20. The Magic Necklace with Claire Napier

In today’s episode, Claire chats with comics editor, critic, and cartoonist Claire Napier to discuss her new horror-romance comic, The Magic Necklace:

Ann-Rita’s acting differently since she came back, because she’s not afraid of men any more. Not her brother, not the fuzz, and not the guy who’s standing right behind her. Whatever he does… It just can’t threaten her.

If you’ve ever wanted a comic about why women let bad boys and bad men in, this is that one. What’s fair in love and war isn’t always black and white… but add some pink, and you’re more than halfway there. A forty page story about sexual danger, desire, relying on men, and bargains we make with ourselves and others.

We cover a ton of topics in this episode: the influence of 90s erotic thrillers; growing up in the 2000s and dealing with the era’s extreme beauty ideals; the feeling of being surveilled as a woman in public and how the pandemic changed things; the subjective beauty of penises, and so much more.

If you’d like to buy The Magic Necklace, sign up for Claire’s newsletter, which will provide updates on where to buy it soon: https://mailchi.mp/fd242ca2bc47/hear-about-claire-napier

You can also visit Claire’s website: https://www.clairenapier.com/

And visit the Zoop funding page if you’d like to see more about The Magic Necklace: https://zoop.gg/c/themagicnecklace

You can follow me (Claire, the host), and all podcast updates, on Instagram or Bluesky. If you’re interested in my writing about sex and culture, you can check out my ongoing series of essays on film and sex, My Favorite F***ing Movie, or visit my blog. If you have questions or comments for the podcast, you can email us at SexyBooksPodcast@gmail.com.