Due in stores November 1, Manly is a hardcover full color gay-comic collection from German publisher Bruno Gmunder Verlag--written by Dale Lazarov, illustrated by Amy Colburn--with colors by Dominic Cordoba. Manly isn't just another hardcover color 'gay sex book'; it's a book about 'romantic sex' between men.

As always, Lazarov works without words - allowing the panels to speak for themselves. This is tricky to do if you don't have the right artist and lucky for Lazarov, he has Amy Colburn. Thanks to Colburn's expressive art, you feel the intimacy between these men and as you read each story you'll realize, as I did, this isn't about one-time encounters between older men and their younger lovers; what ties these beautifully illustrated stories together isn't casual sex-it's the erotic-closeness. I got the strong impression, after reading Manly, that these vignettes aren't depicting one-time dates; each story was more about 'the first time we did it'. Ever ask a couple how they hooked up? Often, you'll get an exciting and somewhat romanticized on-the-spot retelling of what basically is a first sexual encounter. I suspected each of these older men are still with their young lovers--in a relationship somewhere in Lazarovland, and Manly is just Lazarov's way of telling us 'how they met'.