Etienne's 'Sailor Beware' and Royale Studio

Etienne's Sailor Beware - 1 (colourised)

Etienne's 'Sailor Beware', a story of innocent, USN sailors being abducted and  enslaved, was presented and discussed at length here in 2020. There are two reasons to revisit that memorable story now. It has proved to be connected to a little known, Royale Studio storyette, called 'Shanghai'd Sailor' which I am about to start posting at the Royale Studio Blog. In addition, while researching the origins of this link, I unearthed an interesting, early version of Etienne's story (published under his Stephen brand name) and that forms the main subject of this post.

Etienne - Sailor Beware (original) 1 & 2

This montage from Mars 17 in 1966 shows the first two scenes of the story overlapping. The first picture, at the top, is pretty much the same as the later, more refined art published in 1986 and used as the basis for the coloured image above. The same applies to the lower half of the picture except that the later version has chunkier ropes and a clearer view of what's going on inside the hog-tied sailor's partly undone pants (and it doesn't look like he's shrinking from the threat facing him!)

Etienne - Sailor Beware (original) 3

In picture 3 some differences are revealed. The original version just above shows the two sailors to be clad in 1966 style, designer underpants with an overlapping side seam slightly reminiscent of the traditional slave's loin cloth. Stephen has none of that in the later version, the sailors there don't seem to have been wearing any underwear at all, we can only see their shredded uniforms lying on the floor and the bartender is still in the process of ripping off the blonde sailor's pants rather than reaching out to grope him in his sexy underwear, as he is doing here. 

It's a matter of taste whether you prefer the modest original to the remarkable displays of manhood in the later version but that explicitness does dissipate the sense of helpless uncertainty and fear that exists in the original above, of 'innocence threatened'. It's particularly noticeable in the demeanour of the sailor on the right. In the later version the sailors just seem surprised and shocked at their own responses.

Etienne - Sailor Beware (original) 6

There's an even more significant shift here. In the original above, set at the auction, the leering bartender has ripped away one of the captives' modesty pouches to show off his assets to the bidders. The captive's obvious embarrassment and dismay is commendably consistent with his characterisation in the earlier scene. His comrade has retained his modesty (so far!).

In the later version the captives are already naked, the auction being conducted in the cellar where they have just been tortured. There's no sign of any discarded pouch material. The modest one there is trying in vain to  hide a sizeable erection and keep it away from the outstretched hand of the bartender. He in his turn looks a lot more joyful, presumably at the prospect of a sizeable sum of money from a set of buyers who seem a lot more enthusiastic second time around (this area of the picture has been extensively redrawn in the later version, spot the differences!).  

As with picture 3, there's also a subtle change in the demeanour of the prisoners. They seem embarrassed, distressed and uncomfortable (understandably) in the picture above, still trying to escape even, but the later image shows more of a sense of anticipation and horror at the fate they are witnessing unfolding before them. 

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The next four pictures are thumbnails taken from the Kris Art 3 catalogue, where it was offered as an 8 picture storylet** (shades of Royale Studio again?). The images are too small and indistinct to show much detail but the subject matter is interesting.

Etienne - Sailor Beware (original) 7

The most significant change here is that in the original drawing (above) the two unfortunate sailors are taken from the city after the sale at night-time. Presumably this indicates that even in this part of the world random enslavement of foreigners is frowned upon. In the later version they are marched away in broad daylight, which implies that intervention by the local authorities is unlikely. The sun is glaring down on the naked sailors, the hot sand burning their feet too presumably, all adding to their misery. 

It looks as if the blond sailor may be naked in the one above but it's probably creative pouch shaping. In the later version you'll probably have noticed that his cock is not only visible but fully inflated and tethered to the pommel of the slaver's saddle.

Etienne - Sailor Beware (original) 7a

This picture and the next one do not have an equivalent in the later version of the story so I have given them arbitrary numbers**. It now seems to be daytime with it's attendant heat discomforts for the prisoners. The barman has relinquished his horse (sparing it from the heat of the sun?) Or perhaps they have been passed to a different escort provided by their new owner. 

The sailors have been switched into a yoke-like device (which has authentic origins in the African slave trade) and their hands are now tied behind their backs. This arrangement prevents them running off now that they are no longer anchored to the horse. Unable to drag them along, the escort has to put more effort into making them walk. The 'cry-baby' brunette bears the brunt of his whip.

Etienne - Sailor Beware (original) 7b

At the end of their painful journey, the two buddies are hung out to dry in X-frames where they can see each other and discuss their plight, which seems to have landed them in the grounds of a grand palace. It seems like something may be going on behind the blond, possibly an animal, a monkey, but I can't make out the detail (any offers?). They are both clearly wearing pouches here. I like the 'feet tied together' bondage variation used on the brunette.

Etienne - Sailor Beware (original) 9?

Arguably there is an equivalent to this scene in the later series but it's not the same picture. The original shows the new slaves in ball and chains, cringing respectfully before their new master, who radiates an detached air of stern authority.  In the later version, however, he displays nothing but lust towards his new acquisitions, sitting naked and erect, he openly pays respect to their manly characteristics which have suddenly become a lot more apparent. 

The altered viewpoint in the newer picture places him between the two slaves, which suggests he's making a choice between them. In the end, he doesn't, they go on to serve him together, but you fleetingly sense the ultimate separateness of the two sailors, the possibility of separation from their buddy, followed by a lonely life of hard work and regular punishment. 

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Etienne/Stephen's original vision for this piece was tied in to the restrictions of his day regarding male nudity and portrayals of homosexuality. In fact, apart from the skimpy clothing, any sense of a sexual context has to be supplied by the reader. The story was also conceived in an era when prevailing western notions saw some foreign lands as very strange and different places, where the locals were xenophobic and often lawless and cruel. This needed very little amplification for Stephen's readers who saw it enacted that way in the movies. By the 1980's, however, there was a wider sense of globally shared gayness and the opportunities it created for unbridled sexuality seemed a much more interesting ingredient for Stephen. Being enslaved might be inconvenient but it had it's compensations under the right man. 

Etienne's technique, drawing as Stephen, had improved immeasurably by the 80's and you might attribute that to the sexual and publishing freedom too. He retained the Arabian Nights setting second time round but it becomes more fanciful and that fitted the era too. You probably needed to have been around in the 60's to understand the undercurrent of dread and fear that he has successfully captured in the original version, notably the last picture. You can't tell if these Sailor buddies are anything but straight but picture 9 can be cross-read as two gay men, caught, restrained and exposed and now facing the judgement of a powerful official, who is a completely unknown quantity, but probably unpleasant. That was a reality for many gay men in the 60's 

**Regarding the size of the set: Mars 17 stated that there were over 20 pictures altogether. The later version only has 13 of them and the Kris Art 3 catalogue supplies 2 or 3 more but we can only conjecture what else has been left out. My numberings here are based on the 1986 version.

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Images from Mars Magazine No 17 courtesy of Tim in Vermont 

Other posts about Etienne at mitchmen