dismissed. Still, Triple-X-Cinema is a surprisingly informative, entertaining historical document: The timelines that run up the side of most pages are interesting; there's some decent dirt-dishing (commentator Jim Holliday: "Traci [Lords] was and probably still is nothing more than a calculating cash-register cunt"); and Kevin Breyfogle's art is mostly superb. Lots of artists can draw naked people having sex, but Breyfogle captures individual faces remarkably well. Sanford's coverage of the industry's present-day flaws is often fascinating, too, with lots of hard-hitting commentary on silicon-enhanced blondes and the creative decline that accompanied cheap videotape technology in the mid-'80s. The third and final comic, covering 1984 to the present, is by far the best: It conveys frank images of drugs and dissatisfied stars, yet still celebrates the industry and its many fascinating figures. (You'd think, reading the collection from start to finish, that porn was a picnic for all involved until 1984.) But all three books are worth reading—not only for fans of cartoon money-shots, but for those seriously seeking an illustrated history of a fascinating industry.