The Virgin Project: Real People Share Real Stories: A Comics Anthology

Few human experiences are as universally shared, and yet as diverse, as the loss of virginity. The Virgin Project is a collection of first-time sexual encounters that illustrate a small sample of the breadth of human experience. Some people consider virginity as a prize to be given away. Some consider it a burden to be disposed of. For some, it was stolen and can never be restored. A few place little value on it at all. As one remarked, "I didn't lose my virginity any more than I 'lost' my pacifier. I outgrew it." The very moment of losing virginity among same sex couples can be a gray area and a topic of debate. Some focus instead on gaining their sexuality, and the opening of a new world of human experience. In one sense, losing one's virginity is an antiquated concept, because society no longer regards sex outside of marriage as shameful. Yet it still marks a passage from adolescence to adulthood for every generation. Most everyone remembers the "first time," some with regret, but many with fondness. According to Dr. Alex Comfort, writing in "More Joy of Sex," "Sex is the only social skill we do not learn by watching," which may account for the great variety in the stories. This first volume of The Virgin Project is the product of a collaboration between two artist-storytellers. They collected stories at various times and locations, including the Seattle Erotic Art Festival and the Victoria Erotic Art and Film Festival. All of the stories in this book are true. The names have been changed to protect privacy, and fictitious names were supplied by the people telling the stories, resulting in a few duplicate names. The variety of stories includes everything from teenage experimentation to wedding night nerves, including the humorous and tragic, gay and straight - all of them different. The introduction is by Ellen Forney, a professional cartoonist/illustrator/author and college instructor. In retelling these stories, artistic license has been used.

K. D. Boze is an award-winning cartoonist and the author of the daily comic strip 'Cpl Kev' which appeared in the European Edition of Stars and Stripes in the 1980s. He is also the creator of the online comics 'Camille' and 'Role Call'.

Stasia Burrington (nee Kato) was born into an artistic family and was raised on the cartoon classics 'Tintin' and 'Elfquest', and never tired of the art form. She attended Seattle's Cornish College of the Arts, with a focus in painting and print-making and there took comic classes under the tutelage of cartoonist Ellen Forney.

On May 1, 2010 two weeks after the book s release Boze and Kato were named Cartoonists of the Year by Cartoonists Northwest, which also awarded The Virgin Project 2 the Golden Toonie Award in the Comic Books/Graphic Novels Category.