The Legend of The Path of Pain

Mitchell's new story, 'The Legend of the Path of Pain' is set in the world of Leather and S&M.

Marlon Brando - The Wild One

Brando's images in the 1950's (see attached PP00a) are often credited with originating the link between leather and illicit forms of sex but the connections with S&M, motorcycling, Hell's Angels etc. go back a lot further than his films. Today, leather retains these attractive, ancient associations with animal strength, masculinity, independent rebelliousness and danger and it isn't surprising that it became linked with S&M, the domain of sex with claws.

Tom of Finland - Kake the Intruder

The leather drawings of Tom of Finland feature a confident and sexually aggressive leatherman 'Kake'. The image attached (PP00b), in which Kake gatecrashes a young man's session with his porn mags and treats him to the real thing is a universal 'rescue' fantasy (dressed up with a 'conversion' twist).

Rex - Leatherman

Rex's famous image for Drummer (PP00c) seems to epitomise the idealistic, God-like attractions - and dangers - of such men.

Mitchell's new story is set against this background, a world of leather with demanding sexuality and ancient values. It describes what happens when fantasy collides with the real world. To see the pictures you need to join Mitchell's 'mitchmen' Yahoo Group (see sidebar)